enosynce is virtuous

Community Service -- Take one

...yesterday was "day one" of my community service. I volunteered at a local elementary school, by way of the school's counselor. She spoke in one of my lecture classes, so I decided to help out. It was also a requirement as part of my Minor. I thought it'd be a piece of cake, but most of the experience was quite disturbing and depressing. I've learned and observed a few things in 4 hours:

1) The school was built on the site of a Civil War hospital back in 1880, in Downtown Atlanta...it was renamed "Cook" in 1941, and rebuilt sometime in 2000.

2) According to stats, 96% of the students are black...there are only 300 something odd students in the entire school...most students live in the neighboring projects, or other low-income areas. *sigh*

3) Strange...the counselor seems to be the oldest person there...everyone else doesn't look a day over 40...some of the teachers look to be around my age (22)

4) Their is absolutely nothing wrong with the so-called "slow" or "bad". Sassy boys are "bad"...sassy girls are just running their mouths. Regardless, separating them is ridiculous.

5) Despite low-standardized test scores, there has been some improvement...and kids are not as dumb as everyone thinks

6) According to the No Child Left Behind reports (i did a little research here), this school meets AYP (annual yearly progress) and doesn't need any improvements. I beg to differ.

7) The kids I interacted with strangely reminded me of myself



...The building doesn't appear to have been remodeled to me. It looks like an abandoned jailhouse, with small windows. As a matter of fact, I passed by it 2 times. There are no signs of school-life, no flag hanging outside, no artsy crafts hanging in the windows, and dilapidated school titling. The school is literally 5 seconds away from the Highway, so there is a street in front....little room for trees, or a play area. There's some red dirt and a few dump trucks on the side, so I assume they're gonna construct a playground there. The inside is a little better. Artwork, tests, and stories are all hung on colorful bulletin boards outside of classrooms. There are also pictures of teacher/student collaboration hanging around too. I don't know if it was me, but the lighting was not all that bright, causing a dull appearance.

I arrived in the midst of the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) which occurs in Georgia during March. This test is considered a "standardized" test, and is used to categorize schools, teachers, students, etc. on "how smart" and "how far behind as a state" Georgia overall is. Whatever. Anyways, this was no reason to put all kinds of stress on KIDS. Some of them were on the verge of tears, thinking they'll be retained in their current grade if they didn't perform well on this exam. The kids tested for 2 hours, and I didn't see ANY bathroom break, stretching, snacking, or anything in between testing.

After about 2.5 hours, the testing was over, and kids were allowed to use the bathroom and whatnot. Shockingly, it was back to drilling and studying for testing part II... I walk by the art room...empty....computer room....empty....I'm pretty sure these kids were sick of all this testing, and wouldn't mind a litte break. Hell, I was sick of sitting in the hall way, monitoring. I did 99 bottles of beer on the wall TWICE, and the second time, I went to negative 30 something beers on the wall before they finally let me interact with the kids. My task was to make sure the "bad kids" wouldn't talk, and to have them read to me as part of a drill. Negative. They were really respectable, so they talked all they wanted. It amazes me how much they tell you to "shut-up" in school, and when you get to college, they want all this "discussion and participation" and "forced talking". Anyway, keep in mind that I had about 4 students...all little boys. (3rd Grade). They drilled pretty well, but had trouble reading "outloud" and fast.

I really think teachers should use psychological skills. There are many factors that play into how well a student performs on a test. One boy was very restless (as i read several stories, he tended to fall asleep), some of them was irate (i would be too) and you could hear some of their stomachs growling. Who knows what these kids go through every day, or what keeps them up all night so they're fallling asleep at school. School meals are probably the only meals they receive per day. And for the adults to contribute this to "bad behavior" is unbelievable to me. I really hope I was able to help them some, if any at all.

Kids learn at different rates anyways, so I'm not understanding why this particular test is being timed. The kids that read to me, I noticed that they focus more on pronouncing the word (in their minds) than the meaning of the word--which takes them longer to read the passages, and not enough time to read and complete the questions. If they could master the skill of just reading for comprehension, they'll be alright. But its a way to do it without stressing the kid out.

...I'm supposed to head back out there tomorrow, so we'll see what happens then.

Labels: ...black folks, ain't that interesting, social issues

posted by ~Kesh @ 3/08/2006 09:02:00 AM