This is my seventh assignment since I started volunteering with Santa Cruz Writes, Young Writers program and it is different from all my other assignments. I am working in a classroom of lower income hispanic children who are in the sixth grade. The hope is to get these kids through to college rather than the streets. I was a bit concerned at first because I don't speak Spanish, but I have been put at ease because all the kids speak English, though there are some who are English learners. Our working groups consist of the teacher and two coaches who know Spanish, myself and one other male for a class of 30.
This school is unlike other schools I have been to. It is located inside an old converted warehouse. Outside the front door is a gated area covered with astroturf on one side and tables for outside dining on the other. Bikes line the walkway. When you enter the school, the first thing you see are two posts that stand at least five and a half feet and look like Christmas trees filled with skate boards instead of branches. I need to take a photo next visit as it is unusual to see at any school. As you walk inside, you see a large room. The receptionist sits behind a counter to the left and there is a theater in the middle. Hallways lead to classrooms and stairways lead upstairs. I have yet to go upstairs, so I'm not sure what is up there. Throughout the school you will find small rooms with glass windows. Each room looks to hold about eight people who sit around a round table. These are the rooms we were promised to be using when we would work with our small groups of six kids.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
The kids were restless the first day, but they were manageable. I was given six children to work with. I pulled a chair up to the already crowed table and asked the kids to read me something they had written. I said thank you to each as they finished and continued around the table. I wrote their names down so I could be ready to go at our next meeting. It was a quick meeting lasting about one-half hour. I will meet with them on my own on Thursday.
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Today I found out the location inside the school where I would be working with the kids. I was hoping for one of the small rooms because I've found that moving kids outside their classroom into a quiet place helps them focus better. The teacher read off the lists of kids and room numbers they would be going to with their WPA's (Writing Project Assistants). It was looking like I was going to get stuck in that classroom and that's exactly what happened. I thought the teacher was going to stay with her group there and I was picturing my sad fate when she left to one of the meeting rooms. As soon as she left, I looked up at the empty tables and six kids who were staring back. I said, "lets sit at this table in the middle of the room." It seems like a good place. So they sat down and I went around and asked them to tell me something about themselves. As they told me one of the boys asked, "why are you asking these questions?" I told him, "I am asking so I will know you better" and then I smiled. When we were finished going around the table, I asked them to work in groups of two and write and then read to each other what they had written. One of the girls; I'll call her Kate; says, "we don't want to sit in groups of twos." "We want to sit in groups of threes." That's when I lost them. I was convinced sitting in groups of three wouldn't work out because we only have forty-five minutes and it seemed distracting. Next thing I knew Kate stood up on the chair she had been sitting on previously. Another child followed her until everyone was either standing on a chair or moved away from the table. They refused to write anything. I was feeling rather angry by that time. I said, "I'm a volunteer here and I don't need to be here if you don't want to work with me." Several of the kids yelled out, "Oh no! Don't go away!" I asked them to sit down and they climbed down off chairs, but still refused to do any writing. I thought about it for a moment because I really didn't want to leave and so I just stop paying attention to their acting up. I sat down and started writing my own story. After about five minutes I looked up to kids doing their own thing, listening to music, talking and roaming the classroom playing with little things they found lying around. At that point I decided that at least I would try and see if any of them had written anything prior to this meeting. I walked up to the first child and asked them to read me anything they had written in their journal. The boy looked at me and then did as I asked. I listened intently, staring at him the whole time. When he was finished I told him a positive thing I liked in his story and then asked if I could see his journal. I poured through the lines looking for something I could ask him a question about. I took an interest in just him and it seemed to have some effect because I then had other kids asking me to read theirs. We didn't get any writing done that day, but we did find out about one another. I had the whole weekend to think about what I would do with this group.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
First day back after the weekend. [Note: I had spoken with the teacher to find out protocol regarding what to do with kids last Thursday before I left. She told me that I could send them outside the room and to be stern with them. I am not much of a disciplinarian so this isn't something I looked forward to.]
I had brought name tags that I made on my pages program using two pieces of clipart that told me two things the kids told me about themselves the week before. They were a big hit. The kids loved them. I set them out and asked that the kids get in groups of two. The same response... "But we don't want to be in groups of two!" "We want to be in groups of three" moaned Kate. The rest joined in. They proceeded to sit at two tables in groups of three. I didn't want to get into a power play with them, so I just let it stay. I then told them that they could do whatever they liked for three minutes. I set the timer. They spent most of the three minutes asking me what I meant by doing whatever they wanted. The timer went off and I reset it for five minutes and told them to write for five minutes. They sat down, but one group decided to talk instead of write. I sent two boys outside. They looked surprised but went. (Next time I will send them out with paper and pencils to write!) The girls seemed excited to read me what they had so far, so I took each one to the table at the back of the room and had them read to me. The timer went off. I told them to shake themselves off... for two minutes and back to writing for five. They still didn't get much written, but I am starting to see how they work.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Today I came into the classroom armed with hummus, I had made the night before and Martinelli's apple juice. They were so thrilled to have the juice and the hummus. I had given some hummus to another aide in exchange for some crackers. She handed me only one sleeve that allowed the kids to have five each. We sat down and snacked and talked. I asked them more questions about themselves. They wanted to bring in some cake pops next meeting... I told them no... so they decided they want to bring in oatmeal cookies because they are healthy. I expect they won't bring in anything, but if they do ... it will be cake pops. LOL We still didn't get much writing done. They don't seem interested in writing at all. I'm trying to find a way to encourage them. I have the weekend.
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