For the past two weeks I have been serving at an after-school program in Harlem. This is officially where I will volunteer for the year! On Tuesdays and Thursdays I’m in charge of the second graders who attend the program. I have the privilege of tutoring two precious little boys I’ve mentioned before, Tyron and Glenroy. My first day as an official volunteer was interesting because well…I was completely unprepared. Tyron didn’t write his homework assignment down. Glenroy couldn’t sit still but breezed though his worksheet in no time leaving him with nothing to do. It was a challenge to occupy Tyron- I had him write sentences with his spelling words but poor thing lost interest in that after 5 minutes and was just restless the whole time I had him except for chapel and bible club. They didn’t listen very well and I hadn’t thought through how to discipline or what rules to set. I felt like nothing was going right. I looked around at all the other table and the kids were still and quiet. I was wondering what the other volunteers were thinking of me. During snack time, Glenroy kept sitting on his knees and lapping his juice like a dog. Oh man…I warned him several times before I took his juice and threw it away. Wow, did that make an impact! I realized the following week the importance of putting my foot down and throwing away the precious juice.
The next day at the office, I got to work preparing a lesson plan. I hand wrote math worksheets, printed worksheets on nouns and pronouns, got game ideas for counting coins, and dug flash cards out of a closet. I printed each worksheet on colored paper for extra fun. Next time Tyron showed up with no homework, I would be equipped to help him improve in his school work. I also typed up expectations/rules for our table and developed a reward system involving stickers for good behavior. Throughout my time with the boys, I will reward them for each rule they follow by placing a sticker on this sign I made out of a bright blue piece of cardstock – it has their name on it in funky letters. They get a prize once they collect 20 stickers. (I thought stickers may be silly for boys but Tyron thought it was great and found it exciting to pick out a sticker to decorate his card. He put so much thought into what sticker he would choose and where he would place it.)
When Thursday rolled around, I was ready but neither one of my boys came! As you can imagine I was disappointed but I was put to work at another table. I enjoyed getting to know a few of the other kids.
The day finally came when I got to implement all my new ideas! Tyron and Glenroy both came. I had my rules out and all my materials ready. Glenroy greets me and immediately says with wide eyes, “I will NOT drink my juice like a dog today. I don’t want you to throw it away!” I tried hard not to laugh and told Glenroy that was a great idea and I would not take his juice if he used his table manners. Shortly after that his mom came and I only had Tyron for the afternoon. As I read over ways to earn a sticker, I came to “having good table manners.” He chimed in, “I will NOT drink my juice like a dog, like Glenroy. I don’t want you to throw my juice away!” Who knew juice was such a big deal? He listened, stayed in his seat, paid attention, used manners and completed all the homework I gave him. I guess I succeeded in letting them know who was in charge!
