It was sad to realize that yesterday was our last day in GAE. I felt like I was just starting to make real connections with the students. Perhaps I will be able to see them again, time willing of course.
I saw through this experience a heavy emphasis on reading in this school. I think part of this was due to the fact that they had to raise their standardized testing scores or NC was going to come into their school. I’m not sure what they do once they enter a school and neither did my teacher. Despite all of the concentration on reading many students were still not on grade level. There were even some in my 5th grade class that were still reading some picture books, but on the other hand there were some students that were on grade level and able to read chapter books. They had the AR reading program and many of the children had very low goals, some were only 10 points that they had to achieve within a month. We were not really able to help and tutor the students in reading, although I think we might have been able to help at least a little bit. They are on a very tight schedule and there is no time to deviate from that schedule, and it is not allowed. It was great to see when some of the students met their AR goals, they would tell us and just be so excited about it! It was great to see that excitement even if it came from something they were required to do.
I thought this was a good experience, I just wish that we were able to help/be more involved in the classroom – to be able to help tutor and things of that nature. But I was able to see how the classroom/school worked on a day to day basis and that was helpful. Just felt like we didn’t have quite enough time but there is always next semester!
