New Student, New Excitement!

So this Friday I was told that a new student would need my help instead of Kevin. This girl, "Sara" had just started at Classic City. She is still working at a 10th grade level, even though she is technically in 11th. I was asked to work with her on some of her E2020 lectures to try and get her caught up.

This was my first time working with E2020. It is a computer based program in which students logon, listen to a lecture and take notes, then complete questions based on the material covered in the lecture. The benefits I noticed working with the program is that the student can pause or rewind the lecture at any time if they need to hear something again, or just need more time to write something in their notes. However, I didn't think E2020 provides a students with enough concrete examples of a topic. It just kind of spit the information out at the student and expected them to remember how the concept works. I'm also not sure students who really need extra attention for instructors should  be sitting in front of a computer fending for themselves.

"Sara" was very focused with me there and we worked through an entire lecture. She was working on Plot and Setting. She was struggling with finding the answers in the reading passages. I told her how I work through comprehension questions like that and how to use the questions as clues to be on the look out for as you read. It seemed to help her a lot. She got a 100 on her assignment!

I also did some mentoring while I was there this week. This girl was sitting next to me and she opened up to me about how another girl was gossiping about her. These rumors had gotten back to the boy that she liked and now he didn't want to talk to her. I was really flattered that she was willing to open up to me about something so personal and I tried to give her some solid advice about what to do in those kind situations. It reminded me of "The Bully Society" that I am reading for my book discussion right now.

Day Two: Finding a Balance

My second day mentoring "Kevin" left me feeling a little..well..deflated. I really thought he and I made a connection on the first meeting and I was so excited to work with him again. He was a little late to class and I was anxiously waiting for him to get there because his teacher said he had a lot to do. When he finally walked in..he didn't even recognize me. I finally had to go up to him and say "do you remember" me before he realized that it was Friday and that meant I would be there to help him. After a little bit of a rough start, we began listening to the lecture about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I was surprised to hear that only a few of the students were able to recognize the significance of January 21st. I assumed that most of the students, being primarily African American, would be familiar with the significance of the day. But most of the students only knew that they didn't have school that day. Our first assignment was to research the significance of the events of January 21st. The next part of the assignment was to find out information about Medgar Evers and what he had to do with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I helped "Kevin" narrow down his google search so that he could find the information more quickly. After the lecture "Kevin" and I went to the media center so we could finish his paper on "what it means to be American".

I struggled to find a balance with Kevin during this visit. His teacher stressed to me that he had to finish his paper that day because it had to go in the grade book that day. I was really feeling the pressure to make sure we finished, but if I left Kevin to write the paper on his own, he wouldn't have even made a dent in it. I struggled to find the balance between telling him what to write and guiding him in the writing process. I tried to give him ideas that he could expand upon, but it seemed that he was only able to type out the idea that I had said, and he couldn't go any deeper on his own.

I want to help Kevin to succeed and get his assignments turned in on time, but I'm just not sure how to do that when he relies so heavily on my input.

Kevin says he is still working on the drawing he promised me, hopefully I will be able to post a picture of it next week!

Day One: A Whirlwind

I started my first day of mentoring at Classic City High School! I honestly didn't know what to expect when I walked into the school. I didn't know how on earth I would be able to relate to a kid who has experienced true hardship. My school experiences were sheltering to say the least. One or two kids had a "story" but for the most part we were all pretty fortunate. There wasn't a significant bullying problem, poverty wasn't an issue, and one of the most tragic events of the week was if the cafeteria changed "Chicken Tender Tuesday". Needless to say, I did not know how to process a place where every student has a "story".


I wanted to start the day out well. I wanted to look presentable and professional. The hair looked good, the outfit looked nice, my bag was packed and I was ready to face whatever Classic City had to offer me. I walked out my door... and into the pouring rain. So with hair ruined, shoes wet from the puddles I couldn't avoid, and a twisted ankle from slipping out of the car, I took a deep breath and walked into the school.

After getting assigned a student to work with, the coordinator showed me around the school. Classic City has an open campus policy that I wasn't expecting. The students seemed to have a lot of freedom to roam the school. My first impression of this policy left me kind of curious. It appears to me that these kids need structure in their lives, and school would be the place to get it. But for all I know, structure could have been the very thing they rebelled from in a mainstream school. I will have to watch and see how the students respond to the freedom. The students seem to do a lot of their work on computers, which kind of makes me feel old! Classrooms are getting more and more technology based, and I need to learn to adjust my thinking and be open to the benefits of using technology (she said as she typed her blog...on her laptop...).

I was very nervous to meet my student. I was told that some of the kids are trouble makers, some don't want you to help them--for various reasons-- and some just don't even care that you are there. Well was I surprised when I met...lets call him Kevin. Kevin is maybe one of the kindest people I have met. He is in 11th grade and I am helping him with his American Literature class. He was nice to me when we met, he seemed interested in getting to know me, and he was open to telling me things about himself.

Things I've learned about Kevin so far:

• He loves art and drawing (I was promised a drawing next week, I'll upload a picture!)
• He wants to one day go into the music production business
• His favorite artist is Eminem
• He is incredibly motivated
• He wants to learn
• He wants to graduate
• He likes playing chess

I know these things seem pretty surface level--and I will agree that they are. But the fact that I was able to learn those things about him meant the world to me. He wasn't afraid to ask me for help, he wasn't embarrassed or mad that I was there, and he was able to have conversations with me and also remember that we had work to do.

The things that broke my heart about Kevin:

• He knows exactly what he wants to say in his papers and work, but can barely put a sentence together on paper...as an 11th grader.
•  He was continuously asking me if I was going to come back again.
• He offered to miss an assembly to stay behind and continue to work on his assignment with me.

I will be working on test prep for Kevin's English Graduation Test, and I hope we can really make some progress. This kid wants to learn, wants to do well, and could really do some good in this world. It would break my heart if someone so talented and kind wasn't able to pursue the life they wanted. Here's to hoping that Kevin and I can get some serious work done together! 

What I'll Be Doing

My assignment is to work at a school for "at risk" students. This just means the students are at risk for not graduating. Classic City is a wonderful opportunity for kids in Athens that might not graduate from a regular school, to come and hopefully get the push they need to succeed. I believe Classic City can take up to 150 students. They also have a day care for students that have children of their own. It seems like they are truly doing everything they can to help these kids break the cycle they have found themselves in.

I will be assigned a student who needs extra help in the classroom. For an hour or so once a week, I will go in , and help the students with their current assignments. We are there to tutor and mentor the students and to help them reach their goals in any way we can. I hope that I can do my best to help and make a difference in my student's life. I know I will only be there for the semester, but hopefully I can help in some small way.

Welcome to My Blog!

Hello! Welcome to my blog! My name is Kristina and I am in my second year at the University of Georgia. I'm loving my college experience so far. I have great friends, I love my classes, and Athens is one of best places to live as a college student!

Since I was a kid, I have always loved teaching. While most kids were having tea parties with their stuffed animals, I was grading their "homework assignments" and teaching them their ABCs. I can remember pretending to be sick so I could stay home from school and go to work with my mom at the preschool she worked at. I don't know many children who get out of school to go to school. I've been fortunate to know exactly what I've wanted to do from a very young age. I also have three adopted Chinese sisters, so I got to see firsthand the joys of watching a child learn as we helped them to master English and prepare for entering school themselves.

I originally planned to enter the world of education as an Early Childhood teacher. I thought working with little kids all day would be fun, my classroom could be adorable, and there would be no stress. However, when I began to shadow teachers, I realized that an adorable classroom could not make up for the fact that my passion for teaching did not translate into a passion for teaching elementary school students.

I have always been inspired by my English teachers. They always seemed to be the teachers that went the extra mile to understand each one of their students. They came in early and went home late in order to grade piles of research papers. They were the teachers I could go to when it seemed as though my high school world was falling apart. And they are the teachers I still keep in touch with today. Those teachers are what I aspire to one day be. If I can impact just one student the way my teachers impacted me, then I can take whatever else may come with teaching.

After realizing how much I loved English, and my English teachers, I realized where my passions truly were. UGA has a fantastic English Education program that will certify me to teach 6-12th grade English. One of my first steps to becoming an educator is to take a service learning class in which I mentor high school students. This blog will serve as my final project for the course, (hopefully) provide entertainment for people reading it, and provide me with a record of the beginning stages of my "Road to Teaching".

Hope you Enjoy!