Fieldwork Experience

Turtle Rock
The afterschool program site I volunteer at is Turtle Rock Community Park. It is by
a nature center and park. The facility they use has three rooms. One large room,
one smaller room and a gym like room with a stage. The students range from
Kindergarten to sixth grade. The ethnicities of the students vary and usually come
from Elementary schools around the Irvine area. Usually, Turtle Rock serves from
40-60 students each day.
Staff
The staff at Turtle Rock Community Park afterschool program is pretty young and
may have graduated from college just a couple years earlier. The demographics of
the staff are pretty similar to the students. It is neat that the staff is younger,
because the students are better able to connect with the staff. Because the staff is
younger, they are more outgoing, energetic, and can joke around and engage in
sports and other physical activities with the students. The staff interacts with the
students through sports, board games, card games, and homework time.
Whats working and what is not
Although the young factor of the staff is beneficial, what the staff lacks is training.
The environment is very relaxed and sometimes chaotic. The staff does not seem
to have things under control, because the program itself is not structured. When
volunteers show up, the staff does not introduce themselves nor do they assign the
volunteers to any task. One of the things that did not work was homework time.

When students ask for help on their homework, some of the staff attempts to help
but many times they are not able to help. Also, when students are struggling with
their homework, sometimes the staff neglects them. The staff needs training in
helping students with their homework. Another thing that did not work was
reading time. The staff would group the students up into younger and older
children. The students would just sit either at tables or on the floor and listen to
the staff read a chapter or two. The students would be restless and seemed bored
out of their minds. However, what was successful about the program is its active
programs. The active activities include outside free play and star wars dodge
ball. The staff would play with the students which students were excited about.
Nonetheless, the program itself should gear towards students success in terms of
academics, the well being of the students, and extracurricular activities. In
general, the program is akin to a babysitting business. I noticed that the students
need motivation and encouragement. I also noticed that the students lacked
confidence and their attitudes mirrored the attitude of the staff. Turtle Rock
Community Park afterschool program is located in an excellent venue. If the space
was utilized properly, the program was structured towards students success, and
the staff had proper training then Turtle Rock afterschool program would be
extremely beneficial to meeting student needs.

Journal Entries
Journal Entry 1: My First Volunteering Experience
Turtle Rock afterschool program is located right next to a nature center and park. The
location itself is wonderful because it is so opened and rustic. The center itself has
three multipurpose rooms, a kitchen, and the outside play area. My first day
volunteering at Turtle Rock Community Park was a bit mundane. There were no
directions given on where to go and what I should be doing. When I first entered the
main multipurpose room, it was during passive time where students were able to
choose what they wanted to do. There were students playing card games, board
games, reading, doing homework, playing with Kinnex, and eating their lunch.
Students seemed to be engaged with their activity and having fun interacting and
collaborating with their peers, but also enjoying time alone. Some of the staff
members interacted with the students, while other staff members either sat or stood
monitoring the students. After passive time, the students would go out for active
time, which seemed to be the students favorite part of the program. Outside students
would play basketball, handball, jump rope, and flag football. I observed the students
playing handball and it was an activity that involved collaboration, teamwork, and
sportsmanship. Handball allowed me to see how well the students interacted with
one another, how they approach and handle situations, and how the staff intervenes
in a problem. After, active time outside, students go back in for passive time which is
homework and reading. The students get grouped into younger and older kids.
Personally, I believe that students do not need to be grouped into younger and older
but rather integrated. During this passive time, one of the staff members will read a

chapter or two from a chapter books, however students become restless and bored
throughout this time. When students start working on their homework, there is no
structure on what needs to be done and who is able to help the students when they do
not understand something. On my first day, I was able to clearly see what was
missing from Turtle Rock afterschool program and that was the lack of structure and
staff training. According to Huang & Dietels findings in Making Afterschool Programs
Better, the best programs had leaders who articulated a clear program mission,
vision statement, goals, and provided all staff with professional development
opportunities that improved individual and team skills (4). What I saw was working
for Turtle Rock afterschool was the excitement of the students being able to choose
what activities they wanted to participate in. The lack of structure at Turtle Rock
hinders the academic needs of the students but at the same time gives the students
the freedom to participate in the activity of their choosing.
Journal Entry Two: UC Links Observation
For class we had to complete three observations. The students I was assigned to
observe are Charlie, Austen and Silas. For Charlie I observed him during
homework/reading time. Charlie is in second grade; he is a friendly and sweet. He is
smart and ambitious. I asked him what he liked about Turtle Rock afterschool
program and he responded saying that it is place where he can hangout with friends
and take a break from school. During homework time, he collaborates with his
friends from school. After finishing their individual homework, they would check to
see if they both got the same answers. Charlie is one of the students that actually use
homework time to complete his homework and after he is done he sits and reads. It

amazes me that at second grade he has already read the entire Harry Potter series,
and is currently re-reading them. I asked him if he preferred the movies or the books
and he said that the books and movies are different; the books are more detailed and
allows you to imagine the story yourself but the movie is more visual and summarizes
the book.
Next I observed a third grader named Austen during homework time. He was sitting
next to his best friend Benny. Benny was eating his lunch and beginning on his
homework, while Austen was sitting with a book below his grade level (about
Princesses). Austen is a difficult student to talk to. Asking him questions was literally
akin to talking to Benny, who answered every question that was directed towards
Austen. Austen is not shy, he seems very defensive and distrusting of people he is not
close with. During homework time, Austen said he had already completed his
homework, and when I asked him if the book he was reading was easy he became
very defensive. I have observed Austen before and his social skills are rough. He is
aggressive and defensive towards other students. When he cries because something
does not go the way he wants it or when he gets into an argument with another
student, the staff just tells the students to stop and does not attempt to understand
the situation and talk to the students to comprehend both sides of the incident.
The last student I observed was Silas. He is in second grade and I observed him
during their active inside time, which they played Star Wars dodge ball. Silas is
extremely friendly and outgoing. He always has a smile and is easy to talk. He loves
asking questions and is curious about everything. His best friend is a boy named
Arthur. They do homework and play together all the time. Silas is friendly with his

peers, he does not tease or mock other students, but is aware of others feelings.
During the active inside time, Silas is very active and participates in the games and
does not pout or throw a fit when he is out. I think dodge ball is a great recreational
activity that Turtle Rock provides the students. The students not only have a lot of fun
but it is an opportunity for students to come together young and old and also the staff
to hangout, have fun, be active, and enjoy their time together.
Through these three observations I placed Turtle Rock afterschool program under
the category of associated. In the article Learning with excitement: Bridging school and
after-school worlds and project-based learning, Gil Noam defines five different types of
programs that creates a bridge between schools and after-school programs. The
associated programs reserve a role for school engagement in their program mission
but do not have a strong connection to schools due to the lack of response from
schools or after-schools attempts at outreach (Noam, 129). Turtle Rock incorporates
reading, homework and physical activities for the students, but the system is neither
solid nor structured. Also, because the students come from different schools, it is
difficult for the staff to group them into the same grades and schools to focus on
specific homework. In Noams article, he mentions that the interviews with programs
such as Turtle Rock revealed, Associated programs were limited in the intensity of
bridging because the onus tended to fall entirely on the after-school staff. May schools
do not have dedicated teachers of administrators to serve as liaisons with after-school
programs (Noam 130). For Turtle Rock to be successful staff needs to have an
integrated plan and understanding of what students are learning in schools and what
they need to improve on.

Journal Entry Three: LIAS tool

The LIAS principle (Learning In After School) is a rubric that assess afterschool
programs based on five categories: active, collaborative, meaningful, supports
mastery, and expands horizons. Throughout the day I observed the activities that
students were doing and the main part of the day I chose to base my LIAS Principles
on was homework/reading time. The majority of my findings were rated in the early
and developing stages. Turtle Rock itself is not geared towards academics but rather
recreational activities. So the active part of the LIAS tool, the program is more in the
developing and mature stages. The students participate in many hands on activity of
their choosing. They are given the opportunity to further explore their interests.
However, for my observation of homework/reading time, there is no active element
and so the assessment lies in the early stages. Turtle Rock afterschool should
restructure their homework/reading time, because it is not being used efficiently.
During this time, students are bored and their homework either is not finished or it is
not done correctly. During reading time, students do not pay attention to the story
and would rather read on their own. During homework time, collaboration is a hit or
miss. The students will usually have different homework, but when they do have the
same homework, some of the students will work together. The staff does not monitor
whether or not the students have homework or if they need assistance on their
homework. The students do need to work on their collaborative skills and learn to
workout their issues by listening to one another. Unfortunately, as mentioned before
the homework/reading time is not meaningful and falls under the early category;
especially because young people do not reflect on or assess their own progress

because no one is guiding them through their homework or making sure it is being
done correctly. During this homework/reading time there is really no new
opportunity for the students to learn new skills and get really good at something.
Students are doing their homework but put no effort in really understanding and
focusing on the task. When the students are being read to they do not appear
challenged by the activity but rather they appear bored and unengaged. Neither the
reading nor doing homework takes students beyond their current experience. Maybe
when they read on their own it expands horizons but not when the students are
sitting there and being read to.