Journal Entry 2

As I have been spending more time with the students, I’ve begun learning their names and some kids recognize me now. Ms. Rodriguez’s groups finished doing the quilt project last week, so on Thursday of this week, we began doing projects for Easter. I helped the first graders connect the dots on a picture of the Easter Bunny and color it in with crayons. Then, I helped the second graders decorate paper eggs with different colors and designs. After that, I helped a group of boys decorate a basket for the Easter event going on in two weeks. We took the bottom part of a gallon of milk and glued pieces of tissue paper to the sides. Some of the boys got a hold of spray adhesive and proceeded to spray each other, so not only did it smell terrible but their hands stuck together. It was a very nice day outside yesterday, so we took the second and third graders outside to play on the jungle gym. There, I saw some of the girls and boys I had worked with in previous weeks (Efrain, Shermon, Diana, Ana). They showed me how to do some flips that they learned how to do, played tag, and ran up and down the slides.
Today was my first Friday volunteering, so I did a lot of new activities with the kids. First, I helped two third grade boys do their homework in the teacher’s lounge. They had to write to their pen pals in Spanish, and I had five years of Spanish, so I was able to help them a little, but their English was almost perfect so it made it very easy to talk to them. Also, the kids got to rollerblade in the gym, so some of the other UWM students and I helped set up cones that fell down and teach some kids how to rollerblade.

Journal Entry 1

Last week at orientation at Escuela Vieau, I signed up to volunteer on Thursdays from 4:30-6:00 in the arts and crafts program. Today was my first day, and after getting lost a few times, I was finally able to meet up with my group of students. Ms. Rodriguez and her assistant, Jasmine, were in charge of the first and second graders for the first part of the program. The students had drawn pictures of what/who they admire earlier in the week. We worked with the students to copy the pictures onto pieces of felt by using glitter paint. The idea is that Ms. Rodriguez will sew together all of the pieces to make one giant quilt. Getting the students to quiet down and actually work was no easy task. The kids I met were very polite and tried to speak to me in English, but I had five years of Spanish, so I understand some of what they were saying to each other. I helped a little girl draw a pink and yellow flower on a piece of green felt. Then, I helped a boy named Daniel write his name and draw a ladybug on a white T-shirt he was working on.

After forty-five minutes of working and painting, we moved on to the third graders to help them with the same project. The third graders were calmer and more articulate in what they wanted to do. One boy told me about how he won the spelling bee that day, as he was drawing a blue tulip. Another boy and girl wouldn’t stop teasing each other and eventually squirted glitter paint all over them. Students would get upset if their picture didn’t turn out perfectly, but it’s important to encourage them to keep trying and that it’s their unique picture.