After a couple of months of planning and running high school activities and after a two and a half months of going to the social apartments here a glimpse of what I’m doing and reflection.
About the high school activities
Some basic information
- When: Every Monday one class (or sometimes two)
- Where: high school in the east of Bucharest (travelling for one hour…)
- Who: The others and me
- With whom: Working with a couple of classes in the 10th (and 11th) grade
- What: non-formal workshop about various topics
For every session we have a certain topic according to our interest, their wishes and needs. For instance we organized workshops about different genres of music or about cooperation (games). Not only from time to time it’s a challenge to figure out the non-formal, creative and interactive ways of designing and these workshops, though it’s definitely an interesting experience. I really enjoy the process of planning the activities, to think about the topic and how you can turn it into a workshop, to invent and to plan games. It’s very cool.
Every session another one of us is responsible for preparing and running the activities. The other ones provide then help and support.
When I go then to the high school the students behave in very different ways. Some of them are notably absent, some are very excited and some just unmotivated. The challenge is to get them motivated through the activities. It’s a pity that the relationship to the students isn’t as personal as in the social apartments, also due to the frequency of our visits.
Sometimes, or quite often, I’d like to run the activities in Germany, because the language barrier stays as an important issue between me and the students. Even if we translate the description of a game or the teachers or our high school coordinator help us, it’s still an indirect way of communication. Moreover, something gets always lost and questions arise. It’s frustrating to see students not to understand the task, because it’s somehow your responsibility to let them understand. So what did I do wrong? Why didn’t it work in a proper way? That makes it from time to time hard for me to keep my motivation when you go to the high school with the knowledge in mind that it’ll only work up to a certain extent as planned.
Nevertheless, there is also the positive side of this issue. If every session is a “surprise egg” it’s even more exciting to go and see what works and how. Only a few things are more enjoyable than seeing (some of) the students being motivated and developing their own ideas. That’s the reason why I go there. For me it is impossible to reach them all. A certain percentage is chronicle unmotivated is refusing any participation; other students start participating, but quit it after some time. However, there are always students who enjoy the workshop and have a high level of participation.
Definitely interesting is the fact, that I’m observing the students more carefully. Now I’m some kind of teacher, although I don’t see myself in this role. So I have to think what skills they have, and even more important: What they have to develop. Quite a lot of our activities are aimed at raising awareness of these issues and help them to develop their skills. Moreover, it’s very interesting to figure out what they need, what’s their background which explains their behavior. You only see a student, but behind the face there is a long and complex story.
About the social apartments
In social apartments live orphans in a flat together with two educators. It shoul simulate kind of a normal family life. They live, cook and spend their free time together (after school).
- When: usually twice a week for four hours in total
- Where: Somewhere in Berceni, quite close to our flat
- Who: Nicole and me
- With whom: We work with children in two apartments, they are 10-13 and 14-17 years old
- What: English and logical games
In the beginning we had to get known to their interests and character. In the ground floor for instance, where the children are older we focus more on logical games and puzzles to improve their skills in these manners. As we did English with them (which is seriously needed) we didn’t meet too much enthusiasm, though by time we modified the methods. For instance, we figured out that they enjoy a lot to compete with each other. They are very motivated then and we can easily teach them English. Admitted, sometimes they are too motivated and start to punch each other, yet we learnt in which way they prefer to learn.
In the third floor where the children are younger they are really into learning English, yet also here it depends on the method. They enjoy interactive games, so it’s our weekly challenge to modify games or to invent new ones. Usually it’s funny and I enjoy the games as well.
Also the language barrier is an issue. When we explain games (in Romanian) it’s likely that they don’t get it/we don’t transmit it to 100%. But in this environment it’s easier to corect the developements and help them.
It’s interesting to observe the children there and see how they behave. Additionally I could identify some of their problems. So they often have a problem to motivate themselves to do stuff. Instead of keeping on trying they quit and just leave. Happens quite often during our activities. Moreover, the educational deficits are immense. Those children are smart, but without education it’ll become very hard for them in future. Their English is mostly not existing, also in other subjects they struggle. Besides that they also tend to be violent. Often they punch and kick each other (for fun or because of arguments) and as you can imagine it doesn’t contribute to ease the situation.
A lot of reasons why I enjoy it come together: Their need, the fun, the flexibility, free choice of methods and topics etc. Working in the social apartments is one of my favourite activities. I’ll miss it for sure.
Knowledge Builders 3 