Wait, You Mean I Have to Leave?

After being back to school for a little over a week, I remince on how fast this summer went by. My three months with Extension proved to be extremely worthwhile, and even though I had some tough times, I wouldn't have had it any other way.

With my first independent project not going as planned, I had to step it up, and come up with another plan of action. I was finally able to complete my project, and I had such a great time teaching my group of 8, ranging from five to seven years old, all about water, soil, and buoyancy.

The day of my program was very busy. I ended up practicing one of my activities out at a preschool called Daytime Discoveries in Valmeyer, IL. There were some kinks during this trial, but I had a better idea how to go about it for my actual program that evening. After I did my  activity at the preschool, I went back to the Extension office to put a tentative plan together for that night. If I had learned anything from the rest of my time at Extension it was that you can never have a completely structured plan, especially with this age group, so being as adaptable as possible was my only hope.

It took me all the time I had to get everything set-up and pre-made. Naturally, I kept thinking of "great ideas" that I thought would help me be more organized during the program, but in reality they were just time-consuming efforts that nearly made me late to my own program. The youth have a good time making Lakes in a Bottle, Soil Property Cups, and playing Will It Sink or Will It Float? They also seemed to really take to the curriculum which was a great relief. I learned that if you have a really good and educational, yet fun activity to do that they are in that curious age, and will be willing to go above and beyond to learn about what you're trying to teach. I'm really glad I was able to do this program because it taught me a lot about myself, and how I viewed working with youth.

All the youth waiting to get food
dye added to their Lakes in a Bottle

Cohen, Molly, Ellie, and Ashton all patiently
waiting to make their Soil Property Cups!

Ellie and Ashton picking out their
items for our buoyancy game of
  Will It Sink or Will It Float?

        Overall, I'm glad I was presented with this opportunity this summer, and I can't thank Unit 22 enough for making my first internship a great experience.