Keep on Growing

Today and yesterday have been great successes. Nina, Braveen, and I set up a new discipline system in the classroom. Under the system, each of the kids has four note cards of different colors in a pouch on a poster board, and whenever one of the kids does something wrong they pull a note card and place it behind the others. Everyone starts out at yellow, and the colors that follow are green, orange, and pink—pink is the end of the line and results in being sent to the office. If a kid doesn’t have his or her card pulled over the course of the entire day, then they get a star placed next to their name. The kids with the most stars get prizes at the end of the week. The system has been extremely effective. After we explained it to the kids, the atmosphere of the class completely changed. We could tell that the kids were much more aware of their behavior and were eager to follow the rules and not get their cards pulled. It’s definitely difficult to discipline the kids, but often times it’s necessary and I’ve realized that we owe it to them to maintain an ordered environment that is conducive to their learning.

As Nina and Braveen have described, we’ve transitioned to a new system where we split the kids into different age groups (5-7, 8-9, and 10-13) and rotate the groups between each of us. I’ve been teaching math, reading, and Spanish to the 5-7 and the 8-9 year olds and teaching history and current events to the kids who are 10-13. Nina and I have had three volunteers working with us for the 5-7 and the 8-9 year olds, and they have worked wonders for keeping everyone settled and helping the kids to learn. The volunteers and I have been able to give the kids much more individual attention than would be possible if I was working at my station alone. The kids are extremely bright—especially in Spanish. They soak up the words, often saying them correctly and remembering them on the first try. I’ve always wished that I had been introduced to Spanish earlier as a child (it’s so much easier for kids to learn languages when they’re little), and I’m really grateful for the opportunity to give the kids an introduction to the language while we’re at St. Gabriel’s. Sister Donald Mary and Sister Donella have graciously arranged for us to have volunteers every other week, but for the weeks in between we’ll be on our own. I fear I’ve grown spoiled with the extra help, and Nina and I have yet to decide what we’re going to do when the volunteers are not around. As I said, they play a crucial part in the effort to give the kids individual attention, which subsequently keeps them focused and helps them to push through difficult concepts that they might not be able to learn without the extra help. I’m confident though that together Nina, Braveen, and I can find a way to maximize the attention and teaching we provide to the kids when the volunteers are not available.

The current event and history lessons with the 10-13 year olds have been going extremely well. I start out with a news headline that I explain to the kids, and then I give a brief overview of the historical background of the event. I find that the combination works well, because the historical background helps the kids gain a deeper understanding of the context and causes of a particular event, while the current event shows the modern day implications of different parts of history. The kids will often ask extremely complex and in-depth questions that I sometimes can’t answer. For instance, in one discussion of the historical background of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, one kid asked about the origins of the Bible. I gave the best answer that I could based on the little that I could remember from my AP World History class in 10th grade, but as with many of the complex history questions that the kids ask, I told everyone that I really couldn’t be 100% sure, and I encouraged them to research the question for themselves. So far, I’ve tried to research certain questions after class for the kids, but during a single lesson they will often times ask multiple questions that would each require a full lesson (if not more) to answer. In the future, I hope to find ways to help the kids research particular topics that they find interesting. Overall, I am very excited about the prospect of helping the older kids to develop a love of history, current events, and other subjects that will serve them throughout their lives.

Nina, Braveen, and I have truly been growing and adapting every single day at St. Gabriel’s. Although our work there has been extremely challenging, the significant progress that we have made over the course of this week and a half, coupled with our drive to continue to improve our program, fills me with great confidence for the future.

-Josh