March 12th

Today Monica did not bring her journal. I was a little disappointed because it has been two weeks since we last met. Instead of asking her why she forgot it, I just told her that I miss reading what she has to say and that I would love to share my journal with her. I wrote all about my vacation and also brought some seashells from the beach. She has never been to the beach, so looking through about twenty shells and also looking at some pictures that I brought amazed her! This was a great way for her to learn more about the world and also about my friends and what I do outside of school. After she looked at pictures of the beach and touched every shell, I let her choose a shell to bring home. She chose the biggest one, and I told her she could hear the ocean if she listened carefully!

We then went outside to play on the playground. As we were walking out, she was telling about her ESL test she took in the morning. I asked her how she thought it went, and she said it was really hard. Maybe I could talk to her ESL teacher and find out the results or what she needs more help on. I am also interested in how the ESL program works at St. Charles Elementary. One of the other littles just started in the program and his big told me that it lasts most of the morning at school. I am interested in what strategies they use to improve literacy during this time and how their progress is monitored.

After playing outside we came back in and played Jenga. This was an amazing bonding experience because we laughed and felt completely comfortable around each other. I could tell through her mannerisms and joking personality, which only happens occasionally. The suspense of the game also added to the excitement of the moment. She then wanted to play basketball, but she said she would only play if I played with her. That was a reassuring comment; I didn’t know she felt that comfortable around me. For the remainder of the time we played knockout, went outside to play Frisbee, and also played a tag game with other bigs and littles.

I noticed today that she instigated a lot of the activities. It was her idea to go outside, her idea to play Jenga, and her idea to race me outside before she was picked up. This is a definite change since the beginning of the year; there is a great increase in her confidence and comfort levels.

For my ED 330 class, Literacy for English Language Learners, we are to present on a special interest topic. Amanda and I hope to involve our littles somehow, maybe by comparing and contrasting their reading, writing, and speaking skills. This could be done through samples of their writing and an audio recording of them reading. I will have to ask Dawn about this to make sure it complies with BBBS rules.