AMEENA HAYAT

Week 1

I was somewhat nervous to start my internship at Ruby Bridges with Mrs.Wu’s kindergarten class but eager at the same time since Mrs.Wu had been by teacher in kindergarten. When I got there I wasn’t really sure if I would be doing hands on work helping out students or if I would be working in the back with filing work/preparing for next classes. Mrs.Wu introduced me to the class and she gave the class a worksheet to practice their writing. She told me to which kids would need the most help, I sat down with a girl named Samantha. At first I was not sure what to do but when she did not know what to do but then I heard what Mrs.Wu was telling the other kids and I would repeat what she said alongs the same lines. At the end of the day I was very tired, though I thought it was going to be easy to work in the class. I didn't know all the work that kindergartners had to do,

Week 2

Now that it was second week I would got used to the kids and my responsibilities in the class. I started to learn the names of the students but I felt like they didn't really know who I was. Every week Mrs.Wu exchanges students with other teachers and work on reading/writing with them. They started a worksheet and I walked around to see who needed help. I stopped near a little boy who had wrote his name on his paper “Noah”, I said “Noah do you need help”, his eyes were wide open and he said “how do you know my name!?” he looked so amazed as If I had done magic. I told him I saw his paper, I asked him if he knew my name and said no so I introduced myself to him. In a playful manner I told him not to forget. When I saw him the next day I asked him if he remembered but he didn't. I told him my name once again and he repeated it a few times. Since he wasn't in Mrs.Wu’s class I didn't see him often. But one day when I was leaving he saw me and waved at me with a smile and said “Bye Ameena!” I was so happy that he had remembered me, and I left with a smile on my face.

Week 3

The class started off as usual: working on their letters. Soon some of the kids went home or to leaps and this was the time that Mrs.Wu focused on the students that need extra help. Today they were going to work on reading. She split the class into different levels of reading groups and asked me to read with the second level group which had 3 people in it.. They all did pretty well even though it was hard to hear them. Next they had to complete a worksheet relating to the story they read. I noticed that they would ask for help but if I gave them clues they were able to do it on their own. This showed me that they are very capable but just need a little “push” to get them started.

Week 4

Today I arrived at Ruby Bridges a little so the kids were playing on the playground. I was just standing there when I noticed Noah was walking toward me. He came up to me and waved saying “Hi Ameena” which was so cute and I was surprised that he remembered me! Soon class started so we all went back to the classroom. It started off good but then a student named Justin had a worksheet to do while everyone who had already finished did something else with the teacher. He was not in a good mood and didn't want to do the work was whining. I didn't know what to do because I didn't want to be mean so I tried to cheer him up with things like “it’s ok you can do it”. I would hold his hand to help him write his “a” and then let him to do it on his own, he would get very discouraged since his didn't look the way he wanted then throw his pencil. I told him that if he wasn't going to take my help I would go and help someone else, so I got up and went with another student. A few minutes later Justin was staring at me with his hand up for help, so I went over with him. Once again the same thing happened he didn't want to do his work but just wanted me to sit with him and was complaining that he wanted to go home/ to the office. I told him to go to Mrs. Wu he then grabbed my hand and made me go with him. Mrs Wu  told him that he couldn't and had to finish his work and go back to his desk, so that's what he did. I sat back down with him and he slowly started to do his work. I would go with another student and he would get jealous. So the next time I went with him he actually did his work so that I would stay with him.

This opened my eyes and showed me that kindergarten teachers don't get it easy and it is a tiring job. Before I started I thought that they don't really do anything in class but they have lots of important worksheets to complete and that Mrs.Wu has to make sure that all of them stay on track. This itself is difficult because the kids have so much energy and sometimes and just in a bad mod preventing them from doing their work. Kindergarten is the start of their education and if they do not get proper support they will struggle in the future.

 

Week 5

A student named Justin had a worksheet to do while everyone who had already finished did something else with the teacher. He was not in a good mood and didn't want to do the work was whining. I didn't know what to do because I didn't want to be mean so I tried to cheer him up with things like “it’s ok you can do it”. I would hold his hand to help him write his “a” and then let him to do it on his own, he would get very discouraged since his didn't look the way he wanted then throw his pencil. I told him that if he wasn't going to take my help I would go and help someone else, so I got up and went with another student. A few minutes later Justin was staring at me with his hand up for help, so I went over with him. Once again the same thing happened he didn't want to do his work but just wanted me to sit with him and was complaining that he wanted to go home/ to the office. I told him to go to Mrs. Wu he then grabbed my hand and made me go with him. Mrs Wu  told him that he couldn't and had to finish his work and go back to his desk, so that's what he did. I sat back down with him and he slowly started to do his work. I would go with another student and he would get jealous. So the next time I went with him he actually did his work so that I would stay with him. This opened my eyes and showed me that kindergarten teachers don't get it easy and it is a tiring job. Before I started I thought that they don't really do anything in class but they have lots of important worksheets to complete and that Mrs.Wu has to make sure that all of them stay on track. This itself is difficult because the kids have so much energy and sometimes and just in a bad mod preventing them from doing their work.

Week 6

When I walked into the classroom the kids had just came in from lunch and were sitting on the carpet but there were several kids I did not recognize. When Mrs.Wu finished with them she told me that another teacher was not able to get a sub and that she had to take some of her students for the day. The kids were given a worksheet to do, as the went back to their desks I realized today was going to be difficult with so many kids. It was much noisier than usual already and it had only been five minutes! I went around helping the kids who I knew needed help that's when I noticed Adrian who has a past of not doing his work. I went to him and saw that he had not started and asked him to pick up his pencil. He quickley looked at me with anger and said “no!” repeatedly. I didn't want to make trouble with him so I thought if I left him to do it on his own he would. As I was working with another student I heard Mrs.Wu tell him that could not just sit there and do nothing. A few minutes later another student told me that he was messing with stuff inside the desk that did not belong to him. I got him to stop but at this point I knew he was going to be a troublemaker. Ten minutes had passed and as I was making my way around the class I noticed that Adrian still had not done any work. I sat down next to him as he frowned, I noticed that his sweatshirt was from Star Wars so I started to ask him questions related to it like “who’s your favorite character ” his mood immediately changed. After the brief conversation on Star Wars I asked him if he wanted to do his work, he replied yes. I told him that if he needed help to raise his hand and I would help him, he asked me to stay with him! I was so surprised to see how talking about something he liked would make him so happy. Once he finished I felt very accomplished since I was able to get him to do his work and that he actually wanted me to stay with him!

 

 

 

CLOSING REPORT

             For the past couple of months, I have been helping out Mrs Wu with her kindergarten class at Ruby Bridges. I wondered how would they react to me: would they like me or dislike me? I soon noticed that they don’t really care about who you are and love to ask questions! Every week I grew more and more fond of them and so did they with me. And even though I see them twice a week they still are trying to learn my name!

             Each week I would get there around 11:45, just as the students were coming back from recess. To calm the students, Mrs. Wu would play an audio for a few minutes while the students lie or sit anywhere around the classroom. In the meantime, I would file some papers for Mrs.Wu. After that the students would mostly continue working on a worksheet that they had received earlier or get a new worksheet. Each week consisted of more or less do same thing whether it be practicing reading or writing. Some days we would go the the computer lab with the other kindergarten class where they worked on a program that helped with reading and math skills. No matter what they were doing, I would go around the class and help whoever needed me. I was lucky because another learner Bianca Tobis, was interning in the other kindergarten class so we would be able to help each other.

             I slowly started to learn how the kids worked and became accustomed to them. Apart from that I noticed that some kids understood the concepts and material but lacked the drive and motivation to get their work done. When this would happen, I would sit with them and guide them through the worksheet without giving them the answers and soon enough they would finish. In other cases, the kids would ask me for help but in reality they just wanted me to sit and watch them. Since there were other kids who actually needed help, I would have to leave that student but I would always check in with them so that they didn't think that I had forgotten about them. I have worked with children before so I knew that in order to finish a task, I needed to be friends with them and make doing their work fun. Forcing them or behaving in a negative manner towards them never works and I soon learned that. Mrs. Wu also motivated them to respect and follow the rules. At the end of every day they get “stars” for doing good and once they get a full row of stars they would get a prize for a “treasure chest” filled with little toys for them.

             The biggest obstacle for me was learning how to handle the kids who whine/cry and don’t do their work. In cases like this I would leave the student alone for a few minutes to see if they would calm down by themselves. Most of the time they were just having a bad day and needed a minute to feel better and  then they would resume their work. I plan to continue helping Mrs. Wu until the end of the year since  I really enjoy being with the students and they always able to put a smile on my face!