Claymo by Ava

CLAYMO Leader Experience.

by Ava

In 4th grade, I was so excited to be a CLAYMO leader.  But I was also super nervous because it is a big job and you have to be responsible and be careful, AND be able to calm down kids who feel left out of are confused. But now that I know how to do all of those things, I feel like I am almost a pro at this kind of thing! (Notice how I said ALMOST…) One thing that I would like to happen is more time to prepare. We usually get a sheet, go home and read it while taking notes, but we do not get to practice with real life kids! And you do not have the materials at home to test it to make sure you are doing the right thing… I just  sometimes think that there is  some kind  of pressure,and by pressure, I mean if you mess up in front of your CLAYMO group, they will WATCH you mess up. I have done it so many times… Once, I accidentally said the Pledge Of Allegiance instead of the CLAYMO promise! I was very embarrassed

My goals for future meetings are to notice if a little kid is frustrated when we are doing a group project. Because today, one 3rd grader got frustrated because he got a job that was small and he felt that other kids got better jobs than him. So I decided that he should help with the big jobs.

Another goal for the future is to be more confident, because I am always very nervous when we are about to do a CLAYMO meeting. Like today. I was practically shaking because I was scared that I was going to mess up. But you just have to take deep breaths before you say hello to your group.

I wonder if I am doing a good job being a CLAYMO leader? I wonder what I can do to change?

Today, We did a project with the book  The Tale Of Despereaux. We showed a video about courage, and how Despereaux had the courage to shine light on an evil mouse… Well,we basically talked about courage and examples of courage. At the end, we all made a poster about the book and we used objects from the book. There was a cauldron saying “Courage Soup” and there was Despereaux’s head that the little kids colored and there was a castle, and a book.

I would say that being a CLAYMO leader taught me about responsibility, and curiousness. I am excited about future meetings, and learning more about my group.