Urban Education, post 8

     Throughout my experiences of volunteering, I have been able to work with a variety of age groups. The school where I have been volunteering has students from kindergarten through 6^th grade. I have had the opportunity to spend a little time with each age group. I have noticed differences among the age groups, particularly related to their social behavior. For example, the younger children appear to seek out a social bond with me; whereas, the older children only seek out a professional relationship with me and create a bond with the other students in the class. Another difference I noticed is that the younger students typically spend time with the same gender and the older students more frequently spend time with both genders. In third and fourth grades, I start to see this transition take place. As a teacher, I think it is important to remember that children’s needs change greatly from when they enter elementary school at age five and when they leave at age eleven or twelve. We need to be able to adjust to where our students are developmentally and socially, so we can be sure to provide a comfortable, nurturing classroom environment for students at any age.