As time goes by the students seem to be getting more and more comfortable with each other, they interact more with each other and get more involved with class conversations/arguments.
As a mentor in that class I'm supposed to help out the students, there is a student in the class who doesn't speak English, since I'm bilingual I help her out at times, when she doesn't really know what's going on. I don't mind helping her out since that's the way I started when I came from Mexico, but if I'm going to be taking my time to help her out I expect her to put some effort in as well. I won't say her name for respect but I will describe her a bit, well she's about thirteen or fourteen years old I don't know for sure but that's about the age I see on her. Well she's about my height or a bit taller so about 5'3, she has a petite figure with long legs, she has some caramel like skin color and two big rounded eyes, she has some big full lips and she's Salvadorian. She is really sweet and all, but I don't like it when people have the advantage to get some extra help and yet they take it for granted. When I came to Reno I didn't speak any English either and I didn't have the help I'm providing to her, I still made it this far, she seems to be pretty smart but she doesn't want to put any effort into the class. I always try my best to tell her what to do and how to do it, at first she would work with me and pay attention to everything I told her, for about a week I would talk to her everyday from the beginning of class to end explaining everything the teacher would say she would pay attention and it really amazed me how she would actually pay attention to me. I would talk to the teacher about her and all, he would cut her a lot of slack when it came to her work too since she didn't speak any English, I honestly think that was a mistake. After a while of me helping her out and all a homework assignment was given to them, they were supposed to make up a continent. I explain the assignment to her and she told me she understood. Once the assignment was due I talker to her about it so that I could acknowledge her effort, she told me she forgot it, I didn't flip over that since I know things like that happen. after a few days she keep on "forgetting it" that's when I knew I was wasting my time....
After this I didn't approach her as much, I even notice when I approached her she would make that "leave me alone face". I know she's really smart and she has potential but there isn't much I can for her if she doesn't put any effort into it.. I feel really disappointed in her because most students that come like that don't put any effort into school because of the language barrier, thus they just give up on it and attend to it just cause they have to. I will continue to try to help her, I don promise much though.
Freshman life
This week was over all pretty good, I got to get the feeling of what it is like to be a freshman all over again.
To begin with I am observing my 6th period class which happens to be a freshman class, since I am a junior I don't get to do all the work they do, I'm their mentor.. It is really interesting being in that class first of all because of the grade level there in and second of all because I get to see the way they act, the way they think, how smart they are, and in a way it brings me back to when I was in the same grade as them. I've been in that class for a while now and I have a pretty good sense of the class it self already, so for this "weekly report' I won't necessary give you guys a weekly report better yet a sense of what this class is like over all.
Over all this class is very nice, there are about 30 students if I'm right or less maybe, well over all this class is very smart, most of the students in it are pretty well educated. When the teacher asks questions there are always hands in the air trying to answer and start a juicy argument with the teacher him self. This really fascinates me because when I was in the school neither my classmates nor I new half of the thing this kids know, it is really amazing how times change, and necessary for bad. Over all like all classes you have that one student who always wants to answer all the questions or the one student who knows it all, well this class is no exception, I don't want to mention names but instead I'll describe her.. She is pretty tall, taller than me of course, she has shortish (not to short, not too long) pink hair, she has light skin and seems to like the new for all the information she brings into class. Well she is the typical I can never say enough girl, she talks so much, and no matter what the question is best believe she'll the first one to throw her hand up, she kind of reminds me of Levy (excuse the spelling) in an annoying girl version. Enough about just one student, to be honest when I see this class in just can imagine each one of them graduating and to be honest that would be pretty exiting to me, Now I get the feelings teachers get when a student they taught comes back to visit them. Over all they are all pretty smart but at the same time rebels which to me is normal at their age.
Even though this aren't the smartest they are pretty bright for their age, and it's goin go be pretty interesting to observe them throughout this time, I will be trying to interact more with them so that I get a closer look at their personal life, it probably wont be easy but I will try my best to give as much detail from this class as possible.
