My Second Day

The second time I went to Classic City High was February 1st. Since I had trouble remembering grammar concepts the first visit, I made sure to review before my second visit. Once again, I was in Ms. Johns class with Anna. However, Claire was back to her normal day, Friday. 

Once we arrived, Ms. Johns informed us they veered from their normal curriculum to work on an essay that would be submitted to a competition. The students had to write about a time they witnessed or experienced bullying. It had to include their definition of bullying, the situation, and if an adult intervened. Some students did not know a real event to write about, so they had to write a short narrative of a bullying situation and how it was resolved. I worked with two students on their narratives: Nikki and Xavier. I had worked with Xavier the first visit. Each student barely had anything written, so it sounded like Ms. Johns's main concern was to have something written. However, I wish she had clarified what she wanted me to do. She never explicitly said, and I wasn't sure if should focus on teaching them to construct better sentences or just help them to come up with the story and type it out. 

Since it was a draft, I focused on getting them to write out their ideas. Nikki was more talkative than Xavier, so I was able to connect with her more. She told me she was a bad writer and could not write fiction or poetry. I told her it was really hard for me too. Sometimes I felt like a bad writer, but writing is a process, and no one is good at writing at first. It's a skill. I think this made her feel better, because afterwards she wrote more. Sometimes I had to prompt her if I could tell she didn't know what to do. 

Xavier would be on his phone, eating, or just laying his head down. I let him take small breaks, but I tried to keep him on track. Ms. Johns would occasionally help prompt him. Since she knew the assignment better than me, she would type out questions for him about his story. 

In the class after this week's visit, one group's presentation focused on bullying. In high school, the main form was cyber bullying. I could see this being a problem at Classic City, because every student is on his or her phone most of the time. However, both students I worked with were writing fictional stories, so I do not know if this is a big problem at the school.

My First Day

Wednesday, January 25th, was my first volunteer day at Classic City High. My plan for the semester is to go every Wednesday for first period, which runs from 9:15 to 10:30. Other than getting slightly lost, locating the school was easy, which was my main concern for the day. Two of my classmates, Anna Warnell and Claire Sanders, were here for the same period as well. Claire had already started volunteering, so she was able to direct us and show us what to do at each arrival. 

The three of us were placed in Ms. Johns' class. The class consisted of eight boys. The day's subject was different types of clauses and identifying their uses. We were each assigned to help two students when the class broke up to do worksheets. Every  English or English Education major student understands how to use grammar correctly. We don't really think about terms or the mechanics of it anymore. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I had to ask for help because I could not remember what a noun clause was and could not help my students. I also learned that just because you know the right answer, it does not mean you know how to coherently explain why it is the right answer. It made me appreciate all the years of flawless, easy to understand explanations teachers gave me in the past. 

The biggest behavior difference I noticed between the high school I attended and Classic City High was cell phone use. Every student had his cell phone out, and most also had headphones in. Ms. Johns only required the students to have one ear free. It was painful to watch them on their phones while she taught, but I have to remember what Ms. Mimi told us the first day of class. You pick your battles. For whatever reason, these students are struggling, and even if they have their cell phones out, at least they're here and participating. If there was a particular point Ms. Johns wanted to emphasize, she made sure every student looked up and thanked them.    

As a result of my first day, I have two goals for improvement. One, be refreshed and understand grammar terms and mechanics. Two, be able to explain answers without struggling for words or slightly rambling.