Oct 29th, 2009

Today I started out the day with the same fourth grade boy as the first day. When I sat down with him he did not remember who I was. I discussed with him all the things we did the first time I was with him. I usually go Tuesdays and Thursdays, so on the days I’m not with him he is with someone else. That someone else happens to have the same name as me. I also had my hair done differently then the last time I saw him. We played a game the first time we met and after I reminded him of that, he remembered me.
Right before snack time, the graduate assistant came up to me and reassigned me to two other kids. One of my peer teachers and I switched children. The graduate assistant thought that I would be better equipped to handle this one fifth grade boy than my peer teacher because of his lack of experience. I would have struggled if I was working with a child with this level of behavioral issues so early on in my education.
There was a set plan for this child in order for him to be successful and to stay on task that the graduate assistant would explain to me. She did not have time to explain the plan to me that day. All she wanted me to do is to get to know him and the other child that I would be mentoring. They were both fifth graders and they were very good friends. One of them had Asperger’s and the other did not have a disability. It was hard not to notice the child that I was now mentoring because he was always acting up in some way. I noticed that the teacher who was working with him before me used somewhat of a passive way of tending to his behavioral issues. I knew that I had to be more assertive with him. I let him know that there will be consequences for his actions and that he needed to behave when he was with me.