WOW....WEE...ISN'T THIS WEEK THREE?

         At La Casa, my first excursion to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Water Park, proved to be extremely enjoyable, interestingly insightful and horrendously hot and humid! The group of children that I was privy to chaperone, consisted of a younger age demographic than the usual 4A and 4B group, to which I had become accustomed. Although I was not personally familiar with the children, from my daily practice of smiling and saying, “Hi Love”, to each and every child I see in the morning, my interaction proved to be very easy. The fact that Debbie and Evan were the other NMUTRP members on the trip, also contributed immensely to the ease I felt in dealing with the younger children. Deb graciously allowed me to ride on bus 1 with Evan, since they were both familiar with the kids.
        Upon arrival at the park, Evan, Ms. Sonia, and the female bus driver elected to supervise the 11 boys on the trip, while Deb. Ms. Jennifer and myself, watched carefully over the 13 girls. From the onset, with Deb at the helm, we gave explicit instructions regarding what behaviors were expected, and the rendezvous location, should anyone be “disconnected from the group”. After Deb and I purchased a large locker (into which most of the girls belongings fit) we proceeded to enjoy the park! The water slides, wade
pool, EZ river, etc. all kept the children occupied for hours. At lunch time, our entire entourage met and devoured every carbohydrate known to man……Chicken strips and French-fries, pizza and French-fries, etc. Finally, after a few last rides, we all found our way back to the La Casa busses and made the long journey home!
        What was reinforced for me, through this trip, is the absolute need for organization. The “buddy system”, adherence to a set of pre-arranged rules and a list, with very child’s name on it, are the keys to successful children’s journeys..
        All in all it was truly a wonderful experience and believe it or not, I am even more “beautifully tanned” than usual!!!

BRAGAW...BRAGAW...BRAGAW...

        At Bragaw (NPS), I have had the opportunity, this week, to engage in 2 Read Alouds. The first book ”Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters” was familiar to some of the students already, but they enjoyed hearing the story again. The second book, “Fire on the Mountain”, also appealed to the student’s sense of right and wrong and was warmly embraced by each of them. (I suggest that anyone who engages in read alouds, utilize both of these books) One of the listeners, a 12 year old twin, named Medina, actually demonstrated, for me, the manner in which I conduct a “Read Aloud”…her voice, her mannerisms and her pauses were sooo on point....it was hilarious!!!
        Although Medina loves math, I have discerned that she and some other students also love to write. When I informed them that Mayor Cory Booker was also a writer, and shared two of his poems with them, they were excited at my suggestion that they write a poem detailing the admiration they have for him and mail it to him. We intend to embark on this task on Monday.
        Unfortunately, there was an incident, at the school, where a rather large 3rd grader, who had been suspended for a few days for disrespectful behavior, hit the sister (not hard) of a rather small 7^th grader. The 7^th grader hit the 3^rd grader for hitting his sister and an altercation ensued. Eventually, the two were separated, but the head teacher insisted she was kicking the 7^th grader, “OUT OF HER PROGRAM…FOR GOOD!” She proceeded to call his parents, (who both arrived) and advised them that they had to take him home. The parents took their other two children out, as well. Although I tried, to no avail, to explain to the head teacher that perhaps a suspension would be more effective than total removal of the student, (who hadn’t been a problem previously), she refused to see any other viewpoint. I also explained to her that the expelled student was more than likely carrying out instructions that MOST African-American (as well as Latino children) are given (a point acknowledged by even the assistant male teacher): If someone hits your brother or your sister you’d better defend them….or else…!! (Of course there are other ways to defend someone besides hitting, such as informing the adults in charge of the offense). However, when I expressed to the head teacher that perhaps he should be given another chance ,because of the cultural aspect, she refused to relinquish her stance, and has developed an “attitude” towards me, because I had the audacity to question her authority. Fortunately, my fall placement is not at Bragaw, therefore, I won’t feel the repercussion for daring to question her ruling.
        The children at Bragaw love being taught new things. Keshia has taught them the craft of intertwining plastic strings into different patterns, box stitch, scorpion, etc...an activity that engosses them for hours. Octavio continues to provide books about their topics of interest, such as snakes, insects and birds, etc. Hopefully, I, too, inspire them to read, to write, and to focus on a mean game of checkers. Next week Keshia and I will further engage them in acquiring knowledge about the continent of Africa; i.e, the flags of each African country. The students are also rife with curiosity and imagination….two of the most important elements a teacher could ever hope to encounter in his or her students!
        Who knows…I may well have the next Nikki Giovanni or Langston Hughes directly in my midst….As an emerging educator, I feel, it is my god-given assignment to assist my students in defining such roles, writer, teacher, pediatrician, etc. for themselves and, hopefully, helping them to one day achieve them.