Has it really all come to an end?

The answer to that is very simple. My CYW classroom career has almost come to an end. I am sitting here writing one of my last reflections! This is actually crazy, but so exciting. Two and a half school years have passed since I walked into my first class at Loyalist. To evaluate my learning in this course I need to take into account my learning throughout the program.

To understand Culture and Diversity at the level that we discussed I needed the learning that I have had in previous courses. As a CYW you need to know what is important to consider when exploring the needs of a child. Culture is something that every child has, sometimes they are just not aware of how it is impacting their life.

To summarize my learning from this course I am going to use some of the questions provided:

In what ways were the course content and the course outline helpful or useful to you?

• By providing awareness about Culture and Diversity it has helped me identify it more in my daily life. Before this course Culture was not something that I liked to identify in my own life ( I am not saying that this has changed). Through this course I have started to understand the importance that it holds in others and benefit for them to identify their uniqueness when compared to others. Children and Youth need to know that they are unique and that they can stand out in a positive way. This course has also opened my eyes in the same way to why some adults value culture and diversity.
  

Did you find the textbooks, handouts, reading useful?

• I opened my textbook at the beginning of the semester and tried to start reading. I would call myself a reader, so I was very confused when I was not absorbing any information. So I skipped to the next chapter and tried again...ya still nothing. The next time I picked it up was when our group was making our presentation for South East Asia. We used some information from there about how to help clients, that is all. I do not think that was worth my money. The book just was not used enough in the class to ask students to use it. It may have lots of great information in it but since it was not related or essential for our classwork I did not use it and I know that was the case for many of my classmates.
• I love handouts and I have made use of A LOT of them that I have received especially this year. With that being said, printing out slides hows as your handout should be OUTLAWED! No one uses those ones. When it looks like the group has actually put the effort into make a one or two page handout with vital information people are more likely read them. Yes it is easy and I have done it a time or two but people do not read them when the handouts are slide shows.
  

Was the evaluation process fair?

• I think that so far all the marks that I have received correspond to the amount of work that I have put into my assignments. So I am pretty happy about that.
  
• The toolkit outline was the only one that was VERY vague. This was the case for the another toolkit that we were assigned for another class. It is just really hard to understand what the teacher is asking for when there is such a big spectrum of what they will accept.
  
• I think it is very valuable that we have been given the opportunity to reflect and respond to classes and the course. Feedback is a really good idea!
  

Please comment on the instructor's attitude and approach in the classroom?

• Sarah, Sarah, Sarah! Always excited and ready to go with tons of stuff for us to discus in class and to learn about. As students we can tell how much teachers care by the amount of effort that is put into the lesson plans. Thank you for putting the extra effort and energy into our Friday morning classes.
• It did not happen to me, but I felt really bad for the groups that were cut off during their presentations. I know the the rubric gave a time limit but I just felt like the groups were a bit disrespected when they were cut off before giving their whole presentation, since they obviously worked really hard on their project. Sometimes that happens, sometimes schedules are thrown off but that is just what happens.
  
• Sarah, thank you for being available for us if we had questions about assignments.

List 4 of the most valuable exercises/ experiences in this course for you and elaborate on the personal learning that you took away from these experiences.

• I really liked having the groups at the end of the class where were could talk about what happened that day. I wished we could have done that more, but I am really glad that we had the chance to do that when we did.
• I REALLY liked that we used the book "If the World was a Village". I think that book is a great tool for giving children and adults a realistic picture of our world.
  
• I like that we were challenged to step out of our comfort zone for an assignment. As of yet I am not sure how I will hand that in but some how I will be able to display what I learned through that activity.
• Lastly, I really enjoyed the blogs. When I was finished each week I felt really good about being able to reflect on what I had learned that week.

As a CYW entering the field this course helped prepare me for working with Children and Youth on Issues of Culture and Diversity.

This time for real.....Leah has no more words!

Peace!

More Presentations!!

This week once again we had many presentations. Before the presentations we talked a little about the out of my comfort zone activity. Chad and Beckie came up with an awesome idea. They went shopping at a mall but, they went around the mall in wheelchairs. They said they were treated horribly and if they were permanently in a wheelchair they would NEVER go out in the busy times. As a CYW this is so important to realize that you need to be aware of others needs. If a person is going to be inconsiderate and insensitive in this field, they might as well look for a new job.

I was especially excited for the Mohawk presentation! This summer I spent a week working at a native reserve and it was a great experience. Also, my family has Mi'kmaq heritage. It is great to hear about different cultures. I really enjoyed the thanksgiving greeting. I also think that working in this area it is important to be informed about the different family systems. They noted in their presentation that traditionally women make the decisions for the household but the elders make decisions for the community. Broadening our understanding of different parts of the community is very important as a CYW.

I had never really thought about having to work with Mennonite youth and families before. This presentation had a lot of personal stories, which I love to hear. I feel like they really add to presentations. In this presentation I learned about the difference between new order and old order Mennonite communities. These communities have a very different way that they grieve deaths, which I found interesting. This presentation helped me understand this community a bit more and in which setting I may be working with this culture. It was refreshing to have a presentation about something I don't know too much about.

The last presentation was on India and Pakistan. I will be honest it was very hard for me to pay attention because I was so excited for the weekend to come. What can I say... I am only human. The most useful piece of knowledge that I got from this was the information the group shared on the Caste system that is prevalent in these countries. This is something that CYW's need to be informed about. This can be a huge culture shock for a child who was so used to being put down because they were low in the Caste system. They might not think much of themselves because of the circumstances they were born into, in their home country. We might be called to work with a child that is dealing with fitting into Canadian culture but they cannot shake off the Caste system.

I did learn a lot through the last couple weeks of presentations. It has helped me to reflect on things that have happened in class. Too easily the days just pass by without thought.

But...alas, those are all the words that I have.

Leah :)

Newcomers, Smarties & Crayons, and Afro-Centric Schools

I felt so happy that I had no idea what was going on when I walked into class. The last couple of weeks, every class I have had there has been something to hand-in or a presentation to do. The only thing I had to worry about was getting my blog done.

Once again there were group presentations. The first presentation was on New Immigrants coming to Canada. They went through many definitions about immigrants throughout the presentation. There were two things that I found really interesting about this presentation. The first is that more immigrants come to Canada than anywhere else in the world. That is really important as CYW's to take this piece of information into our work. We cannot just direct our practice with our clients as if they were all born and raised in Canada with the same cultures. The second thing that I really enjoyed about the presentation was Jen's story about her boyfriend working with a new immigrant. It was cool to hear about the relationship that they have built. The presentation was well put together. The videos also really added to the presentation.

The second group presented on Bi-Racial Heritage. I was excited to see what was going to be in this presentation because I have Bi-Racial Heritage Their first activity was GREAT! I will definitely hold onto the smartie activity for working with children or youth that are struggling with racial identity. Their presentation was well put together, I especially like that they talked about famous role models that are a part of this heritage. Kids look up to those people in media, it is good to know that there are some positive ones that children will be able to relate to and look up to.

The last group presented on African Canadians. They had many statistics that allowed us to understand better where Afro-Canadians fit into our culture and country. The video that they showed was about a specific Afro-Centric school in Toronto. When I first heard about this school I wasn't totally sure if I agreed with it. The video that they showed explained more than then the information that i gained from the news. I also think this was a great presentation.
Something that I think our class needs to work on (including myself) is not reading off their notes when presenting. I did get some good information from the presentations, but at points it was hard to pay attention.

Next, all Ineed to worry about is getting the tool-kit for this class started and finished! AHHHHHH!!!

thats all of Leah's words for today

peace

Projects all about Culture

There was a lot of work that I had to do before this class came. It was a huge load off my back after the class was over.
I was in one of the first groups to present their culture project. All of the projects are going to reflect a specific group of people that are found around the world. The topics range from ethnicity to countries to religious groups. My group's topic was South East Asia. We found information about the culture and people of the region and presented it in a way that would be helpful to CYW's in our class. I usually like presentations and I find them quite easy to do. This presentation however was very hard.
Being in third year generally you would expect that most of the students are responsible and would help....."take care of business". It was not really like that. I struggled a lot in being confident with this project in regards to the content, group dynamics and the presentation. There was bound to be a project like this that tested my ability in working with people. But...it is over and I do not have to stress about it anymore.

A group presented on the Hispanic culture. This was a great presentation. I really like their handout that they gave to the class. I will be putting that away in my resources that I will be using in the field.

The last presentation was all about the Muslim culture. The group started off with a video clip from a TV show. I wish that they would have spent that time giving us more information about the culture. I don't know if it is just because I have seen that clip before but I do not think that clips longer that three minutes help presentations. People get to much into the storyline adn forget about what they should be looking for in the video. Other than that I think the presentation was great. It had a lot of information in it that I was not aware of which will be very helpful in the field.

I look forward to more presentations about different cultures. I think that as a CYW it is so important to be somewhat knowledgeable about different cultures in order to help your clients. This is class time well spent.

thats all Leah's Words for this week.
Peace out.

Relationships that show Passion and Compassion

I woke up this morning and the clock said 6:58. AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I needed to be on my way to the bus by 7:10. This never happens, I was so flustered by waking up and being so late, not to mention that it is so early and I am so tired. I was so glad that I did not have to present our cultural group presentation because I was so groggy when I got into class.

I was really upset that I missed the trip to Quinte Mohawk School. Students in the class shared about their experiences and they had while visiting for the Harvest Festival. They all sounded like they had a great time. If the opportunity came up that I could go visit to the school I will definitely do that.

We had a guest speaker in our class today Andy Leggett. He is a CYC that has been working in the field for more years that I have been alive! I remember back in first year he came to speak to us. It was in our methodology class that was taught by Lisa. Andy spoke a little bit about his work but mostly he came to talk about the OACYC which is the Ontario Association of Child and Youth Counsellers. He talked about the history of Child and Youth Counsellers and what the OACYC can provide for us as professionals coming into the field. I remember wishing that he would speak more about what he did on a day to day basis. He briefly touched on his work in Labrador that day but I wanted to know more.

Today though he came to speak to us about the the different work he does. It was awesome to hear his stories and to hear about his experiences. The most important thing that he said that was essential for working in the field was having passion and compassion for the clients and your work. He spoke so honestly about his own personal journey to get where he was at today. He said that he did get frustrated and sometimes he questioned why he was in the field, but he knew he had a passion for kids and that is why he stayed in the field. When he was working at a home with children he spoke about being frustrated and tired. To him that was the sign to find something different. It was great to hear him be so honest. It let me know that it is okay to be frustrated sometimes with work and to take those moments as signs to find passion in your work again.

Andy also talked about his work in Labrador with the Innu people. He told us many stories about different clients he has worked with from there. He told us about his experiences visiting the remote reserves. He talked about especially when he first went there he was spit at and harassed. Andy explained to us how people view him now has changed because of the effort he has put forth to build relationships with the people of the community.

I want to take 2 things away from today and never forget them.
✓ I need to have passion AND compassion
✓ Building relationships is key!
These two points will help me when working with children in this field because it is not abra-kadbra business. Things do not happen that fast. Child and youth work is a process. You have to experiment and try many things to help so many different children. But before that even happens you have to show them they can trust you. Finding passion in your work and showing clients and their family compassion is how you can start to build relationships and gain that trust.

WHOA man!!! Sometimes I wish I had a folder in my head that I could put really important stuff that I will NEVER forget.

All in all, I am glad that I woke up and went to class.

And....that is all for Leah's words today.

On Friday September 24, 2009 all the CYW students from Loyalist College gathered together. The guest speaker that day was Gary Warren. He works with an organization called Quest International. He didn't talk too much about the organization. He focused on the trip that he organizes for Loyalist College Students to visit Mexico. CYW students also had a time to gather together and participate in some team building activities.

I was actually quite excited beforehand to hear about Quest International. I have many friends that have travelled to third world countries and their experiences blew me away. I know that I want to be involved in a trip like that that at some point in my life, preferably in the next two years. I know that if this trip was what I thought it would be I would have signed up there on the spot.

It struck me as quite alarming when Gary said that all money raised and paid goes directly towards the cost of the student trip. I assumed there would be some type of project that a portion of the money would go to. People I know that have travelled to third world countries have been involved in working on houses or buildings or helping at orphanages or in some way contributing to the community. The reason why I am so turned off by the trip to Mexico as it was described to me is because it seems like they are going to just look and see how little the people get by with. I feel like when you help and take so much more from an experience than just sitting in a spectator position. I would like to go and experience and learn from people who live in these terrible conditions but I want to know that I gave something back to them. I am still very interested in travelling but I just feel like this trip is not right for me.

All this talk about travelling out of our comfort zone has made me reflect on all the experiences I have heard from other people. Currently one of my friends is in Malawi with the World University Service of Canada in Lilongwe working for grassroots NGO called Youth Development and Advancement Organization. She is blogging and if you are interested go here ---> http://jacquelineinmalawi.blogspot.com/

I really enjoyed playing the games with the other CYW students. I wish we had more time to talk but it was great none the less. I had some first, second and third year students in my group. There was a particular third year student in my group that I never talk to. Having her in my group I was able to talk to her and get to know her. I was actual quite thankful that I wasn't allowed to pick my group or else would not have had the opportunity to talk to her. I would have enjoyed talking to the other students after the games but everyone left so quickly. I can understand that though because I was in a rush as well.

Over all this was a great day to reflect and meet some cool people. Reflect on some things that I want to do and to meet people I hadn't had the chance to yet.

And those are Leah’s Words so peace out :)