Lafayette Academy, day 1

I went to Lafayette Academy's Reading Room once a few weeks ago, but because my folder was missing I could not meet the students I have been assigned to. Last week, everything was in order and I was able to meet Kevin and Johnny.

Kevin was a tiny ball of energy. He was very eager to tell me all about his sister, his Momma, the Mardi Gras parades we went to, and the pancakes he ate for breakfast. His enthusiasm for reading really put me at ease. He probably helped me more on my first day than I helped him. His folder had been poorly logged and I didn't have a clear idea of what his reading level was, so I pulled three books from three different levels. Before we read, we played with a set of Bananagrams. The rules of the game are a little too complex for third graders, so I had him spell words about Mardi Gras. I wanted to get an idea of the kinds of words that are in his vocabulary and how well he could spell them. This was a successful activity for him, and I think I will begin most sessions with a "themed spelling time." We read two books after that. Just as Ms. Loewy suggested, we took turns reading to each other. He was very attentive when I read and he seemed to comprehend the story very well. Periodically I would stop and ask him if he know what a long word meant or ask him questions about the plot to make sure he was comprehending what he read. In my experience with third grade students at Benjamin Banneker Elementary, kids will often be able to read through a story but fail to understand what they are reading.

Johnny was much quieter. I tried the Bananagram exercise with him as well, but he needed a lot more guidance as to which words to spell. Perhaps he is just a shy boy and it will take a little time for him to open up to me. I was concerned at one point while we were spelling. I asked him if there were any words he would like to know how to spell, to which he replied 'prostitute.' This was the first time I've heard inappropriate language at Lafayette. The students at Banneker have very dirty mouths and I'm used to guiding conversations away from inappropriate topics. I didn't want to embarrass him, but I did tell him that was not a cool word so we spelled some animals and then read a book about animals. The book I had pulled for him was sort of plot-less, but it touched on a concept that I don't think he understood: predator-prey relationships among animals in the forest. We had a small discussion about how some animals are hunters and some animals are hunted, and sometimes hunters turn into prey and prey turns into predators. Johnny told me at the end of our hour that he thought the book was too easy and he wants to read a chapter book. This may be a good idea, to have a book that we keep coming back to week after week. This week, I plan to get to the Reading Room a little early so that I can pull two or three chapter books and have him decide which one he would like to read.

I am very excited to be working in Lafayette Academy and I look forward to building relationships with these two little boys. Also, I was called this week to return to my job as a tutor for Kedila Family Learning Center. They run an after-school program at Benjamin Banneker Elementary School. This school is a Recovery School District school and the dynamic is much different compared to Lafayette, which is a Charter School. It will be interesting to compare my observations between the two schools. I start back with the after-school program today!