At first, I envisioned this project to give me the chance to help math club students out so they could improve and have to time to do their homework and ask questions. I noticed that at the beginning of the year, many kids did not turn in their homework due to circumstances such as "I didn't have time" or "It was too hard and I didn't know what to do". Some students were not able to receive help from their parents either. I wanted to change all of this. I wanted to get the kids excited, help them improve so they would enjoy being there. It was my chance to give back to the school where so many other patient teachers have helped me out through my early years of school. In terms of what was going to happen in the session itself, I wanted it to be homework time, ask questions time, challenge time, and time to have fun. I also wanted to have conferences with each student to see how far they are in their math material.
Looking back now, the session was a bigger challenge than I thought. One hour was not enough for me to fit in everything I wanted to do with the kids. I needed more time... The kids were really squirmish since it was Friday afternoon. It was also really hard to keep them under control. I thought 5th graders would be different and they would pay attention but I really went wrong there. I wasn't able to conference with the students like I had originally planned, which was a big disappointment. Furthermore, the help these students needed was way more than just a few minutes with me on a certain problem they needed help on. What they really needed was a whole session for individual help, but I couldn't provide that for them. A lot more kids also showed up to the session than I had thought. it really shows how dedicated they were to learning math and willing to get help which really made my day.
Although I did have a challenge for myself, there was a lot of great moments that I will treasure. I felt the kids did improve in learning certain concepts and trying to figure out challenge problems. During many of the sessions, I was able to go over previous tests and visit the problems that posed a challenged to the kids. I walked them through step by step and got them involved as well. I didn't just stand up there and say "here this is how you do it" and showed them. Instead, I made them think it out and try to figure it out on their own as I guided them through the problem. As Mr. Kumakura says it, don't spoon feed the kids! let them think cause that is how they truly learn! Thank you Mr. K!
I love those moments where the students would be like "Ohhhhhh! I get it now! oops I thought it was this way instead" or when their faces light up and a light bulb just switched on in the heads. Those moments, priceless. It gave me a good feeling inside knowing that I am able to help these students one step at a time.
As a leader, I still have a lot to work on. I need to really know how to work with others to grasp their attention. I need to inspire and get other excited about what I'm doing. Most of all, I think I need to learn patience. Patience is truly important. I know as a leader, I want everything to be done. But reality is, everything takes time and I have to be more patient with those I work with.
All in all, one word I would describe learning experience as "wow". This project has opened my eyes to so many new dimensions of leadership that I hadn't really thought of before. I didn't know kids could be so hard to handle! Why don't teachers get paid more?! Because let me tell all of you, being a teacher is NOT easy!! It is very tiring and hectic. I truly have more appreciation for my teachers now. Through this project I was able to get a glimpse of what being a teacher is like. Except my experience is way way way less than what a real teacher has to go through! Imagine dealing with kindergarteners, 5th graders, or even worse... teenagers! Not for just an hour, for a whole day! Thank you Mrs. Fitz for being patient with us students!
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