Grateful Thanks and a Smile

Ready for my first volunteer session at Rock Island High School in the ELL program, I am reminded how times have changed. After signing in at the door, I notice students needing ID badges on their person at all times and security officers patrolling the halls. I am wondering how much this distracts students from learning, especially if I were a student who knew very little English.

After introductions to teachers and students, my assignment was to help a young lady with her child development homework. It seemed that she had struggled through it for several days. According to our reading in Foundations of Interpersonal Communication our perceptions affect our communication with others. One of the areas that we often fail others is our need to make snap judgments. My suspicion is several people thought this student was not very smart because she could not finish what seemed like a simple assignment. When shown how to find information in the text book, she quickly finished and demonstrated to all that a lack of understanding of the procedure was all that stood in her way of being successful. The obstacle she faced was not understanding how the packet and book corresponded. She found success when I showed her how to find the information in the book. Grateful thanks and a smile and we both felt good about what we accomplished.