International Day at Dobie

Last week to had an International Day at Dobie. We thought it would be nice to talk to kids aged 11-13 about differences and similarities among cultures. Most Dobie students come from different ethnic backgrounds, so being able to overcome their differences, to cooperate and work with each other despite differences in ethnicities is crucial for them. We also wanted to talk about stereotypes. The hypothesis is that if kids are able to recognize cultural stereotypes, they might also realize that their perception of a group (class, for example) or each other might not be always accurate. So consequently, they should be more tolerant of each other. These are the main ideas Stephanie, Anna, and I had in mind when putting the International Day program. We also wanted to tell the kids about our cultural backgrounds, which could help us bond with hem. Besides, I remember when I was in middle school, it was always interesting for me to learn about other countries, since back then I did not have a chance to travel.

We started our International day with a brief exercise on who has traveled the farthest. Most of the kids have been out of state, and some of them as far as north of the country, and the state of Washington.  We talked for a bit about differences they noticed while traveling, and most of the kids said food and clothing.

When talking with kids about stereotypes, I realized they don’t really know what stereotypes are. We had the kids work I pairs to draw a typical Polish, a Russian, and an Italian person, as they saw them. I wasn’t really surprised that the kids have very little idea about Poland and the Polish, but little knowledge about Russia was rather shocking. All of them came up with funny drawings, and we discussed what they drew and why. A typical Russian person, of course, works for KGB, likes to ski, wears a fur coat, and is a part-time specnaz employee (I was rather astonished that a 11-year old Ricky knew that word; specnaz’ means special purpose troops). An Italian, of course, likes pizza, spaghetti, and is in mafia. And the drawing of a Polish was based on the only piece of knowledge the kids had – that Poland once was invaded, so they built it upon that (they added apartment buildings, and tanks). 

Then Anna and I talked about our countries (Poland and Russia). I showed pictures of some of the most famous places of interest (czar cannon, czar bell, largest jet, etc), and the kids seemed to be very impressed.  Then we gave the students handouts “How to say hello in different languages”. You should have seen how excited the kids were! They started practicing saying hello to each other, and trying to remember some of the words they know in different languages. It was a lot of fun!

At the end of class, we had a fun quiz on different countries. It was a group exercise, so the kids took turns reading questions and discussing answers. “In which country there are 10 sheep per person?” “Where do the tallest people live?” “Which country has the biggest airport?” – It turned out that our middle schoolers know answers to many of these questions!

As a small reward for their efforts, kids got Russian candy. While they were eating the candy, we talked about what we have learnt today. Some of the responses were:

“People are different”

“Stereotypes are not always true”

“We should be aware of stereotypes”

And, my favorite – “I want to go to Russia” (Ricky)

In my opinion, the day was a great success.

What the kids learnt:

• What stereotypes are and why it is important to recognize them
• Countries can be much different from what they know about them
• Stereotypes are not always true

Skills we practiced:

• Work in pairs, learning to work together and agree on things;
• Work in a big group: learning to listen to each other ad to agree on things
• Drawing: developing imagination

Teaching Strategies and Practices to Support Positive Motivation

Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Jennifer Appleton Gootman, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development. National Academy Press, 2002. 

Research shows that having an intentional learning environment is one of the key characteristics of the successful positive youth development programs. It is very important to set up the most effective educational setting on how to best teach new skills, new knowledge, new understandings, and new habits of mind. The following teaching strategies and techniques are critical:

1. Students need to be encourage to produce or construct knowledge, rather than reproducing or repeating facts and views expressed by teachers;
2. The materials studies need to be related to the student and his or her community culture.
3. Regular feedback on progress so that students know where they are and what they still need to learn.
4. Individual approach to students that recognizes the individual differences in the level of knowledge, interests, and learning styles.
5. Cooperative and highly interactive learning activities so that the students can tutor each other and learn from each other.

Which practices support positive motivation?

1. Grading practices that stress improvement rather than social comparison;
2. Teaching practices that stress improvement rather than current levels of knowledge;
3. Practices that make sure all students are expected to participate fully in the learning activities;
4. Learning practices that involve hands-on activities (lab exercises, field-based data collection, etc)

In other words, teachers need to make sure they involve every student in the learning activities, which may be challenging because kids have different interests and different learning styles. To overcome that, teachers need to practice individual approach to every student, which is much easier when the class is small. Finally, it is important to grade the students' effort trying to stress their improvement rather than social comparison. Unfortunately, this practice is not widely spread. 

Self-Image Collage at Dobie School

You look in the mirror and you are either pleased with what you see or not. You may be looking at your physical appearance - skin, hair, clothes, or the image you portray - being confident or shy. Our self image plays an important part in how we feel about ourselves and how we think others perceive us. Our self-esteem, confidence and ability to communicate with others are closely linked with how we view ourselves. 

The hypothesis is that there is a correlation between participation in youth development programs and self-image. Although the studies show no significant direct relationship between participation in youth programs and self-image, the results do indicate a relationship between development of the 5 C’s and self-image in young people. The data suggest that youth development programs can still be a useful tool in helping to develop a positive self-image in youth, and that it is important to provide program options which emphasize development of each of the 5 C’s and positive self-image.

So Stephanie, Anna, and I decided to see how our Dobie middle schoolers see themselves. For that, we decided to organize a self-image collage activity. We gathered some magazines (it turned out pretty difficult to find magazines which would be interesting for kids since students obviously have different interests), put together a small activity plan, and went to Dobie on Thursday, February 10.

The idea was that kids draw themselves on a piece of paper, and then cut out images from the magazines which, in their opinion, describe their lives, or dreams and aspirations. At first we discussed with kids what self-image is and why we need it, and then we started working on the collage. In the beginning, the kids seemed to be much more interested in going through of magazines and looking at pictures, showing them to each other and, at times, picking on each other. But gradually they started getting very involved in the activity. Stephanie, Anna, and  were making collages as well (serving as good role models). We even involved Lee in the activity! As he told us later, neither he or the kids have done anything like that before. No wonder we had troubles later trying to wrap the activity up!

The collages turned out to be great! They all had positive, happy images. Some cut out images of cars, cell phones and other material belongings. Others found pictures which would describe their hobbies (traveling, reading, and even cooking). There were a few which described future professions (one girl wants to be a doctor). Kids seemed to be very happy about their results, and were eager to tell the others about what they had on their collages.

At the end, we discussed with the kids what they learned about each other that day. And I think that was one of the most important parts of the activities. Here is a short dialogue between me and the 2 boys which shows that in some way the activity became an eye-opener for them:

Me: Michael, what did you learn about Rickey today?
Michael: I learned that he likes bears (there was a picture of a mama and cub bears).
Rickey: I like animals, not just bears
Me: Michael, did you know that Rickey liked animals?
Michael: No, I didn't . I always thought he wanted to kill animals.

This short funny dialogue shows that it is very simple to organize a setting in which the kids can truly learn a lot of new things about each other. I stronger believe that the more kids stayed involved with the after-school program, the more diverse and complete their self-image collage will get. So I hope that the next time the kids get to make a self-image collage, they will also include pictures that shows friendship, success, and accomplishment.

Ways to Promote Positive Youth Development

Jacquelynne S. Eccles, Jennifer Appleton Gootman, Community Programs to Promote Youth Development. National Academy Press, 2002.

Participants of a local community program are usually a diverse group of American adolescents. It is very important to make sure that the program provides daily settings and experiences that engage all the youth and support their development.

Features of daily settings that promote positive youth development include the following:

1. Physical and psychological safety

Positive settings have to be free from violence and unsafe health conditions because of their direct impact on physical health and survival.  Experiencing or witnessing violence can have a severe and long-lasting effect on a child’s psychological condition.  They can also lead to skipping school, lower academic achievement, more negative attitudes towards school, etc. Moreover, childhood sexual abuse appears a cause of numerous adult psychological disorders.

2. Clear structure and adult supervision

Positive development requires that a child experiences a stable, predictable reality.  Similarly, adolescents benefit from experiencing clear rules and discipline. Maintenance of control and organization in the classroom setting (by a teacher) is related to student satisfaction, growth, and achievement. But as they grow older, adolescents need to have an increasing opportunity to have input in classroom and school governance and rules.

3. Supportive relationships

Researchers speak of warmth, connectedness, good communication, and support as of a critical feature of any developmental setting. Adult support is associated with positive school motivation, better mental health, lower rates of drinking and drug use, etc. Besides, parental support strengthens a child’s ability to take on challenge, and provides protection against negative cultural stereotypes.

4. Opportunities to belong

How can we provide inclusiveness? Interactions between adolescents must be on the level of equal status; activities must be cooperative rather than competitive; adults must serve as role models and mentors; there must be individualized contact between members of groups. 

5. Positive social norms

Every group of people that has sustained interaction develops a set of habits, norms, and expectations that govern their behavior. Research shows that adolescents’ perceptions of social norms have immediate and lasting effects on their behavior.   

    

6. Opportunities for skill building

Good settings must provide opportunities for acquiring knowledge and learning new physical, psychological, social, and cultural skills. And although some programs may specialize in the development of some skills (athletic, for example), good programs must learning in other areas as well.  

7. Integration of family, school, and community efforts

Although we need to remember that no single program can succeed in helping every participant. Adolescents have other, often more powerful influences in their lives. Some will be more ready for change and growth than others. In addition, any given program will work better for some teens than for others. More research is needed to specify programs which promote development and to tailor programs to the needs of individual adolescents

OMG! Candy Grams for sale!

The idea to take middle schoolers from Dobie and Webb to Explore UT Day appeared quite suddenly, and definitely added a new perspective to our PRP class. For kids, it is a chance to visit the university campus, take part in fun activities, meet current students and professors, and realize that going to college could be a reality. For us, it is a great opportunity to practice our skills and implement the knowledge we get from reading articles on positive new development. And although the idea raised a lot of questions, such as: How much money do we need? Where do we get the money? How do we get the kids excited about the event? Where will we be able to find transportation? etc, we rather enthusiastically started developing a plan of what we need to get done in the next couple of weeks.

The answer to the question of where to get some of the money came to our group while visiting Webb middle school. We decided to sell candy grams at the LBJ School hoping that the student community will support our efforts in raising funds. The Webb kids together with some of the girls from our PRP class made bright posters, we bought candy, construction paper, bags, red cloth for the table - and the next morning the Candy Grams For Sale station was set up! We did a Facebook promotion campaign, inviting our friends and fellow students to 'attend the event', and were hope for a good turnout.

I worked at the table during the first couple of hours, and at first nobody who was in the lobby at the moment seemed to be interested. I blamed the cold weather. Also, many people were in their morning classes. But then... One by one, LBJers started to come up to the table. Some of them knew about the event from the Facebook campaign, others were attracted by our colorful posters. In any case, almost every one of them either bought candy grams (sometimes, 5-6 of them at once) or just donated money for the event. One professor got candy grams for every female faculty member. Another one just bought the candy, but paid much more than he was supposed to.

By the end of the second day we raised 120 dollars. It means that at least that many people (but in reality it will be more) will find a bag of candy in their mailboxes when they come to school on Monday morning. It also means that we have made a very big step to make Explore UT a reality for at least 15 middle schoolers. But also, it means that LBJ School has awesome people who are willing to give their support and efforts to make wonderful things come true.

ps: special thanks and warmest regards to the PRP crew

SKILLS I gained/enhanced from the Candy Grams For Sale event:

• planning and implementing an event in a very limited timeline
• networking for promotion
• social media promotion
• fundraising

What I brought into the event to help it become a success:

• creativity
• organization skills
• open-mindedness
• communication skills
• marketing skills
• readings on positive youth development
• ability to dress appropriately to the weather (it was VERY cold in the lobby where the table was set up)