Service Learning #1

2/6/09

I went to Nathanael Green Middle School to meet my teacher Mr. John Mitrelis. I was unable to find a bus to take me close enough at the time I needed to be there so I bundled up for the forty minute walk in nine degree weather. The ground was mostly snow and ice, and the sidewalks were shovel very poorly, and some not at all, so the walking was difficult. I had been out with some friends the night before and didn’t come to bed until 2:30am. I woke up at 6:30am, and left the dorm at 7:00am. I arrived at the school at 8:00am to find that the school was having a fire drill. I was mistaken for a student when I asked where the office was.
I arrived at the office and signed into my VIPS volunteer sheet (Volunteers in Providence Schools). I changed into my dress pants, cowboy boots, and collared shirt, and went to meet my teacher. He is a history teacher who was “downgraded” to social studies with sixth graders. He has been doing it for a number of years and told me a few things about himself. He doesn’t believe in homework because the kids have crazy lives and it won’t come back in, so all work is done in class. He does a lot of hands on projects, and the stuff hangs all over the room. He says that the kids don’t put much value in behavior but they do care about their grades. Therefore, punishment is not calling home but dropping grades and having to turn things in without chance to complete them.
I did see him punish one girl by making her go stand outside. I was there for three classes. As soon as the first class entered I noticed that he was very authoritative. I was expecting a more direct style then I had as he was teaching low income students, but I wasn’t expecting how harsh it was. Even the kids that weren’t really misbehaving got yelled at the same as the rest. Same tone. It made me a bit uncomfortable because if I were the student that wasn’t really doing anything wrong I would be pissed to be yelled at and put on the spot when I didn’t deserve it. Anyway, the kids listened. He wouldn’t start class without a certain order in the room.
My first class was actually not with him but with the “gifted” students in a neighboring classroom. This was aimed at giving me a perspective. It seemed like the “smarter” kids in the other room had more to prove. It was like they know they were in a “gifted” class and had to tell their peers they were still cool. They were the worst behaving kids I saw that day. They wanted nothing to do with the class or the teacher. He had a very different style, too. Not as much hands on, more sitting and reading form the front of the room. They wanted none of it. He, too, had a very direct style. I would be interested to know how a female teacher controlled the room.
Anyway, back to Mr. Mitrelis. He won’t answer you if you don’t say his last name. He won’t answer you if you walk up to his desk. I have a hard time remembering being in the sixth grade and I wonder how different the style really is from what I am used to. Perhaps I will try to set up a service learning-like experience back in my home town and see how it all goes over.
After observing for two periods I had a certain comfort level in the classroom, which may have been a bad thing, but maybe not. At the start of third period a girl walked in and no sooner took her seat then started yelling obscenities. She called another child a “God Damn fucking faggot” and said “You faggot don’t be a sissy”. It was then that I had heard enough. Without screaming, but in a loud, clear, and direct voice I walked over to her saying “Hey! We don’t use those kind of words in the classroom.” She looked at me with distain but said no more. I immediately felt horrible. I had done something wrong, It was out of place, she was going to hate me now and be even worse around me. But when the class started, she acted like nothing happened. I went to her table to look at her project and talk to her about it and she very pleasantly told me all about it. She was very friendly and even helpful. Could this style really work? It felt out of place.
The teacher asked me what I wanted the kids to call me and I said Miss Hale. He introduced me as Miss Eva in front of the class, though and I wasn’t sure I wanted to correct him and undermine his authority. It was weird having them call me by my first name, and mostly they just called me “Miss”. That will be an ongoing project I guess.
Instead of working with two or three kids, I’m working with whole rooms of 25 or better. Maybe this will prove to be an issue? We’ll see. So far I’m having a lot of fun. I went to sign out at the end of the day and I asked if the principle was available. A very nice lady behind the desk said “Yes, I suppose.” Thinking that was a strange and rude way to talk to me I was spellbound and just looked confused replying “You suppose?” She half smiles and informed me that she was the principle. I smiled at my mistake and introduced myself as a VIPS volunteer explaining that I just wanted to say hi and give her a face to associate with a name. Quick and painless. Chris picked me up in form of the school at 11:03am.