Reposting

ttended my charter school for the second time last week. This time was a lot better and I left feeling knowledgeable and well informed about the organization. Micha, our contact at the site was there and able to give me a tour of the facility. Along with the tour, I met many staff members and I got to meet a few of the kids that Micha knew as well. There was something that I noticed that struck me in the facility’s colors and lay out. The building is built around a central hall way and was divided into many colors. I think this helps kids to feel sectioned into different areas of learning, and the colors also help to calm the students and give it a very relaxed feel.
The class in which I was supposed to help out was on a field trip, so therefore I was not of much use this last week. However, tomorrow I will be there to help during their math period.
At Community of Hope where I lead a group in the after school program with DCPS, we went to a park and the kids basically went wild. There were two small fights that happened, in which traffic stopped while we were walking back to the Homeless Shelter. The children are from 1st-6th grade and most are still working on listening and their motivation to even look at their homework. I’m making connections with several of the kids and they are starting to open up about deeper problems and why they are so angry. I had a drunk cracked out mother yell at me for letting her daughter talk back to me also last week at the center. At times I think the kids are learning so much from having me around, but at the same time I realize I’m learning twice as much from being there for them.