Sunday, November 11, 2012
The last couple weeks not many kids have been coming the day I volunteer, which is a Thursday. Even though not many kids have been there, I have still been able to help out the kids that are there. Sometimes another volunteer and me have to double team a kid, but every kid gets checked on and helped. I love to help the kids with their homework but sometimes the free time after homework is the best. This is when we really get to know the kids. We can sit down with them and talk about their lives and get to know what they like and what they don’t. A couple weeks ago, me and the other volunteers, Meghan and Sarah, were talking to two girls toward the end of the program time. We were telling each other jokes and stories and it was great! But of course we made sure they finished their homework before this :]. The best part was when one of the girls, I would write her name but I have no idea how to spell it, told us we were her favorite volunteers because we always stayed after and talked to them. I think this was so important because I believe we should get to know the kids and not just be there to tell them what to do. And when they actually know us then they will respect us more. This experience really related to linguistics in a sense we are creating a group identity through our discourse. By talking to the kids and each other the volunteers create an identity and a group identity with the kids.
