1. PSYCHOLOGY APPLICATION PROJECT Laura Woodall CEPD 4101 Yan Yang

2. Background Information  Volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club in Carrollton, Georgia.  Went 5 different days for 2 hours each day.  Volunteered with two different classes.  7-8 year old class—around 15 students each day  11-12 year old class– around 20 each day.  The classed were majority African American and the other half was causcasian.  The children rotate from different activities every hour or so. For the time period that I was usually there, I was present for the homework and game time.

3. Rationale  I chose the Boys and Girls Club because I am not student teaching yet and I wanted to volunteer at a location that involved children of different ages. I’ve always heard great things about the things that this organization does for their members and I wanted to see first hand what that involves.

4. 7-8 Year Old Class  This was a hectic classroom. The students didn’t listen to anything that the teacher asked.  The teacher seemed like she HATED her job.  The students were hard to motivate to do their homework.  They were mean to each other, always misbehaving.

5. 11-12 Year Old Class  Around 20 students each day  The teacher could manage this classroom a lot better than the other teacher.  The students listened/followed rules  Asked for help with homework and helped their classmates.  Student A, a disabled student in the class. The other students in the class would help her when she wasn’t understanding her work and would play with her during game time. It was obvious that there was positive teacher/student interaction. The mission of the Boys and Girls club is, “To enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to reach their full potential as productive, caring, responsible citizens.” This teacher is an excellent mentor for her students and it was obvious that she really cared.

6. Strategies/Tactics  Through the use of positive reinforcement, students were encouraged to do their homework. More play time outside or time on the computer Snacks  The kids would have to write the creed over and over and over again if they were caught talking during the count down to something or if they were misbehaving.

7. Self-Reflection  My major is Special Education so I will be certified to teach P-12. The reason I chose the Boys and Girls Club was to be exposed to all of these age groups. Volunteering/observing the student with disabilities reassured me that I chose the right major. Also, this experience taught me that patience is a key thing to classroom management.

8. Difficulties/Challenges  Having patience with the kids that are constantly misbehaving.  Motivating students that don’t care.  Managing a classroom full of students that are misbehaving.

9. Room of Improvement  A major area that I could use improvement on is, how to effectively deal with students that are continuously disrupting activities.  How to motivate students that don’t care. I can motivate students all day long that don’t believe in themselves however, the students that don’t care is my problem.  After my experience, I am still nervous about my classroom management ability. Hopefully I will learn more when I start my field experience.

10. References  Snowman, Jack and Rick McCown. Psychology Applied to Teaching. 13th ed. Canada: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.  Boys and Girls Club of America. Web. 05 April 2012.