So I survived without any hair pulling, name calling, crying, or severe shaking. It turned out well, and I have a report with kids, apparently. I dove in headfirst and came up thoroughly soaked, but smiling. I then came home; wrote up my thoughts in the journal Lynn Meadows provided me (the part I really like, next to playing with the kids) and then proceeded to sleep for over two hours. Some of the kids even gave me their projects. They just met me and they already wanted to give me a part of them. And these kids really need something out of the ordinary. They all looked so ridged and bound by school rules and expectations. We have to abide by the general behavioral rules of the school, of course, but the children are encouraged to talk to each other and us and do whatever they want with what we give them. They were excited to express themselves through art and were very considerate and thoughtful and always surprising. They all wanted to share everything with me, who their siblings are, where they go all the time, who their cousins are and why they are so close, their crazy neighbor with her ten dogs that bark all the time. By the end of the day I had the routine down, so tomorrow should prove to be a bit easier. I know I will be tired of the program come the end of the week, but then I get to plan another one, along with helping out at another school or two. The one thing I am really going to have to work on is developing a relationship with the children. That is going to be the hard part. I only have them forty minutes a day every other week and I only have until May. That and there are a lot of children. I am going to try my best to get as close to them as I can. Some already connected to me, hugging me before going back to class. I know they are looking forward to the next time, and so am I.
Posted by jessab at January 16, 2006 05:43 PM