This day I was excited to give my book to Mrs. Smith so that she could read it and then talk about it. I got to Classic City early and was just waiting for class to start as usual. Not many people were in the classroom which I had experienced before so I was not too shocked by it. Mrs. Smith came into the room and told me that it was a half day because everyone was having parent teacher conferences. This surprised me, because where I grew up parent teacher conferences were done in the mornings or after school so we never got a half day because of it. She told me that first period would only last until 10:00 instead of 10:40. I didn't think much of it and just asked her who she wanted me to work with. Bill was still not at school, but Starla was. I worked with Starla again.
I enjoy working with Starla because she is friendly and hard working. I never have to really push her to do her work because she wants to get it done. She also talks with me, which is a huge bonus. We started working on the assignment which was just writing a paragraph or two, and then we had to watch a youtube video. I am not able to listen because there are not two outlets to put in headphones, but I watched with her. We then went over a powerpoint over annotations. Starla is smart so a lot of the powerpoint seemed obvious, but she still took notes over what she thought was really important. We went through a few slides, but then class was over.
I enjoyed working with Starla and hope to continue to work with her.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Day 6 at Classic City High School: 3/18/2015
This was the first time back at Classic City for a month. I wasn't able to go for so long be the school was closed for two of the weeks and I needed to study for an exam one of the weeks. I was really nervous when I walked into the school because I was worried that Bill wouldn't want to work with me since I had been gone for so long. I wouldn't blame him if he was mad and didn't want to work with me because I did leave for a long time.
I walked into Mrs. Smith's class as usual and waited for class to start. The students that were always there, were in their seats working away by the time class had started. I remember thinking that these students are more productive than most students I have worked with. Mrs. Smith was talking with another teacher so it was about five to ten minutes into class before I was addressed. Bill wasn't there so Mrs. Smith had be work with *Starla. I was nervous because the last time I had worked with a girl was my first week and it didn't go as I had planned. Luckily Starla was very welcoming to me. She opened up to me a little bit talking to me about work and everything she had to do. She said she loves to read outside of the classroom, but doesn't really get the chance to read as much as she would like because of work. I was really impressed by this, because, even though I am an english education major, I have not loved reading at home until this year. We got through the critical thinking part of the assignment and then we had to do vocabulary. Starla did not like to do vocabulary. She said that it was really repetitive and that she didn't really learn much through the website. I was impressed, once again, by her because of her want for higher level thinking tasks. She doesn't like just looking at vocabulary on the computer screen.
Class ended and I waited for the students to leave before I talked to Mrs. Smith. Talking to Mrs. Smith at the end of the class has become my favorite part of going to Classic City. I think she is so insightful and can tell me so much about being a teacher and all of her different experiences in the teaching profession. We started talking about Starla and how open she was with me and her wanting to learn on a higher level. Mrs. Smith wasn't surprised at all and was saying how she doesn't like that she can't really push her students as much as she would like. I then brought up the book that I had read in class: America's Unseen Kids/Teaching English/Language Arts in Today's Forgotten High Schools. The more we talked about the book the more Mrs. Smith agreed with it and wanted to read it. I offered to bring her the book the following week so she could read it and she was thrilled. I was excited to give her the book so we could talk about it more.
I walked into Mrs. Smith's class as usual and waited for class to start. The students that were always there, were in their seats working away by the time class had started. I remember thinking that these students are more productive than most students I have worked with. Mrs. Smith was talking with another teacher so it was about five to ten minutes into class before I was addressed. Bill wasn't there so Mrs. Smith had be work with *Starla. I was nervous because the last time I had worked with a girl was my first week and it didn't go as I had planned. Luckily Starla was very welcoming to me. She opened up to me a little bit talking to me about work and everything she had to do. She said she loves to read outside of the classroom, but doesn't really get the chance to read as much as she would like because of work. I was really impressed by this, because, even though I am an english education major, I have not loved reading at home until this year. We got through the critical thinking part of the assignment and then we had to do vocabulary. Starla did not like to do vocabulary. She said that it was really repetitive and that she didn't really learn much through the website. I was impressed, once again, by her because of her want for higher level thinking tasks. She doesn't like just looking at vocabulary on the computer screen.
Class ended and I waited for the students to leave before I talked to Mrs. Smith. Talking to Mrs. Smith at the end of the class has become my favorite part of going to Classic City. I think she is so insightful and can tell me so much about being a teacher and all of her different experiences in the teaching profession. We started talking about Starla and how open she was with me and her wanting to learn on a higher level. Mrs. Smith wasn't surprised at all and was saying how she doesn't like that she can't really push her students as much as she would like. I then brought up the book that I had read in class: America's Unseen Kids/Teaching English/Language Arts in Today's Forgotten High Schools. The more we talked about the book the more Mrs. Smith agreed with it and wanted to read it. I offered to bring her the book the following week so she could read it and she was thrilled. I was excited to give her the book so we could talk about it more.
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Day 5 at Classic City High School: 2/18/15
Sorry this is so late! Its been a busy month, but trust me I couldn't forget this day even if I wanted to. (which I don't!) I started the day as usual: I walked in the room about five minutes early and just hung out until class started, then Mrs. Smith gave out instructions and then I was to work with Bill. The only problem here was that Bill didn't want to work with me today. I was so disappointed because I though after he had said thank you that we were starting to build a relationship and maybe we would start to talk about things other than school, but I guess I was wrong. Because Bill didn't want to work with me I started working with *Brittney. She was open to me being her tutor and we just started on the work.
The assignment was to answer questions that related to the book that they were getting ready to read. The questions included: "Are killing and murder the same thing?" and "Should a person's childhood be put into consideration when sentencing?" I thought the questions were telling about the person who answered them. Brittney did not think that killing and murder were the same and thought that someone's childhood should be put into consideration when sentencing. I agreed with her answers, not that that matters, and I found that interesting. Before I could continue to work with Brittney, Mrs. Smith came over and told me that Bill did want to work with me. I was shocked but excited that he had changed his mind. When I went over to help him he was just staring at the computer not doing anything. He pulled up the assignment and continued to just stare at the screen. He then went to the bathroom for a while. Mrs. Smith told me to start the sentences for him so that when he got back he could just answer the question. I didn't really understand how that would help him, but I did it anyway. When he came back he slowly but surely started to answer the questions. His answers stuck with me because they were not what I was expecting. He said that he though that murder and killing were the same because a life was lost in both. He did not think that childhood should be taken into consideration when sentencing. These answers showed me that he believes in will power to an extent because he didn't want to account for childhood experiences. He then had to watch two youtube videos that the teacher had chosen and by the time that was done the class was over.
After class I talked to Mrs. Smith because I wanted to ask her how she wanted me to deal with Bill when he just stared at the screen or put his head down. I told her I am not supposed to act as the teacher or counselor and that I was there purely to tutor and help any way I can. She then told me that with Bill I need to be the teacher to an extent. She said that I will have to constantly push him to do the work and even start things for him and then have him finish the work. Then she preceded to tell me that Bill had asked for me to come over which meant a lot. She told me that him wanting me to tutor him meant that he valued our relationship even if he never opens up to me or shows interest in me while I am there.
This really stuck with me. It made me realize that people do not have to outwardly express their feelings in order to have them. Bill does not have to tell me that he likes having me as a tutor or tell me about his home life to show that he likes me. I am a very expressive person so realizing this made me think about how I cannot expect everyone to express feelings like I do, and when they don't to not get my feelings hurt.
The assignment was to answer questions that related to the book that they were getting ready to read. The questions included: "Are killing and murder the same thing?" and "Should a person's childhood be put into consideration when sentencing?" I thought the questions were telling about the person who answered them. Brittney did not think that killing and murder were the same and thought that someone's childhood should be put into consideration when sentencing. I agreed with her answers, not that that matters, and I found that interesting. Before I could continue to work with Brittney, Mrs. Smith came over and told me that Bill did want to work with me. I was shocked but excited that he had changed his mind. When I went over to help him he was just staring at the computer not doing anything. He pulled up the assignment and continued to just stare at the screen. He then went to the bathroom for a while. Mrs. Smith told me to start the sentences for him so that when he got back he could just answer the question. I didn't really understand how that would help him, but I did it anyway. When he came back he slowly but surely started to answer the questions. His answers stuck with me because they were not what I was expecting. He said that he though that murder and killing were the same because a life was lost in both. He did not think that childhood should be taken into consideration when sentencing. These answers showed me that he believes in will power to an extent because he didn't want to account for childhood experiences. He then had to watch two youtube videos that the teacher had chosen and by the time that was done the class was over.
After class I talked to Mrs. Smith because I wanted to ask her how she wanted me to deal with Bill when he just stared at the screen or put his head down. I told her I am not supposed to act as the teacher or counselor and that I was there purely to tutor and help any way I can. She then told me that with Bill I need to be the teacher to an extent. She said that I will have to constantly push him to do the work and even start things for him and then have him finish the work. Then she preceded to tell me that Bill had asked for me to come over which meant a lot. She told me that him wanting me to tutor him meant that he valued our relationship even if he never opens up to me or shows interest in me while I am there.
This really stuck with me. It made me realize that people do not have to outwardly express their feelings in order to have them. Bill does not have to tell me that he likes having me as a tutor or tell me about his home life to show that he likes me. I am a very expressive person so realizing this made me think about how I cannot expect everyone to express feelings like I do, and when they don't to not get my feelings hurt.
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