Volunteering

     I volunteered at my local elementary school one morning in October.  Its a place close to my heart.  My dad, myself and my daughter all went to school there.  Its a small rural school, currently boasting 52 students in grades kindergarten to eighth.  I have been involved in the schools for years.  I was PTO president for more years than one should.  I have read to the students, chaperoned field trips and volunteered with different school functions.  This particular morning, I volunteered in the kindergarten, first and second grade class.  Twelve students make up these three grades and all share one classroom.  What a great class of kids.  They are so energetic and fun.  I was greeted with hugs and laughter.  They fought over who got to read aloud to me.  The most popular books of choice were on animals; in particular whales because they had just learned that some whales are bigger than school buses and that fact was mind blowing to six year old brains. I love the books that are tailored for that age group.  They have the best illustrations and are so fun to read out loud.  I helped them with word worksheets and handed out stickers for the finished product.  One exercise was on sentence writing.  I showed them a picture of scary Halloween eyes and they had to write a sentence (kindergarten and first graders) or a paragraph (second graders) on who the eyes belonged to, what they were doing and where they were at.   Most of the students said they belonged to a ghost or a witch.  My favorite response came from a second grader who said they belonged to a killer mountain goat who chased people in the haunted mountains.  We had a discussion about what food groups were included in their cheese and cracker snack.  I didn't want to tell them that the processed cheese resembled dairy about as much bean curd.  This age group was a lot of fun.  They are so enthusiastic about everything and they get excited about nearly everything.  They can be a little rowdy but the teacher had terrific transitions and attention getters that kept the classroom running smoothly.  I really enjoyed my time spent there.
     I'm going into elementary education, so this type of volunteering is actually career prep.  Although I loved spending a day with this class, I believe that I want to teach grades that are a little older.  The 5, 6, and 7 year old have so much energy and I believe that I would be exhausted at the end of the day from the constant wrangling.  They are a little bit like herding cats, so much energy and not much direction.  People sometimes believe that they have nothing to offer when it comes to volunteering but the simple act of letting the kids read to you does so much.  The teacher has more time to spend with other students and you get one on one time with a child who is thrilled to have you listen.  I wish more people would step into our schools to help out.  The teachers and students are very appreciative of any efforts that are made.