Great Start!

The first week that I started having contact with students was exciting and was looking forward to working with the Parlier students. Unfortunately, the program was cancelled until new notice. On our last day of working with Parlier, Rebecca informed me that I was going to be transferred to San Joaquin, Golden Plains District. At first I was a little sad because I had already gotten used to working with my assigned team, but then in part I’m glad that the change was made.

Last week was my first week working with the San Joaquin students. Right on the first day I thought, “Well, this is going to be easier than I thought.” The students were behaving well and they were willing to cooperate. Little did I know that the next two days were going to be a little challenging.

On the first day there was a student in particular who grabbed my attention because he was willing to help his classmates, as well as willing to share his materials with the others. He became a different person the next day. He started the class doing really good, then when he would decide he did not want to do anything anymore, he would just shut down; he would not participate, pay attention to the teacher, or play/interact with the other students.

When we talked to his mom about it (with the student present), she admitted that part of his behavior was her fault, and that she needed help. I noticed that when the student was listening to his mom; he started smiling, not to make fun of her, but he seem content. Our team is going to continue to do everything we can to successfully help this student develop his skills/abilities to positively build his own future.

In just those few minutes that we interacted with the student’s parent, I came to realize something; I had forgotten how important a parent is for a child’s life. My goal, for when we go back from our break, is to have daily contact (or maybe once or twice a week) with the child’s parent to let them know how their child is doing. This will be regardless of whether the child is behaving properly or misbehaving. I’ll share this with our team to see what they think about it.

Connecting Instead of Dividing

"No one has the answer, but everyone has the responsibility"
~Liz Coleman

This is one of my favorite quotes. It was said by Liz Coleman, a Liberal Arts School President. I always like to listen to her speech over and over again about reinventing Liberal Arts education. Even though her speech is directed to instructional professionals, I believe that this quote also applies to us, as mentors. This is how I would interpret it: No of us has the answers for the overwhelming challenges that the students (especially migrant students) are facing, but all of have the responsibility for "trying and participating in finding them."

I know that all of us are saying that we are eager to start to make a difference in the student's life, but interest alone cannot tell them what to do when it comes to building their own future. So our challenge is to take action in figuring out what it will take to actually make a significant difference in their life. And if at some point we feel overwhelm, we will be glad because we will know that we are taking a action to connect them to their future rather than further them from it.

AND always remember this: if at some point you feel overwhelm " you have two things: you have a mind and you have others. So start with those two..." and beginning making a significant difference in the student's life.

(I'm glad that we are connecting, and not dividing, for the development of the students.)

~Gloria Baez