Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Context Mapping

What is Context mapping ? I was even asking myself this question. Context Mapping is when we try to understand the environment in which the behavior under study takes place. We map out what we do, where we are, and who we make contact with.
 I have made my own context mapping to view click on the link below

Megan's Context Mapping


In this weeks reading we were asked to find out what Mitch asks Julian to do. Mitch asks Julian to do a couple of things.
He first asks him to "list the various spaces and relationships he must negotiate each day."
Mitch then asks him to "write down each of those spaces and people."
The third thing he asks him to write down is "what each of those spaces and people expect of him."
Last Mitch asks him to "pay attention to how he feels and note when he feels safe and anxious and or uneasy."

See page 27 Nakkula Chapter 2


We were also asked to list 4 different identities and describe them

1. Foreclosed Identity : is one in which and individual has committed to a life direction or way of being without exploring it carefully and without experimenting with alternatives. A foreclosed identity is one that is either thrust upon a person or simply accepted with little reflection
2. Diffuse Identity : is a state in which there has been little exploration or active consideration of a particular identity and no psychological commitment to one.
3. Identity Moratorium : This is a developmental state in which one actively explores roles and beliefs, and relationships, but refrains from making a commitment.
4. Achieved Identity : the individual has successfully integrated his ego-identity needs from the past, within the present, and into the future and can therefore display a certain level of self-acceptance and ego strength across changing context

These Identities are listed pages 28-38 Nakkula Chapter 2

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Speechless

                           Youth.... We may be little but our voices are very big. Student today need someone to talk to weather it be a friend, teacher, and or parent. I feel like they sometimes don't think that they can. They feel that there thoughts either don't matter or are a disappointment. Student's need to know that what they say and do does matter and that we care. It is funny that we had this assignment this week as I just heard a sad story about a girl who is the nicest girl and would do anything for anyone and some of her classmates found out that she was cutting herself. You would have never known. These students brought it to the attention of and adult who knows how to really listen to her students as she has been working with children all of her life. She decided to talk with this girl and try to help her. The girl said she didn't know why she was cutting herself but that she had put an end to it but the teacher said to her that she still needed to tell her parents. The girl said she didn't know if she could. When the teacher asked why she said that she felt like she had disappointed her parents as she also didn't want them to feel responsible because it wasn't their fault. Children need to feel comfortable in any situation. They need a voice, and they need to know that they are heard ! I went to the Youth Media Project
                             Website and one of the videos that I saw caught my ears. If you listen to these children talk they talk about how small they feel and that being small makes them feel like an underdog. Children need to know that there words do matter! And in the video someone say that the youth maybe small but that it is a gift. I love that !

Below is the video that i just talked about



After looking through the Youth Media Project
I found another Website called Youth Speaks. It is a great organization that created poetry slams which they call brave new voices. Their mission statement is 

"Youth Speaks creates safe spaces that empower the next generation of leaders, self-defined artists, and visionary activists through written and oral literacies. We challenge youth to find, develop, publicly present, and apply their voices as creators of societal change. Our vision is to shift the perception of youth by combating illiteracy, alienation, and silence, creating a global movement of brave new voices bringing the noise from the margins to the core."
                                                                                    
                                                This organization is awesome I like how they give youth a chance to 
                           speak in a different way and I think that they are living up to their mission and making 
                                                                  a difference and giving the youth a voice ! 

Thursday, October 3, 2013

We Want The Power !










I have just read and article on YIA ( Youth in Action ) And watched a video on a YIA documentary. Both of these discussions were so great and Powerful! The people and volunteers within these programs really want the best for the communities and the youth. They both share great moments about all these people coming together and working together in ways people today should be working. The YIA are all about pulling the youth generation together and making them united as a whole. I felt like the YIA was more focused on not only community but the children with in their communities. I also read that they would like to expand which I think is a great thing that I can only hope will happen. I think it is great that they teach kids and give them the support that they don't get in school because that is a big issue with schools today they fail to complete there task which in the end it preparing their students for the outside world.

YIA is all about the people and trying to make a voice for the youth. It seems as though the adults forget about us youth and we are the future! We are the main focus or at least we should be. This is where the documentary that I also watched comes into play. This program that they offered in Texas was a perfect way to help adults come together in a "Gathering" is what they called it to learn and build these foundations that we can start to build up our community and youth together. This gathering had lots of great information and they were building their own community of youth and development with in this gathering learning from on another. This is how it should be all the time in every school and afterschool program children learning from one another, " speaking their own opinion" as the YIA would say because that is how we learn from others experiences and them sharing their experiences with each other. This is why I love youth and development and I can see a bright future as we are moving in the right direction. We are come fully charged !


The Link to the documentary : Youth in Action Documentary

The Link to Youth in Action : http://www.youthinactionri.org/





Wednesday, October 2, 2013

YD

Friday while in Class we talked about Critical YD, Positive YD, and Risk, Resiliency, And Prevention. In doing this activity it has opened my eyes as to what area I really would like to focus on in the Youth and Development field . My area was risk, resiliency, and prevention and I totally thinks that this is my correct placement. I want to be able to help kids figure out what is right and wrong in the right way. Although I think that all the areas are intertwined with one another. I think that they all need each other to succeed. In a way they form the big team of youth and development !
Below is that activities that were completed in class