麻豆影院

3rd Place Winner

Post 1:

听听 听I am participating in the Reading Buddies program at the 麻豆影院 Public Library. I鈥檓 paired with Hajun, a second grader. Hajun is Korean and tells me all about his family in Korea and the pets he has there. He is very interested in animals, and even told me he had pet beetles at one point. His favorite animal is a bighorn sheep, which is probably the most unique favorite animal I鈥檝e ever heard. Hajun is a big fan of the national geographic animal battles books, which are fun to read with him. He also really enjoys when we get to play games, which I couldn鈥檛 blame him, they are always fun. He is a really fun kid to work with, and I am glad we are paired up for the semester.听

听听 听Initially, when bringing Hajun鈥檚 attention to writing a book, he was unamused. He鈥檚 done this program before and has already written a book, so he thought it would be hard to come up with an idea. After reading the national geographic books, however, he got inspired. He decided his story will take place at a zoo, with the main character being a crocodile. This crocodile is, of course, friends with a lion and other animals at the zoo. At night, these animals all get together and can talk. Hajun says that they talk about playing games and then play them before the visitors come to the zoo. This is just the rough draft, so I鈥檓 excited to see what he comes up with as we keep on planning this story!听

听听 听Although not a part of this credit, I am also participating in the IEC program, where I am a volunteer in one of the classes. This has been a very amazing experience so far. I have learned about many different cultures and have a lot more awareness and knowledge about the struggles people face when they are unable to speak their native language at work, events, and more. I am very glad I can help these people learn English in hopes to make their lives easier here. I cannot wait to see what the semester will bring with this program and what I can learn from the individuals in it!听

Post 2:

听听 听In the first half of the semester I have not come across very many problems. My buddy, Hajun, is eager to play games, write his story, and read books. One thing I did struggle with was that he did not want to read himself, he only wanted me to. I was trying to find ways to get him to read but they didn鈥檛 seem to work, however, a couple weeks ago I was able to get him to read. I realized that it just depends on the type of book we are reading and he is more than happy to read when it is not necessarily looked at as reading. For example, we pulled out a joke book and he read me the jokes. From there, I got him to read some other books, so this isn鈥檛 really an issue anymore. This also ties into some strengths I have noticed throughout the semester. If Hajun isn鈥檛 responding well to something, switching it up tends to work and has reduced any issues that could arise. I will keep on doing what I have been doing, which I feel will be very effective, and there are not any major things that need to be worked on at the moment.听

Post 3:

听听 听Being a part of the reading buddies program has been an amazing experience. I was hesitant to participate in this at first because I did not have a lot of experience with working with children like this, and I didn鈥檛 know if I would like doing this. This skepticism was unnecessary, for I quickly realized that I really enjoy doing this. I have learned important skills such as learning how to redirect a child, how to keep them engaged, or teaching them things that can be helpful in school and reading in general. I also learned that I can form a deeper connection with a child, which can benefit both myself and the child. Hajun, my reading buddy, has been a great buddy to read with. I learned about his culture, what he likes and dislikes, and general things about himself that I would not have known if it weren鈥檛 for this program. At the beginning of the semester when I was first getting to know him, I was concerned I would not be able to help him effectively. I didn鈥檛 know what I was doing, and it was definitely something I had to learn about as I moved forward. One of the biggest struggles was getting him to read. He would always refuse and want me to read to him. I tried everything I could, but it didn鈥檛 work. Then, one day, Hajun decided he would read to me. I realized that this only happened because we had established a connection between one another, which allowed him to come out of his shell. After helping Hajun through these weeks, I have realized how difficult the English language can be. I wasn鈥檛 able to answer all of his questions at times, which surprised me. I did not realize how difficult it could be to teach someone English, and it was a learning curve for me. Overall, I will really cherish my experiences here with the reading buddies program, and I am so glad I ignored my hesitations and decided to participate in this.

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