Week 8 Finally, students in class!

 Paulina Kedzierski

March 18, 2021

Thursday was a day like no other days! The class that I observe has six students. It is amazing how different the interaction with students is in-person versus remote. Within minutes, students would ask me to help them with their assignments. Also, they asked questions and wanted to talk about anything but school :) I had to remind them that they have to listen to the teacher. One student, remotely, is timid, but he had so much to talk about in class. 

With all the positive recalls from the first day, unfortunately, one still is on my mind. One student did not participate in remote learning since March 2020. This week was his first time doing any kind of schoolwork. He is so behind that I cannot comprehend how he will catch up with his peers. Like being behind is not enough; he has behavior issues. He does not listen, has rude remarks to anything that the teacher says, and disrupts the whole class. Later, I found out that he has a 504 plan. Quickly, I decided to help him while MT instructed other students. First, with math, students were determining between tens and once while writing number sentences. While the students were working together, we worked together on solving the problems. Instantly, it was clear that he struggles with simple addition such as 1+2. Eventually, we completed the work, but I can tell that he still does not know how to do the work independently. While working with him, I have noticed that he sat quietly, listened to me, and tried to work with me. Overall, he is a good boy, but he lacks routine at home and consistency. At one point, he told me that he works better when a teacher is next to him. Made my day! 

Definitely, once the students go back to normal instructions, lots of students will need extra help and resources to catch up.