First day- Get to know each other

My first day working at Bailey Gatzert Elementary School came out as a very wonderful and memorable day. First grade children welcomed me in a close and friendly way. Ms. Lam, the teacher, let me help her take care of the class. There were twenty one kids in the class representing the racial diversity of Bailey Gatzert School. They all came from the neighborhood around with the level of reading and science below the average level of WA State. Because there were so many children in one class, Ms. Lam could not have time to take care of everyone. However, the children were active and asked for help when ever they needed. During working with children in daily class, I obviously see James Paul Gee’s terms available. The children here at Bailey Gatzert were mostly nonmainstream children. They speak other languages instead of English at home and hardly follow the discipline of the class. Ms.Lam had to use the "coins couting" method in which each kid had to remove one coin from thier box if s/he broke the class rules. The children have difficulty in doing matching words and pictures because they did not understand the words provided. This situation happened due to the reason that their primary discourses are so different from their secondary discourses and their parents and family members do not have the same academic discourses as well. Hence, the class really needs more help from the community offering opportunities to practice their secondary literacy.

After the daily class program, I also attended the Brain Train Program provided by Seattle University. This program focuses on the improvement of children’s ability to read, write and critical thinking activities. During one hour and a half, the children are led to do reading, science and computer laboratory. The programmers divided children into gropup based on their reading levels, let the tutors tell them stories and then asked the children to reread themselves. The computer practices were really helpful as well. Because most of the children came from low income families, they did not have the chance to use computers at home. This program offered them opportunities to do pretest on the computer and play computer games after they finish their tasks. This practice closely relates to Gee’s suggestion of the balance of learning and acquisition. The children are given chances to practice what they learn in class and acquire the knowledge and skills doing the pretest on computers. They are approaching knowledge through a very practical way. My job is to support the kids during their science tasks and provide them introduction to their use of computer. And then the children completed other works by themselves. I believe the Brain Train Program is really helpful at helping children practice what they learn and explore the world by themselves.