“If we're growing, we're always going to be out of our comfort zone.”- John Maxwell

After finally managing to park somewhere I began my walk to the Bobby Smith School*. The neighborhood I parked in holds quaint little houses that look beautiful when the fall leaves are draped over them. As I continue towards my school I can hear children screaming and laughing from the court yard. The Bobby Smith School is not a very spacious school; it’s a brick building that holds three floors with chicken coop wire on the windows. When you approach the building you see that the children’s recess’ courtyard shares the same place as the parking lot. Which I thought was a little strange because of the two elementary schools I’ve attended and at the one I currently work at there have always been playgrounds with grass, swing sets and four square courts. However the children there seem to amuse themselves nonetheless, so I was not too bothered by it.


I rang the buzzer to be allowed into the building and continued to the front office. The staff seemed moderately friendly and did not seem really bothered by my presence because they see so many visitors each day. I signed in and made a name tag and headed down to * Ms.Coffee’s reading room to gather my materials. We had met previously that week and which she described the numerous activities I had available to me, how to do them and who I would be working with. I got my materials and my folder which told me I would be working with Dean* and Alex* in fluency. They are both in *Ms.Pickle’s class which is located conveniently across the hall.


I entered the class and observed for a bit while Ms.Pickle wrapped up her lesson. I noticed that respect, good behavior and quietness are all valued by teachers in this school and classroom. Ms.Pickle has a bulletin board with each child’s name on a pocket, if they are being “good” they receive a green card, if they have done something “bad” they receive a yellow card as a warning, if they continue to act up they receive a red card. At the end of each week if all the students continue to be good they can have Fun Time Friday, which is during the last hour of the school day and the children can use this time to color, write poems and just relax. Fun time Friday is highly valued by the students.


The first child I met was Dean who wanted nothing to do with me. He was really shy and the teacher told me he is very easily upset, and had been having a rough day since someone ate his banana that morning. The next kid I met was Alex, who was very excited to meet me and could not wait to tell me about the color of his house, his middle name and if I wanted to see his watch ( for the 18th time since I had entered the classroom). The other children and the classroom wanted to tell me all about them like Adam* who loves to dance and write poems about dragons, and Sunny* who is very smart and always has colorful beads in her hair.


I ended up being seated next to Alex while Ms.Pickle attempted to continue on to the next lesson. All of the children were running across the room, crawling over and under desks, some attempted to climb the walls, as two boys in the front of the class tried to reenact a martial arts movie they had just watched. I carefully tried to quiet my group, and tried to not over step my boundaries. Ms. Pickle decided that telling them to “Shush” and “Be Quiet” over and over again would be the best classroom management technique, The Principal who happened to be walking by the classroom did not. With a loud bang the classroom door flew open as the Principal boomed “WHAT ON EARTH IS GOING ON IN HERE! EVERYDAY I COME IN HERE OR PASS BY AND THIS CLASSROOM IS OUT OF CONTROL, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER, THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE.” I was literally shaking in my seat I was so scared, however it did not phase the child I was working with, he just looked up at me and asked “Is about spelt with an “A”?” So, I replied “We will discuss it in a few minutes”. After the Principal left the class was silent and Ms.Pickle continued with the lesson.


Bobby Smith School seems very intimidating to me even after volunteering there for a few months. I mostly get this feeling from the teachers. Although Ms.Coffee always seems happy to see me and makes me feel welcomed, it’s a whole other feeling when I step into the hall way. Children are always getting screamed at, teachers tend to talk about each other’s teaching flaws right in front of the volunteers and the school feels very unstructured to me. I am by no means saying I dislike going to tutoring or that I am afraid of going there because as I mentioned the children are for the most part great. I am just saying that maybe the school should consider reviewing how bad behavior is handled and changes its policies and that maybe teachers should hold meetings where they provide constructive criticism of one another’s teaching methods. I do not know if I feel this way because I have never been exposed to a school setting like this, and I am not saying that I know better because I do not I’m just a student, I am just simply stating what I’ve observed.