Sixth Grade Adventures: Over Too Soon

When I started this adventure, I had great hopes for the amount of time I would be able to work with these students. As it comes to a close, I can't believe I'm surprised that I was thwarted by testing. Today should have been my last time with the students. Instead, the students had standardized testing and test preparation.

I've planned with the teacher to come back on their last day of class to do some activities with them. At least I'll get the chance to say goodbye...

So I've learned a few major lessons from this experience:

1. No amount of excitement about a subject can replace good classroom management skills. Each time I arrived, the students would cheer and I'd hear shouts of "Yay drama!" Did this guarantee they'd pay attention and behave appropriately? Not on your life.

2. You never know what is going to actually work.

There were days I thought it wasn't working, that the students didn't get it, and definitely didn't like it. And then the next time I came the students would ask, "Hey are we going to ______ again? That was really cool!" Go figure.

3. Teachers love volunteers.

I thought I would be imposing going into someone else's classroom. I never imagined how excited a teacher would be to have help. Want to make a difference in education? Help a teacher out.