Final Week of Internship/s

On Monday Keshia, Nicole, and I went with La Casa classes 4a & 4b to the lake at Wawayanda State Park.  We took two short buses and were seated comfortably.  The kids weren't jammed into the seats as they would be on Wednesday on the movie trip.  It was a long journey but very scenic.  The park is northwest of Newark and the area reminded me of eastern PA.  The only negative was the bus driver was taking some very fast turns that made it feel like the bus was almost tipping over.  As Nicole mentioned in her blog, Keshia told us about the history of Newark's water system and Echo Lake Park, which we passed.  Echo Lake Park is owned by Newark and Newark residents and organizations can enter the park for free.  However, Keshia added that very few Newark residents are actually aware of its existence.  We all wondered why aloud why did La Casa go all the way Wawayanda, especially since Nicole happened to notice that each bus paid $200 for entrance to Wawayanda State Park.  The only reason I could think of was that the beach area was very constrained and it was very easy to to keep track of the kids.  I had imagined a tree line going up to the beach and we could sit in the shade.  However, there was a cleared picnic field bordering the beach.  So there was little chance of a kid wandering off unseen into the woods.  However, we got to sit in the hot sun.  The kids had a blast.  I found it really interesting that some kids came out of the water and drew out a football field in the sand and proceeded to play four on four.  I was exhausted when I got home that night and fell asleep on the couch.

Tuesday at La Casa, Deborah was on a trip.  Neither Evan nor I had been able to plan a  lesson.  Evan couldn't really speak due to illness and I had zonked out on the couch the night before.  Evan came up with the great idea of playing Scategories.  I had never played before, yet I had to MC the game.   So Evan quickly explained the game and off we went.  At first I wasn't actually playing the game correctly, but the kids didn't know since they were also learning as we went.  After a bit, I got the rules, how to manage the game, and give all the kids a chance to call out their answers.

Tuesday at Abington was hectic because we were understaffed.  I was the only one of the cohort there due to trips. Prior, we took bathroom breaks once per hour.  That day after lunch, kids kept coming up to me asking when bathroom break was going to happen.  It was close to 2pm, so I said in a few minutes at 2pm.  2pm came and went.  Finally I went to Mrs. Mitchell and asked about bathroom break.  She said "Sure, you can take them in."  Usually a woman and a man teacher goes into the building with the kids.  This time it was just me and about 25 kids.  The boys and girls rooms and water fountain are far apart at the three opposite ends of the L shaped hall.  So it was pretty stressful trying to keep track of everybody.  Also, this day I was in charge of Arts & Crafts.  We colored templates (that Deborah e-mailed me) of backpacks for the Bic Backpack welcome banner.  I asked Mrs. Wallace for 50 copies thinking better to have more.  I was right.  At first, about 9 kids sat down to color.  Then more came.  Then the first group finished and wanted to do more.  So I handed out more copies of the template.  Then more students wanted to color.  It was a pretty consistent 60/40 split between boys and girls.

Wednesday at La Casa, we went to the movie theater to see Happy Feet II.  We took the K-1 classes.  Newark CityPlex shows free movies every Wed morning.  We piled on the short bus and took off.  I literally did not have a seat.  Then two little girls scrunched over and offered me seat.  I thought it was such a nice gesture that  I couldn't refuse.  So I put one half-cheek on the sliver of seat and held on for dear life because the bus driver was running and gunning.  It would have been easier to stand but these little girls smiled and insisted.  So I bit the bullet and was stiff as a board by the time we got to the theater.  

Wednesday at Abington, the lead teacher and one regular teacher were out.  There were subs for both.  I had met The sub lead teacher before when she subbed for the regular teacher.  Her name is Mrs. Mitchell and she teaches at Abington.  She was really nice but all the routines were out the door.  Again, I was taking kids in for bathroom breaks by myself.  Not fun.  I kept thinking about how at the Lead Teacher Orientation, teachers had been told to never leave kids alone with a volunteer.  There always had to be an NPS teacher present.  And here I was, alone, in charge of 20+ kids INSIDE THE BUILDING.  Anyway, that day I got a chance to try out some techniques learned at Ben Samuel.  I was sitting next to Leonardo, the little guy that fights a lot, at the game table.  He was playing with what remained of a Connect Four game but he didn't want anyone else to play with it.  Justin, who I assumed was an older kid due to his size, came up and started picking up pieces and dropping them into the game.  This was provoking Leonardo and I asked Justin to stop.  He did not and Leonardo loudly and physically disregulated.  So I put my arm over the holes so Justin couldn't drop anymore. I asked him why he was trying to make Leonardo mad.  He didn't say anything. At this point, Leonardo is about to bust out crying.  So I thought of the Ben Samuels "How do you think he feels?" technique.  Justin didn't answer.  He just stood there.  Then he started to bawl up.  So I asked him, "How do you feel?"  He still did not say anything.  At this point Sebastian, a boy going into 5th or 6th grade walked up and started to set up the board for a game between him and myself.  This triggered Leonardo.  He jumped up screaming.  Grabbed Sebastian's by the arms and started kicking him and then ran off.  I was actually impressed with Leonardo's technique.  He had locked up his much, much larger opponent's arm and was kicking him in the shins.  I know fighting is wrong, but I really think this kid needs to get into a martial arts program in order to learn discipline and channel his agression positively.  I plan on researching free martial arts classes in Newark as I'm sure I'll be seeing Leonardo in the hall in the Fall.  I informed Mrs. Wallace and she acknowledged again that Leonardo had anger management issues.  About 15 minutes later I found him hiding behind the dumpster where the kids are not allowed.  I told him that he couldn't be there.  He looked at me and continued to peel paint off the building.  After a few more failed attempts, I leaned in and raised my voice and yelled at him to move.  He responded to this and ran off.  However, I felt bad.  I wondered what would have happened if I had tried to talk with him, instead of talk to him.  More thoughts on this in the Friday paragraph.

Thursday, Bic Backpack day.  I'll write about this in Child Study post.

I fading right now from being sick.  So I going to skip to the final day, Friday.  I asked Justin what grade he was going into.  He told me 3rd grade.  So he is big for his age.  I thought he would be going into 4th or 5th.  This knowledge would have changed how I interacted with him.  I should have asked sooner.  Deborah and Chamara bought the kids iceys.  Initially they went nuts and mobbed Chamara and the box. Some were even climbing onto the table.  So we had shut it down and get them to line up.  Everybody that wanted one got one.  There were even leftovers for the kids who went on the swimming trip.  I was very impressed that Deborah and Chamara had thought of this.  Honestly, it would not have crossed my mind.  But perhaps now it would.  So I learned something from my fellow cohort members.

This program made me very aware of possibilities for accidents and litigation.  As a teacher you have to protect yourself by protecting the kids… at all times, even if they don't want you to protect them.  Mrs. Wallace repeatedly reminded my that, "They told us that this part-time job could cost us our full time job."  Which made me afraid of losing this job before even starting it.  She also stated that next year she was going to teach summer school and that she never was doing this program again.  I fully understood.  We made it through with no major injuries.  A few scrapes and bruises.   The worst I witnessed was a kid land on his head on the concrete floor of the gym(who in their right mind has a concrete floor in a gym?) playing basketball during one of the storms.  That was scary.  But after a few minutes, he seemed OK.  I kept a close eye on him the rest of the day.  Even though there was nothing I could have done to prevent it, It made my realize that I need to be hyper aware and vigilant.  At the end of that day, Deborah, Chamara, and I went out to put stuff in our cars and were coming back to say final farewells.  We hear people screaming and see Leonardo squeeze out of the gates and run to the edge of the street to pick up a ball that had gone through the closed (but loose) gates.  And there was oncoming traffic.  He was just two or three feet from getting hit as the car passed.  My heart literally jumped into my throat and I screamed also.  Mrs. Wallace ran out and grabbed him up and started yelling at him.  She sat him down near the Teacher Table, where he sat crying.  After a few minutes, she picked him up and began to calmly explain to him why he was in trouble.  First, she asked if he knew why he was in trouble.  He didn't respond.  She stated that, "I told you not to go after that ball and you just smiled at me and ran out anyway. And you almost got hit by a car."  It was indeed a frightening way to end our time in this internship.  But I learned something in that final moment.  If you yell at a kid, later you have to calmly explain to that kid why you yelled at them and make sure they understand why they are in trouble.