Seventh Day

Today was “Testing Tuesday.” My morning flew by quickly as I listened in some meetings and administrated my first test to a young fourth grade student.  The child finished quickly so I allowed him some play time as I watched him on recess duty. In the late morning I met with the usual snack group students, followed by a math discovery group. The math discovery group worked with geometric tiles, and I learned a unique way to teach the children how to solve their puzzles.  After a brief lesson, the kids zipped right through their worksheet pages with ease.  Following the math group were my lunch groups.  Tuesdays are “Divorce Days,” so only the students with divorced parents came. After lunch, our afternoon class was canceled, which gave Mrs. Theroux and me a gap of time to prepare for the after school teachers’ placement meeting.  We organized parents requests and made name tags, as well as began to place specialized students in specific rooms. 

When we finished planning, I had the opportunity to sit one-on-one with a student to talk about adoption.  This was my favorite part of the day.  Since I am adopted, talking with him was very emotional, and everything the student had to say was heart-felt and mature.  The student and I had an immediate connection, and we soon found out that we have a lot in common.  I liked working with him because once he realized that we had something in common, I earned his immediate respect, and he listened to everything I had to say.  Sometimes, the student would not talk to me directly about his ideas and points of view.  Instead, he would tell a story about a duckling.  I thought he may have done this to express his feelings about his personal experiences.  I believed that, subconsciously, he used his duckling story to tell me something he could not put into his own words. Talking with this student was the best ‘pick me up’ I could have had today. He showed great maturity, compassion, and excitement, as well as a loving and kind heart.

 I liked working in these smaller groups and one-on-one sessions with the students today.  Slowly, but surely, I will gain the trust and respect I deserve from a large group of students individually, so that when I do go back into the classroom I will not receive the disrespect I did yesterday, and I will be able to teach my important messages.  Mrs. Theroux told me not to worry about yesterday because the same thing happened to some other teachers as well.  She told me I was doing great with the small groups and one-on-one sessions and that my next try in a classroom setting will be a much better experience. She told me that every good teacher goes through a rough bump when they first start. I trust Mrs. Theroux and feel that my individual work with the children is just as meaningful, if not more important, because it is more personalized than the classroom lessons at this point.  I feel like I am definitely making an impact on some students’ lives right now and soon will be able to make the same impact on a bigger group of students at one time.  For now, I am taking one step at a time, and I am learning more than I could ever dream about, by helping Mrs. Theroux.