I've been volunteering at a local school to help a boy from Mexico learn English. Now my job has pretty much evolved into just making sure he understands his assignments because the woman who's paid to teach him English (who is doing a crappy job) doesn't want me to take over her job and so I have to back off.
One thing I hate about people in groups is the politics inherent therein. You have to be in with this person, and be careful what you tell to this other person, and it just all boils down to bullshit.
So I sit next to Ismael and try to make him understand what's going on in very fragmented Spanish. I've been told to use mostly English, but everyone around him uses English, and I can feel how frustrated he's getting. However, he can be a brat too.
Today the fourth grade class was supposed to write a couplet since they're learning about poetry. How the hell do you say "couplet" in Spanish? I sure don't know. I told him he needs to write a poem for this assignment, and the teacher was nice enough to give him the choice of writing it in Spanish or in English. I thought that was a good idea, and made sure he knew he could write it in Spanish if he wanted to. Finally, after all this explaining, there was no more time for that subject, and the kids went out for one of their three (!!!!) recesses of the day.
When he got back in from playing, I told him that writing the poem was going to be his homework tonight. And what do you suppose that little brat told me??
He said, quite simply, "No."
It's the same in English as it is in Spanish, folks, so there was no mistaking him.
Finally I had to enlist the help of the teacher to impress upon him that he HAS to do whatever he doesn't finish in class as homework.
He's actually one of the good kids. This is the first time he's given me any real trouble, although he is rather passive-aggressive. If he doesn't want to do something, he'll just stare at me and pretend like he doesn't know what I'm saying. I'm not volunteering to work with him to be his own personal teacher -- I'm only supposed to translate.
The bad kids... well, that's a fish of a whole 'nother color.
I am not so old that I don't remember fourth grade. In fact, I remember it quite vividly, as I was one of those bad kids. I realize that had I been in school now, I would have definitely been diagnosed with ADD and doped up on Ritalin. The problem with me, however, wasn't that I couldn't focus. I had no real reason to focus since I was lightyears ahead of most of my class, and also I wasn't getting much attention at home, so any attention I got, even negative attention, was desirable.
Now that isn't to say I don't believe in ADD/ADHD. I believe there are kids that have problems focusing and paying attention, and I have seen the benefits that medicine has had for these kids.
I just think there are far too many kids nowadays being diagnosed as ADD.
And I think I know what the real culprit is.
My neighbor J. also works at this elementary school, working with this very rowdy kid who just can't pay attention and stay focused. Apparently, he's also been violent in the past. She has told me which kids are medicated for ADD.
Guess what these kids eat for lunch?? One kid in particular, who is on meds for ADD, routinely has a can of soda, candy, and a Cup of Noodles for lunch. He's never eaten the noodles, simply filled up on the soda and the candy. What's sadly funny about the whole thing is his mother buys strawberry soda, I guess thinking he'll get some fruit from drinking it.
Of course, this kid can't sit still!! He's doped up on sugar!! Kids have a much smaller body mass than adults do, and most adults don't realize that sugar and caffeine affect kids far more than they affect adults.
The lunches served to the kids at the school aren't too bad. Yes, a lot of it is stuff like pizza and chicken fingers, but the school makes sure there's plenty of fruit and veggies available to the kids, and each kid gets a container of milk or juice with lunch. I've noticed that the kids are far more likely to eat the fruit than the entree anyhow, which I found quite interesting.
Parents make such a ruckus about what their kids are eating at school because hot lunches haven't been very nutritious for the kids. But the problem is the parents who just throw convenience foods into a lunchbag and send the kids off to school. A can of soda and candy in the same lunch?? Every day of the week?? That's the real problem, and it should really be addressed.
Although I doubt that those parents would care much anyhow.