where did the time go?

Wow, has it really been two weeks since I wrote on my blog?  Last week, it totally slipped my mind that I should write on my blog.  I think that's a little reflection of how busy it has been at NNH.  Let's see... What did happen two weeks ago?  Well, I do remember that Dr. Mask visited me on one of the math/literacy center days.  It was fun having him come in and observe some of what the kids do.  Dr. Mask and I were even able to discuss what research I've done so far and what else I can do before my internship is over.  The rest of the week went pretty well.  Instead of going to Coolidge Park, everyone had to stay at NNH because it rained.  So, the kids ended up doing some crafts and watch a movie, which was a nice change from having to walk in the hot sun and watch the kids play in the water as the rest of the staff roast.  Also, on Friday we went on a field trip to the Discovery Museum.  It was a fun experience because I was able to watch the kids have so much fun, but it was also a little tiring.  It also didn't help that I had a bad headache on that day.  Oh, and I also taught some German to the kids during Academies.  I tried to teach the kids how to sing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" in German, but I think it was a little difficult for the young kids.  While I'm not sure if any of them will remember anything that I taught them, at least they were able to learn a little bit about Germany and hear what the language sounds like.  Another exciting thing about that week was that we had three Burundi children come to the program.  These were three children who had been at the after school program when I had first arrived (these were also the children who I thought were Burmese, which they definitely are not).  While I haven't gotten to know them really well since they arrived two weeks ago, I've been able to talk to them some and have found that all of them are really smart and sweet. This past week was a little crazy.  Monday was pretty normal since we just had centers like we always do.  It was nice because the kids used Leap Frog during the math centers, which was a nice break from the math packets.  However, it did get a little loud in that room when all the kids were competing to hear their Leap Frog games.  During fitness, it was fun watching the kids as they rolled tires down the hallway in a race.  While they got pretty excited about that, it did leave scuff marks on the walls.  On Tuesday, that's when the week got a little hectic.  We had this church group from Orlando, Florida come to hang out with the kids, so it definitely made for a loud afternoon.  But a nice thing that I was able to do on Tuesday was to sit in with one of the social workers from the direct assistance program and listen to consultations the social worker had with participants of the program.  It definitely gave me some insight into what NNH deals with everyday and how desperate some people are to get a little help with paying bills.  Talking with the social worker, I liked learning that with their program, they alway require the participant to pay some portion of the bill and they can only get help from NNH every six months with a utility bill.  Also, they always recommend that the participant should get financial counseling, which is offered for free. On Wednesday, the church group came back again to hang out with the kids.  While the kids really loved having a bunch of extra teenagers to play with, it did require the staff to be more firm to keep the structure of the program.  We were going to do a scavenger hunt on Wednesday around Chattanooga, but couldn't because it rained.  So, all the staff had to put together a craft that the kids and the church group could do together in the afternoon last minute.  We were running around getting that done, then the kids had to do review, and then the group arrived.  It was nice that the kids could hang out with different people, but it just made the building a lot more crowded than it normally is.  At the end of the day, we just had the kids watch a couple of movies since they couldn't go outside and they were also being a little rowdy.  Wednesday was also a day where all the staff cracked down on discipline in order to keep the day more structured.  With a major tantrum and a messy assembly hall, we forced some kids to do write offs and we also started taking away pool time for some of the kids.   On Thursday, I had planned to maybe do some interviews with kids, but I couldn't because I accidentally left my laptop at home.  It probably would have been to hectic anyway to conduct any since it was so busy.  It was the last day that the church group was with us.  They arrived while the kids were finishing up on their international study day centers.  Thankfully, it was nice enough outside that we were able to go to Coolidge Park.  While all the staff were a little worried that it was going to be a disaster when the staff, the church group, and kids walked to the park, it ended up being okay.  Ms. Rachel made it pretty clear to the kids that they were not to talk on the way, so it stayed pretty quiet (although some of the teenagers kept talking, which tempted the kids to talk back to them).  After we went to the park (in which there was a bloody mouth, one kid walked around the park herself without any staff knowing, and a bunch of the teenagers went to get snow cones after we told them we were getting ready to leave), we went back to NNH and made the kids watch a movie.  Sometimes we let the kids do something else while we watch movies, but we didn't this week because we felt like they needed time to just be quiet. Yesterday was finally a break from a busy week.  We went to the pool yesterday since we didn't go on Wednesday.  That was nice, but I think all of us were pretty exhausted.  Also, it was the first day that one of our staff wasn't with us (and she won't be back next week either, which should make things interesting).  Before we went to the pool, the kids didn't do review or Academies, but listened to a wash board band instead.  I think the kids really enjoyed it and it was fun to watch some of the kids dance to a bunch of older ladies singing songs like "You are my sunshine" and "Rocky top Tennessee."  Thankfully, yesterday was fairly uneventful, which was a nice break.  However, I still didn't have time to do interviews because we got back to NNH at around 3:30, which would only give me about 15 minutes to do an interview before the parents start picking up the kids (and I had to get snack ready anyway, so that didn't happen).  While I did do one interview this week with one of the kids, I really wanted to do several more.  I'm just hoping that next week I can get everything done since it's the last week of the summer program (I can't believe it!).  I really wanted to interview at least one parent, so I'm going to see if that is at all possible.  I also wanted to do a PLA activity with the kids, but I'll just have to see how much time I'll have.