Every educational course has a different goal that it intends for us to reach. For this course, we were meant to be trained on how to work with at-risk learners. This is a crucial aspect of teaching. We are meant to address students who have trouble reading and writing as future educators.
My journey started off in February at New Hyde Park Memorial High School. This school has grades from seventh through twelfth. I got the opportunity to work with a variety of students during this semester. I spoke with the English chair person during my visit and he directed me to Mrs. Tardio, the reading teacher. This class was set apart to work with students who had trouble reading. The forty-three minutes that these students spend with Mrs. Tardio was efficient. During the first couple of weeks, I told her I needed to work with a student who had trouble reading and writing. She spoke to me about a student named “Kari”. Kari had moved from her mother’s place in Virginia and was living with her aunt in New Hyde Park. She’s had a very poor upbringing. Her reading and writing skills were poor for a seventh-grader. Mrs. Tardio recommended that I work with her one-on-one aside from the other six students in the class for that period. I told Mrs. Tardio that I needed to do the QRI-5 with Kari, along with the writing sample and other assignments and she gave me the permission to do so. She was very helpful in making sure that I was able to complete all my assignments for the class. I worked on the assignments on a timely fashion and was able to get it done on time.
I initiated by speaking to her about her interest in working with students who had trouble reading and writing. She started off with saying that it’s challenging. The students in this class often felt inferior compared to the other students. They used to see reading as a foreign subject but through time and work, they slowly started to appreciate it. She believed that she was meant to have an influence on them positively. She said reading and writing was an essential part of education and without that, a person can’t really support themselves. She was using this time with them to make sure they earned the respect, confidence and love they deserved. She said the families play a major role in a student’s education. According to Mrs. Tardio, “For any student to know that there are people behind them that are cheering them on, means the world to them.” Some strategies that she mentioned were using creativity to ensure that the work was interesting and relative in their lives. Once students see that they can relate to their reading and writing, it sparks an interest for them. Especially with students from different backgrounds, relating to their world was vital. Mrs. Tardio shared an experience that she had with a student from the Caribbean, and she made sure she researched a few things before class, in order to start a conversation with her. She said she always tried to make the students feel welcome. She got to know each student as themselves. This is something I learned because of Mrs. Tardio. She literally gave herself to the lives of these students.
The third and fourth week, I was in the background the majority of the time. I got to experience it from behind and had a feel for the environment. During the fifth week, I finally got to work with Kari one-on-one. I noticed and took notes on her work ethic, personality, attendance, etc. The class was in the middle of reading this Latino book called In The Time of The Butterflies. They had a test on this novel and Mrs. Tardio showed me the final copy. I realized that she had trouble writing complete sentences. Her verbal, writing and reading skills needed improvement. She couldn’t tell the difference between past and present in her writing.
Some things that Mrs. Tardio and I spoke about in terms of interventions include having a small group. We tried this and it consisted of three per group. I noticed that Kari worked better in this kind of a setting because she was surrounded by other people who related to her. They brainstormed ideas on how the ending of the book may turn out to be. The way Kari interacted with the other students was a sight. She was more vocal and involved in the group. Another reason this worked was because the students she worked with had different strengths and weaknesses from one another. When she made a grammatical or spelling error, another student was able to help her and vice versa. Another was for her to have more one-on-one time with Mrs. Tardio. This would help her to feel more comfortable working with her and not so nervous during assessments. Kari is very motivated and eager to learn.
It’s just sad because she doesn’t have the same motivation at home that she gets at school. Her parents are absent in her life. Her aunt is the only adult figure she’s around and she doesn’t do too much. I grew attached to Kari because I saw this kind spirit in her. She has been really hurt by her parents and that is reflected in her work. I know that she has so much to offer. I saw some changed in her as the semester went on. She did better working one-on-one with Mrs. Tardio or me, rather than by herself. She liked the attention and time we spend with her. She was more attentive in her work and wanted to learn. Her grammar was slowly getting better. And now that I’m not working with her anymore, Mrs. Tardio said she was going to pay closer attention to her.
This experience taught me that there would be different students from different backgrounds, not only culturally but financially, emotionally, etc. All these aspects can influence a student’s reading and writing. They need to see there is value and worth to their work so they can take pride in it. Once students realize that, the next step for improvement can be taken.
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