(January 18, 2017. 12:00 - 1:45 PM)
My first day of service learning (student teaching of a sort) wasn't the scene that had played in my imagination on repeat for the week prior. That scene was one of quiet order and feeling helpful, but the scene that actually unfolded was more of a hushed chaos than structured experience.
After inevitably getting lost in my search for the school and then getting lost in the school, I turned in my paperwork and was given a (math) class. Said class, however, had a substitute teacher and so the feel of the class was one of mostly respectful confusion. Their task for the seventy minutes of class was a study guide for an upcoming test. As the students quietly (and sometimes distractedly) worked, I offered help and watched for raised hands. Beyond answering the few questions, I spent that time listening to the substitute recount her experiences in various schools and absorbing the advice that came from those stories. Pick your battles. Start stern; give an inch and they'll take a mile. Don't let a student disrupt the experience of the class.
I'm developing a feel of the classroom. One student in particular, here referred to as Q, took particular interest in my identity as a college student and happily drilled me with questions regarding admissions, which I answered with equal delight. Perhaps I've found my tutee?
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