The more I'm here the more I realize I don't know much about anything. I say that seriously. There is so much that goes on within individual programs, whether that's the Migrant or Bilingual Program or in this case, After School Programs. There is so much rich detail and procedure that I haven't learned or wasn't even aware of.
I can tell you after our training today, that there are some awesome after school programs out there. Not that ours at Outlook isn't stellar, it's just wonderful to see different models and to see the real passion, I mean DEEP passion people have for helping kids beyond the school day.
If I were to sum up the theme for today, it would be two things:
1) After school programs SHOULD NOT look like in school programs. They should be structured, yes, but they should come at education for a different angle, and dare I say the "F" word here...FUN. Successful programs are ones that teach students using more innovative and fun techniques that FIRST capture student interest, then come the academics. That theme was resounding everywhere today.
2) I loved this quote from one of the presenters: "Non-formal (after school programs) DOES NOT mean unplanned." (In other words, an after school program that looks unstructured is actually well-planned and anticipated).
I also learned that we have to have (according to our 21st century grant) a 21st century rep on our school improvement team (BLT) and in terms of next year's staff development, what are we doing and planning for in after school that will come out of our building professional development dollars? Good question, eh?
An aside here: The whole time difference thing is wiggin' me out a bit.
-Bowman
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