Thursdays are usually my best days. They’re the best for one pretty simple reason—on Thursday I have someplace to go, people who I’m going to see, and something I’m going to do. I volunteer with Writer Coach Connection on Thursdays. WCC is an organization that puts people in 7th,8th, and 9th grade classrooms a few times a month for one-on-one writer coaching.
Coaching is like a hybrid of mentoring and tutoring. I get the same kids for 30 minutes apiece and while we work on assignments, sometimes we also just chat, and I tell them over and over again that there isn’t a right answer to most of my questions (which it totally true because they’re usually questions along the lines of “Why did you decide to say it like this?”). While I volunteer every week, I’m paired up with two different classrooms, so I see one set of kids one week and another the next. I help them with the assignment, or (especially with one kid in particular) just chat. In the training there was a lot of emphasis on positive reinforcement, so I mostly just try to find something they’re doing well and really point it out. This is a teensy weensy bit difficult for someone who just came out of super critical writing mode, but I’m working on it.
Today I worked with the students who I like the most. I know I only like them better than my other two students because I’ve worked with them more, so I have a better relationship with them, but that’s just how it is for right now. I have favorites and they are them.
My first student who I’ll call Alex* spends most of the time telling me that he’s really bored and he claims he doesn’t know the answers to any of my questions. We spend about half the time with me prying him to say something, anything about the assignment, and the other half of the time just talking. Today I learned a lot about his bull mastiff, who apparently is the size of the cow, blackish brown, and at one point had to wear a cone on her head, which made life especially difficult in terms of doorways. Sometimes he offers me gum, and then goes back to being especially bored by school. I usually offer up a hope that he won’t always be so bored.
Next up is Angela.* Things go easily with Angela because she seems to enjoy the assignments, works hard, and always says thank you and tells me how much I help her. I’m starting to have concern that her stories usually seem to involve a lot of violence, especially today’s story which used violence as conflict resolution, but I also know that in terms of writing it’s a rather simple way of dealing with conflict. I’m hoping that this is just a stepping stone that will get her to a place where she can handle more complex conflict in writing and not a reflection of how she has seen conflict managed.
I really like volunteering. The thing that’s interesting about it is that I by-and-large don’t feel that charitable when I volunteer. I’m happy to help my students learn about stuff or just be someone in their lives who they get to talk to uninterrupted and receive undivided attention from, but it always feels like more of an equal relationship—I have a need to share the skills I have and frankly just see people.
…and this brings us to today’s goals:
Social and Practical are combined today: Pick up bed with Caely.
Job-related: Call Robbie. Ask for advice and see if she knows someone who might be helpful or a good connection.
I am happy to report I met all of my goals for yesterday...except for ordering those books. Okay, okay, I'll add them on to today's goals.
*Names changed.
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