Day 2.

            My second day volunteering at Bailey Gatzert was just as fun as the first day with Alexia. The first station we went to was homework completion. A group of the tutors stayed in the same classroom to wait for our kids to get settled into desks next to each of us. Alexia was the first student to come running in, so she could sit next to me on the desk. We had to help them complete their homework packets, after they finished their snacks of Teddy Grams and Chocolate milk. The batch of students was so calm eating their snacks, and did not want to be bothered by anyone. Very talkative and excited, Alexia asked me where I was from, what my age was, and what my favorite things to do were. I answered and asked the same questions to her, adding on a “how was your day?” Alexia happily answered my questions and quickly finished her snack.

            After the kids finished eating their snacks, a game of “heads up seven up” was played, and then the homework packets were distributed. Alexia started off with word problems, which she had some trouble with. She read the sentences slowly, trying to pronounce all the words correctly. The standard of the assignment was to draw a picture to illustrate the problem, write an equation, and solve. Alexia became distracted with her work and began to draw people instead of drawing out snowballs for the word problems. It was frustrating trying to get Alexia to focus and back on track. She solved the problems easily, but refused to write the equation down. I asked her over and over again, in a calm voice, to draw the correct pictures and she listened. It was amazing how obedient she was when I asked her to nicely do things.

            The next station was the computer station, and the students had to solve math problems on the computer program. Alexia was very familiar with the operations on the computer and enjoyed her time on the computer solving the math problems. It amazed me that she did not get any wrong, and understood the material presented to her. The program had sound to it and we had to both wear headphones so we could hear the sound effects and help our student if they were stuck on a certain problem. Alexia kept asking if I could hear the sound effects well and was nice enough to trade headphones if mine did not work. The effects of the arts and interaction on the computer with technology helped Alexia focus more because she did not disrupt the class or misbehave. Affirming Robinson’s claim, technology should be an emphasis in the classroom, and be introduced to children at an early age for growth and development. Alexia is a perfect example of this statement, because her attitude was calm and she was more focused on getting through with the math problems.