Detention Center 07/10/14 (10:30 - 12:00 and 1:00 - 2:30)

Detention Center 07/10/14 (10:30 - 12:00 and 1:00 - 2:30)

On this visit to the detention center I finally ended up grading some workbooks. It is interesting how unfamiliar I was with what the students were working on. I have helped a couple of the students figure out problems or I explained concepts they were having difficulty understanding, but I had not looked through an entire workbook till now. I found grading to frustrating and tedious. First, there is no standard for the grading. If a student answers one concept that is given to us in the key, but also provides two additional answers that may or not be correct, do we give them partial credit for the correct segment, or no credit because they did not answer the questions exactly how the key has it written. There are many more confusing points to make, but I do not want to go into it.

Instead of class, the students had a guess who taught them how to make lotion. At first I thought that most of the students would find this activity boring or "lame", but from what I could hear from classroom I was working in, all the students were respectful and were participating. This was a good reminder to myself that I need to stop jumping to conclusions about the temperament and interests of the students. 'I am not all knowing', that is hard for me to admit.

I have enjoyed my time at the detention center. The program needs a tremendous amount of work and an overseer who will be with it for several years to make sure it is standardized and consistent. It has been a great opportunity to come in on the ground floor of a very beneficial program that will hopefully help some of these students achieve more then they thought possible before.      

Detention Center 07/02/14 10:30am - 12:00pm/1:00pm - 2:30pm

Finally got back to the Detention Center. I was happy to see mostly new faces, which means, I was happy to see that most of the students I saw before have moved on to less restrictive environments and hopefully are doing well and staying out of trouble. There was one female student who I recognized from past visits. When I said that I was surprised she was still there, she responded that she had gotten out, but got in trouble again and was sent right back. She giggled when I mentioned the revolving door affect. She seems very bright, has no problem with the workbooks, she is respectful, and always participates in the games. I do not know her story, so I am trying not to judge, but it is a shame she keeps coming back. The students were well focused and pretty much stayed on task. I was able to help a little bit with some questions, but for the most part, we watch. When some of the kids looked tired and distracted right before lunch, I posed a question to the group. 'Why do they think education is important?' One boy's answer was communication. He went on to say that learning and receiving an education helped us communicate better with peers and employers making it less difficult to gain respect and employment. This was a great answer. I will be going back next week on Tuesday and Thursday and I hope to interrupt workbook time for a short time and pose another question that might help these students realize why they doing all this work. Really I hope to hear some answers that show me these students are independent thinkers.

Detention Center 06/11/14 1:00pm - 2:30pm

Starting to get really excited on the days volunteer at the center. One of the kids needed several textbooks to complete packets that his teachers sent him, so he would not get behind in school. So far, this is the only example I have seen of teachers reaching out to help these kids in their education. With the help of Dr. Leytham I gathered all the books he needed to complete his work. I biked them to the center to find that he was transferred to another program. After talking with this kid previously, it seemed that he thought no one cared and/or really wanted to help, so I was frustrated because this was a chance to for this kid to see someone cared and was willing to go out of their way to help him. Well, maybe I'll see him again at the center in a couple of weeks, hopefully not. The group of volunteers are getting better at engaging the kids in a helpful way by facilitating new games and helping them with their work. On the other hand, I feel that I am distracting. I want to talk to them and find out who they are. This is not helpful to their work and I need to find a better balance between fulfilling my curiosity and being a tutor. I did find that just sitting next to the kids that had trouble focusing and just wanted to talk helped them get back to their work just by proximity.

Detention Center 06/09/14 1:00pm - 2:30pm

I feel much more comfortable walking into the secure and confining environment that is the detention center. I have become a little less pessimistic about what good we are doing for these kids. The games we play after lunch have helped me look at this volunteer opportunity in a better light. We have a chance to interact, observe, and kind of teach the kids in a group setting. The best part is seeing these kids get excited about showing off their intelligence. Some of the kids are much more confident in their knowledge and answer enthusiastically. Many times I have seen the kids say the answer to themselves, but are too shy or 'cool' to say it out loud. They are retaining some information and not just filling out mindless work sheets every time we visit. I do not want to take away from the group work too much, but I find myself interjecting when ever I hear a ignorant, inappropriate, or sexist comment. I try not to be too preachy, but it is difficult to hear these comments and not present a different perspective for them to think about. This is what I want, but it usually comes out as your ideas are wrong and mine are righteous and correct. I will continue to work on this as I spend more time at the center.  

Detention Center 06/04/14 1:00pm-2:30pm

I really enjoyed the Jeopardy game that Dr. Leytham came up with to review information that the kids have been studying. It seems like it is one of the only group activities that engage in all day. They enjoy the competition and seem to gain some confidence when presenting a correct answer. The positive environment carries into the classrooms, but it does not take long for that to wear off when they get down to book work. The kids seem more willing to interact with us and ask for help after they have seen us present a group activity. There is one particular kid who stands out. He is knowledgeable about many subjects that he is not currently studying and easily makes connections that are not obvious. He is apathetic about doing his work, but when I showed some interest in what he was working on, it seemed to help him focus and get some work done.  

Detention Center 06/02/14 10:30am-12:00pm/1:00pm-2:30pm

I have gotten in trouble with the law in my youth, but I never served any time for my mistakes. What I imagined the detention center to be like was about what it was in reality. A secure facility, with a staff that is their to maintain order, not counsel, and a focus on obedience. I was hoping to see a staff that was more interactive and engaging with the teenagers. I can understand how easy it would be to become jaded after seeing the same kids come through the door for the same crimes. Nobody participating in this volunteer opportunity should expect to make a large difference in these kids lives. Our time with these kids is too brief and superficial to make a lasting change. A follow up program after these kids are reintroduced to the world would be a helpful, but I remember being their age and it is very difficult to convince a teenager to change. What I expect to take home at the end of the day is a better understanding of these kids home life, what they consider important, and possible positive interest I can introduce them to, but not push them towards. These kids need to make to decision to go back to their lives of poor choices and bad influences or to jump on the band wagon and become educated and contribute to the "overall good".
My first day was little confusing. Many of the kids were expected to know what credits they needed and in some cases, if they knew, were the books available for them to use. I'm not sure how I came to conclusion that we were going to stand in front of the class and teach, not be a overseer while they filled out work sheets. I do enjoy sitting with a student and discussing how to determine an answer they are having trouble doing themselves, but it is difficult to be enthusiastic when you can see this information go in one ear and out the other. Dr. Leytham has some ideas to help with retention and I am excited to see how the kids like it.