School Visit

This week at school was quite different from any of my other previous 12 visits this past semester. I had already finished my Syllable activities so the reading coach had nothing else for me to go over with the kids, which was odd because I was now on my own in order to help the kids learn. As I walked into the classroom at the Cosgrove school the mood in the classroom was very depressing. Everyone was quiet, which is completely strange because the kids are usually all over the place due to the fact that recess/ lunch has just ended. So I walk into the class and I ask the teacher if there is anything specific she wants me to help her with. She says that I can read a story with my usual kids about the Incas because she felt they'd grasp it more in a smaller group with me guiding them. This sounded like such a great idea at first, but I was quick to learn that it wasn't. So we get together in our usual spot in the hall way and begin reading the story out loud when all of a sudden kids come out of the classroom and start talking so loud. Well about 5 seconds later their teacher came out of the classroom probably yelling louder than any other human I have ever heard in my life scream. This just wasn't in 2 minute shout either he was yelling for about 10 minutes. So of course the kids I'm trying to finish this book with are completely unfocused now. After it got quiet again we started reading the story again except this time now one of my students was looking all over the place not paying attention, which led to another girl doing the same. Eventually it got to a point where I had to start quizzing them after we had completed two pages of reading. This was extremely frustrating for me because now I had to slow down to make sure they were paying attention and it took a lot longer to read the story than it should have. After we finished reading I had told the kids I didn't have to many more visits that I would be able to see them and the looks on their faces were so sad. It's amazing how deeply affected they were by a stranger that they have just began to get to know. It was heart breaking because these kids weren't just normal elementary school students anymore, they were my friends. Now on Monday something, was different too.

When I walked into the classroom to gather the activity for the day I realized that there were no more activities to be completed. As a result of this the reading coach at the school told me to just ask the teacher what she needed help with, which made sense. But as I walked out of the classroom the reading coach changed her mind and told me to teach another VIPS volunteer how to conduct an activity. I felt special that she told me to show another volunteer what to do. So on Monday I showed her how to conduct the activity yet make some variations so the children have more fun yet still learn a good amount. Sometimes that involves having competitions or grouping the students, it'll depends on how you feel is best for the kids. At the end of the day she said that I did an excellent job showing her what to do and it made me feel really good. So that was my exciting, yet very different week at Cosgrove School. I look forward to my last week there even though it'll be very depressing to say good bye :(