Homework and Hoops

I got the opportunity to interact with the kids this week. I worked with two girls today, both in 5th grade. They were very close friends and I was very obviously the outsider.

For the first 20 minutes we played "carpet ball" a somewhat rough game that is apparently the favorite of all the kids. The two girls I was working with weren't all that inclined to share the game with other students and I had a difficult time helping them understand that they were being disrespectful. This wasn't necessarily their fault - interacting with kids is a new thing for me and I am not all that comfortable giving directives or attempting to steer them in the the appropriate direction using "responsive classroom" techniques...

After free time, we completed the goal sheets and then started homework. Both of the girls had english grammar homework (the same assignment). One the girls was much quicker than the other which unfortunately led the slightly slower girl to copying. I tried to prevent that by asking her to read the problem sentences out loud but the other girl answered the questions before she had the opportunity to think about it. I can see why it is better to work one-on-one with the children in situations such as this. Also, because the questions had either/or answers, if I asked the girls to re-read the sentence they knew the correct answer was the other option without understanding the why behind it. I'm not sure it I was any help in that regard.

Once they finished with their grammar homework, one the the other volunteers showed the students the library and explained the lay out and how the library there works. We then ate some snacks and moved on to the multiplication cube (an inflatable cube with 20 or so multiplication problems on each side).

This cube is a game in which you toss the cube back and forth three times and then you have to answer the multiplication questions that your thumbs landed on. They successfully did this a couple of times and then the game turned into more of a ball fight. Again, I felt I could have handled the situation a bit better if (1) I felt more comfortable around kids, (2) I had the appropriate words to use to get them to stop... I think I'll gain confidence as the weeks go by...

Posted by mcgra203 at 5:18 PM | Permalink

Last week I went for an introductory 1 hour visit to Homework 'n' Hoops. Maurie Clipperton, the program manager of elementary enrichment education, showed me around the facilities, let me chat with some of the kids about the program, and interviewed me for a mentoring position.

Today I went back for training. It was a one-on-one training session with Maurie. We discussed "developmental assets" and how I, as a mentor, play a crucial role in providing external assets to the children in the program, "responsive classroom" techniques (a philosophy the program uses to positively and respectfully reinforce the students), goal sheets, boundaries, program guidelines and volunteer engagement.

I have agreed to volunteer every Wednesday from 3:15-5:30. I'm very much looking forward to working with the kids next week.

The program seems to be a true asset to the community. Maurie is a delightful man who is incredibly passionate about the work he is doing (he started the program 20+ years ago). His training techniques were wonderful and I feel very comfortable going forward as a result. He is also incredibly engaged in the classroom itself and I don't expect to have any problems grabbing his attention if I feel I need it when working with the kids.

And that about wraps it up.

Also, I should mention that I attended the U of M service learning training Friday, Feb. 1st. So that's all done too...

on to the actual volunteering...

Posted by mcgra203 at 10:25 AM | Permalink