Last night revived my spirits, in a way. Higher Achievement, where I mentor in 8th grade literature, has been difficult lately. My three scholars have been driving me crazy. They're all pretty good kids, but two of them banter and chatter so much I want to knock their heads together. One is so loquacious (her own word) I fear we'll spend the entire session talking about whatever pops into her head if I don't stop her. I feel a little bad because I'd like to get to know her better and let her chatter away, but I need to get her to stop and focus. Sometimes I wonder if she rambles so much because she's trying to avoid getting to the work. The only boy in the group can be great, when he puts his mind to it, or when I push him for more substantial answers. His most common response is 'I don't know,' with a wide eyed expression, like I'm about to start accusing him. I can see that clearly he does, he's just afraid of being wrong and embarassing himself. I remember that feeling too. The third, another girl, never seems to want to be there. She makes the others giggle or groan at her farts and burps. The first session she was great, but since then she's made it her role to let me know she doesn't want to be here. Two weeks ago I told her off, sounding exactly like my own teachers. It was a sad day. Last week I gave all three of them checks, for not listening to me. It's weird being in charge of these kids because sometimes I feel like I remember that time so well, and others I realize how long ago that was, and what I must seem like now.
This week, however, was so much better. The troublemaking girl wasn't there today and I breathed a sigh of relief while feeling slightly guilty. A new girl joined our group and it was a nice, new dynamic. We read about Anne Frank and Zlata's Diary. They were engaged in the diaries and for once, in what we were discussing. I was so happy. I was in my element, talking about WW2 and the Bosnian war. It came as a little shock to realize these kids were born in 1994! I was in 5th grade and the Bosnian war was over, or just about over. 1994!
Higher Achievement is a great organization. I really think everything they do is beneficial and I want to continue working with them for as long as I can. I like my scholars and I like the other mentors. But I was really struggling in the past few weeks, wondering why I thought I could teach anyone anything, if they didn't already want to learn. Today I went to the website and was filling in my lesson checklist, showing what the scholars had covered and mastered, and then I went and looked at some of their links. Here's a couple I found that helped revive my spirit and ambition:
A couple kids from our center, Ward 7, are mentioned and I got so excited, reading about them.
1 comment:
Yay Geredyth! I'm so proud of you. I was telling my mum that today. xoxo
Post a Comment