Ideas for Improvement: January 30th

When discussion ended, I asked my professor about my little and her reading and writing abilities. I told her about the journals we keep and explained the difficulties I see in my little's handwriting and spelling. She offered some helpful ideas, which will soon follow.

Each time I meet my little, we exchange our journals; she reads mine and I read hers. I have noticed that there is rarely any space between her words, and though her writing is very neat, her spelling is not very accurate. She does try, however, because the words are spelled phonetically. Also, for her latest entry, she wrote approximately three paragraphs, which shows that she puts a lot of effort into her work. It was quite an improvement from before break, but there is still much she can improve on.

One helpful idea my professor offered is to "capture" or write down words that I have difficulty reading. Before reading her journal entry, for instance, I can tell her that I have some difficulty reading her words because they are close together. Then I can proceed to read a few lines and show her where I have the trouble. I could even have her read it outloud to me so she notices the problem as well. For spelling, I can tell her before I read that I am going to "capture" the words that I notice are not spelled right. When finished reading, I can show her the list, and from here there are a couple of more options:

1.) Have her fix the spelling problems on her own if they are easy for her
2.) Make a game out of the words, maybe writing down every other letter for a word and having her fill in the blank letters to complete a properly spelled word

To continue with this activity, she could then read my entry and "capture" big words or hard to spell words. From here we could do the same thing as #2 from above.

Maybe this will help with her writing and spelling. I am also planning on contacting her teacher to talk about the progress she is making in class. I will ask:

What are her strenghths? Weaknesses?
How does she best communicate within the classroom?
Are there any worksheets or games we could work on together outside of the classroom to enhance her learning?

I am hoping to find ways to connect with my little not only socially but academically. I feel like her attitude towards school is somewhat apathetic. When I ask her how her day went at school, she usually answers with a simple "good" and looks for an activitiy to start. I want her to become passionate about learning and talking out in the open.

It is difficult some days to greet my little and to say goodbye; she is often not very personable, especially during these times. I must say, however, that there is a huge improvement from last semester. Today she brought in some pictures of her brother, sister, and cousin (without me asking!) and told me a story about what she does after school when she goes home. I noticed today how much more communicative she is while playing a game. Next week she wants to paint, so I hope this is another opportunity to learn more about her. I also cannot wait until it gets warmer outside! My little is VERY active and loves playing dodgeball, soccer, and other games with the group.

Ideas for Improvement: January 30th

A side note, yet VERY aplicable...

Currently I am taking a new course offered at WSU called English Language Learners (ED 330). Tonight, we discussed highly controversial issues, including mandating English in the United States, the importance of bilingual education, and the differences that set English speakers and "others" apart. Some interesting questions posed during discussion were:

Does not having a common language inhibit integration?
Is our common denominator English?
What challenges are there for immigrants from other countries due to the language barrier?
What is the true definition of literacy?

I do not know all the answers to these questions, but they rang strongly in my ear after leaving the classroom.

Another Day of Progress: January 23rd

I was greeted today with another huge smile! My little was immediately drawn to the DDR mat that was lying on the floor. After a few taps with her feet, she decided it was time to read our journals. This was the first time she asked me if it was time to read our journals; normally I would instigate it. I gave her the option to read first or listen, and she took the initiative by saying she would like to read.

This semester, I am hoping to make the journal more of a writing/reflective process as opposed to last semester's "do it however you would like" focus. We now have developed more trust and a greater level of respect for each other, and this will hopefully lead to more in depth entries. In my entry to her today, I not only reflected on what I did throughout the week, but I also explained how I felt during those events. At the end of the entry, I made a list of questions and gave her the option of answering as many or as few as she wants. Some of the questions I asked were:

- What is your favorite part about school? Your least favorite?
- Who do you look up to?
- If you could be any Disney character, who would you be and why?
- What do you want to be when you grow up?

Many of the questions were ones I asked at the beginning of last semester, but because we did not write down the answers or spend much time answering them, it was not a real beneficial process. I am looking forward to seeing what a little more trust and friendship will yield!

I was amazed at the entry my little wrote to me! She wrote three full paragraphs of things she did throughout the week. I noticed she put a lot of effort into making her handwriting neat. She even made detailed illustrations below the paragraphs. This is a sign that she is enjoying the journal.

Today she also showed me her report card. Much of the information is confidential, but I do want to point out that her teacher gives her lots of credit for showing effort. Some of her areas that need improvement are reading, writing, and mathematics, and I think the only way I can aid in these areas are by contacting her teacher. This way I can find out what unit they are studying and possibly have some activities ready on Wednesday afternoon. Maybe some one-on-one tutoring time will be helpful for her. I think if we spent part of our time studying instead of playing we may develop an even closer bond through the struggles and learning process.

Here are a couple more moments of the day that I will cherish for a long time:

After journals, we played the card game UNO. It was a perfect icebreaker and a way to joke around. It was the first time we were ever sarcastic around one another.

We went to the library to read a book. She had to read for fifteen minutes, so I thought it would be wise to have her read a book to me and vice versa. She again offered to read first, which caught me by surprise! Throughout both stories, she asked many questions, and afterwards, she was able to tell me which story she liked more and why. This may become a regular routine!

Near the end of our time, I showed my little my homeade box collection (an interesting hobbie, I know!). She was intrigued by how one box could fit inside another, and then another, and then another, and so on! Inside one of the boxes were a few shells I had saved from a previous trip to Florida. I asked her if she had ever seen a shell before, and she said she did not go to the ocean. She seemed a little upset and flustered when I asked this, but I could tell she was extremely mesmorized by the colors and shapes of the shells. She even asked me if I could hear the ocean, and I told her she should try at home where it is a little more quiet. I ended up giving her the box and the shells, so she could take a small treasure from the ocean home with her.

I would be interested in becoming a big sister outside of this class. After this semester, I will definitely be looking into it!

Mentoring Resumed! January 16th

On the bus ride over to St. Charles, I was nervous about meeting my little after not meeting for an entire month. With so much time to prepare, I decided to bring some fun activities to try, including a book in both Spanish and English and the card game Uno. Last semester I remember always bring at least one new thing to try in case we ran out of fun things to do.

I walked into the school building and just around the corner was my little! She greeted me with a giant smile and hug! When we walked into the cafeteria she instantly started looking around for something to do. My friend Joe was playing basketball, and I know she really enjoys playing, so we asked to join in. If she was at all hesitant at this point, she was instantly relaxed and smiling after tossing the basketball straight into the hoop! Joe and I were really impressed that she could make it into the tallest hoop in the room.

Next we sat down and I asked her if she would like to read a book with me. It is called "If I had a Dragon," or "Si yo tuviera un Dragón" en español. On each page, the words were both in Spanish and English. I read the English part and she followed with the Spanish. She told me previously that she could speak in Spanish but did not know how to write or read it very well. I hope this was at least a start to a deeper understanding of her language and a step in developing trust between the two of us. Next week I may bring some flashcards with Spanish words on one side and English on the other. We can hopefully play a guessing game or a matching game with them.

For the remainder of the time we played Uno. At first it was just the two of us, and then two more sister-little pairs joined in and we had a giant game going. All of the littles were really focused and competitive, and my little could not wipe a smile off of her face.

I've noticed that my little is very introverted and thinks a lot to herself. This semester I hope to encourage her to speak or express herself in a way she sees fit. I see us doing a lot of hands on activities and thinking games, which may take a lot of effort on my part. But it's definitely worth it!

Overall, this was an amazing first day back! I cannot wait for next week!