ESOL lab, day 2

On Wednesday I went to lab and got home at 12:30. I was completely exhausted because Gavin (our 3-month-old son) only slept off and on last night. Thankfully, everyone was tired when i got home and we all took naps simultaneously. 4 hours of sleep in an afternoon nap is unheard of around here, but it happened on Wednesday! Needless to say, I never got around to blogging about my day. So here it is...

I was in Ms. Guthrie's class again (I'll be in there on Friday as well) and was able to help a little more than the other day. I had a better feel for how her classroom flows, and she gave me some responsibilities, which I enjoyed. She asked me to help during small group time, and I facilitated several groups, including a guided reading group. The most encouraging part of my day came when the students were working on an informal assessment on long division. We were both walking around answering questions and helping kids to stay on task. One girl in particular was struggling and had only completed 2 problems in 30 minutes. I sat down with her and did not give her any answers, but was able to help her think through the process. Eventually, she got through all of the 10 math problems. I realized, in my time spent with her, that she doesn't know her multiplication facts... any of them. This is 3rd grade! Wow. So, I wrote her a little note. It said "I come back on Friday. If you can memorize your 8 times tables and recite them to me on Friday, I will give you a sticker on your incentive chart. Can you do that?" Then I listed the facts below. I go back tomorrow, and I really hope she has made some progress... It's so disheartening to see kids not getting help on school work at home.

There was another little boy who I worked with during the guided reading group. He is an ESOL student and probably only on a Kindergarten reading level, at best. He was having trouble with a certain word and I kept working with him on it, every time it would come up. He finally was able to look at the word and read it immediately... that felt like a success, even if it was a small success. I get so much joy from working with kids. They are so young and have so much potential. I hope that I'll get to work with that little boy again when I'm with Ms. Stephens next week.