It has been sometime since I last published this blog. My reading gig for four days a week in a public school third grade goes on.. I always thought I could reach kids through reading interesting books and I have thought that I have a sort of gift for choosing exactly the right books.
I am humbled. I have read a number of books out loud to this class - Road Dahl, E.B. White, "Mr Popper's Penguins, "Farmer boy", some poetry. Many of these books are a jumping off place for interesting conversations with the kids. In this class of twenty kids, some of them are gripped by the reading and follow the story. Many others are lost and are unable to follow the thread and do not yet have the imagination and furniture in their minds to do this.
Many others have spotty attendance so, of course they cannot sustain interest. And some just cannot maintain interest because they don't know the words (many are struggling to be fluent in English) and are so needy they just want to pluck at my ankles and constantly vie for my attention.
There are three or four kids who sit close to me and are truly interested. Out of twenty! Yikes! Most of the others fade in and out, roll on the floor, twirl, tattle, have to go pee, and have back conversations.
What really interests these kids are the "activities" I sometimes bring. They have loved the origami and finger knitting and making gods' eyes, and a penguin habitat, the making of p and j sandwiches from their written directions. These kids are starved to DO things!
When I come in they explore my bag and purse like curious monkeys because they know I will always have something interesting to share. They love it when I come in with a huge load of books from the public library. They love to tell me stuff and there is just not enough of me to go around!
Some days, I am dispirited and discouraged and think that it really isn't enough to bring reading to this (or any other) class. I really know that what has happened in the first five years of each of these kids' lives probably has set them on their life course. I must believe in the outliers, I suppose.
And I am dispirited by the gray doggedness of the teaching staff as I see it. Seems that there is this perpetual impetus to put those square pegs into round holes, i.e. THE TESTS! I see little joy or curiosity and for belly laugh humor I go to the custodial staff.
When I signed up for this I had little idea of the dailiness it would entail. When I make a promise to kids, I always keep it, and so I will be there until the end of the year.
And what a lot I will have learned so far.
