Volunteer Day 2

As I ventured into the classroom for a second time, I was again greeted with "Come play with me", however this time it was, "Ms. Kelly, Ms. Kelly - Come play with me!" I was excited the children remembered me and joined in their enthusiasm of an Easter egg hunt immediately.

As I was in the classroom for the second time and will consistently be in this classroom, I am trying to observe the children, getting to know their learning styles and needs. The classroom seems to model after a set of dominoes. The children can topple each other over in a matter of seconds. If one child hits, another does. If one child cries, another does. If one child screams, another does. I again worked on choice of words with the children, modeling myself.

I will continue to observe and monitor growth (informally) over the next few months. I'm interested in going in at different times of the day to see how the children may act differently after nap, towards the end of the long day (6:00pm).

Volunteer Day 1

I was able to volunteer at the Orlando Day Nursery (ODN) for the first time on Friday, March 30th. I was welcomed by the staff, executive director and program director. The directors were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedule to give me a tour and explain their facility before I began my volunteer experience.

Once the tour was complete and I had the opportunity to view all the classrooms, I was shown to a three year-old classroom. I was embraced at the door with loud cries of, "Come play with me!" Next, my hands/arms were pulled in various directions as the three year-olds vied for my attention. I did my best to use a Concious Discipline approach by Becky Bailey, along with a responsive classroom to meet all of their needs - playing in the dramatic play area, reading books, playing instruments, just being with the children.

I will continue to work with the ODN over the next couple of months as a volunteer on Fridays. I'm looking forward to seeing the Early Head Start classroom in place as this will be a new practice at ODN.

Orlando Day Nursery

I will be volunteering my time at Orlando Day Nursery (ODN) over the next few weeks. ODN is located near the Amway Arena, servicing families from the Parramore and West Orlando neighborhoods. ODN offers a developmentally appropriate childcare program and preschool at reduced rates to families living in or near poverty.

I phoned the executive director to set up my volunteer hours, explaining who I was and why I would like to volunteer. After speaking with her and setting up my hours, I proceeded to peruse ODN’s website. I found ODN welcomes volunteers in many different areas: child mentor, facility, teacher support, music, membership, program, event, service, photographer, catering, lunch assistant, parent helper, and board member volunteers.

ODR’s tuition fees are based on the poverty guidelines as set annually by the federal government's Department of Health and Human Services. Poverty guidelines are based on all income received by everyone living in the household and adjusted by the number of people in the household. Deep discounts are given for families with limited incomes. (http://www.orlandodaynursery.org/programs/fee_schedule.php)

I am looking forward to the weeks to come.

Trust

As I was out in the field this week and last, I thought of trust. Why should a child trust you? I teach from the books and understand how to create a classroom community, but sometimes wonder - could I? I watched as a pre-service student welcomed a new student into the classroom. He has had four first grade teachers this year and his father was just murdered. Why trust a teacher who will be leaving soon (graduating)? There is so much to this young child. I wish him the most of success in life!

A second conversation I had with a student just today is, "the students are bored". The curriculum says what to teach and the school wants all to be on the same page. How do you differentiate and meet the needs of the students in your classroom? This in an ESOL setting.

Star Teachers

I had a conversation with a star teacher this week. The conversation saddened me, as I have admired this teacher for years and her view on teaching in an urban setting has changed. The star teacher taught in an urban setting for almost 20 years. She was the teacher who took the classrooms no others wanted. The star teacher stood for the students, earning their trust, understanding each child's need and most of all educating the students within her classroom. The sorrowful part of the conversation was when the star teacher put down the students and race she once taught. I was astounded and called her on this. The conversation which followed was sad, but true. In the last couple of years of the star teacher's career, she was beaten by a student, robbed, and disrespected. She lost faith in the students she once loved. I look to the article by Haberman and wonder, could this star teacher have lost her way due to the lack of support in the school community. There was no sharing of ideas or collaboration. The star teachers voice was lost in the mayhem of the school. I believe in order to create a strong learning community you need not only the star teachers, but administrators as well.

FCAT in an Urban Setting

I had an interesting conversation with an administrator today. The school had been questioned due to FCAT scores being raised. Why not celebrate you ask, well it was in an urban area. How could the children at this particular school be successful? How could the teachers have taught content in small-groups through hands on learning? It saddened me others were challenging scores and "outsiders" actually came in to rescore the tests. I was glad to see the teachers not giving up and moving ahead, continuing to believe in the students the teach! (and administration)

Getting to Know Your Students

I have been in multiple socioeconomic challenged classrooms this week. I would not classify them as urban, however the youth the pre-service teachers are serving are under privileged in multiple ways. A main question my students are asking is: How do I keep my students on-task? Through many discussions and readings over the week, I commend all the pre-service teachers for trying. Trying to make the connections with the young learners who are often unable to trust. Trying to meet the needs of the students in their classrooms through differentiation of instruction. Trying to develop relationships with children who know you will be gone at the end of your Internship. The discussions had this week have been about actively engaging your students, not controlling your students. Waking up everyday to say, I can do this. Having a positive attitude and finding the good in every child. Teaching is not an easy career and I commend the teachers who are trying to successfully teach in a socioeconomic disadvantaged school setting. The teachers who continue to ask how? The teachers who are not giving up.