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Showing posts from November, 2020

Youth Work Is... Purposeful Play

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These articles provided a new insight to me on how children play. Play is such an important aspect in a child's growth physically and emotionally. I never knew that play had so many parts to it until I read these readings. According to Henry Jenkins play is composed of the six P's which are permission, process, passion, productivity, participation, and pleasure. I kept re-reading this article because I was trying to find what the main message she was trying to portray. I realized that I needed to stop worrying about piecing together her words and instead understanding that kids learn the best through any kind of play. I really resonated with her reasoning behind permission. I learned about the "magic circle" which is a mental bracket we put around our activities which changes their affects, meaning, and most of all their consequences.  "Within that magic circle, we lower the consequences of risks; we agree to engage with each other with good humor; we try hard bu

Youth Work Is...Identity

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 "Locating Yourself for Your Students" I thought that this article was very powerful and inspiring because it showed how important expressing your race and identity can be. Both of the professors talked about times where they looked at themselves and questioned their identity because they were the only person who was white in the room. It is an interesting and eye opening experiance to be the minority in the room when you are used to being in the majority. Starting off with you who are and your race right from the beginning of a conversation is an important aspect in getting to know someone. It was very interesting to see how the children reacted when the professors first walked into the room. After the professors introduced themselves it was crazy how their mood and mannerisms changed towards them. It's okay for people to be different from one another. These students came from different backgrounds and cultures but they were still able to appreciate the professors and th

Youth Work Is... Leading With

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 "Rather than focusing on individual-level outcomes for youth-in the way that mentoring or coaching might-youth-adult partnership work typically is designed to "support youth (and adults) as agents of their own development. .. [who are] expected to collaborate, choosing objectives, and making commitments on issues that matter to both parties" I think this quote is very powerful for both the youth and adults. The adults and children are learning to respect each others opinions, and ways of thinking. They are working together to achieve a common goal. In addition, they are both leaving preconceived opinions of the other party aside . For example, adults are giving the younger generation the opportunity to present new ideas that are more current in today's world. The youth are also allowing the adults the opportunity to present ideas that have been tried and proven effective. I believe that this is important especially in youth settings. It teaches children to respect a

Lights On After School Celebration

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I attended the Lights On Afterschool celebration for one of my events this semester. The Lights on After school program is focused on keeping children occupied after school. On their website, they talk about how millions of children are left alone Afterschool while parents and caregivers work or attend other obligations. The organization's goal is to help children stay engaged and learn even after school so that they grow into "successful adults." This organization has a great goal, because it is important that children spend time with adults who inspire them to learn, grow and be their best selves. I also think that it is good for them to be in a place where they are being watched so they can't get into trouble.       The event was held on Remo, which is an online program that I have never used before. At first it was confusing. There were different “tables” that you had to jump to and have a conversation with the people in that group about whatever topic that tabl