The Ending of a Great Experience

  Reflecting back on my visits to Rock Island High School, it saddens me that my time there has come to an end for now.  I have helped several students with many different homework subjects, I have gotten to know some great kids, and I established some new relationships.  My time at RIHS working with Mrs. Kanter and her students in the ELL program has truly been a wonderful experience that I will carry with me.  While looking back at my experiences, a few themes re-occured.  

   One theme I noticed constantly was perception. Going into this experience I had assumptions of what we would be doing and how the students would be.  As time progressed, I was proven to be wrong on my assumptions.  I believe that the students also had their own perceptions of how we would be and what the experience would be like. I did not think they would like learning as much as they did, or make sure they completed their homework before or time was up.  I was also unsure about the type of respect the students would have for Cassie and I.  The students always showed us respect, and never acted out with us.  Another re-ocurring theme was social exchange theory. Not only were the students benefiting from the relationship because of our help with their homework, we also benefited from the relationship as well.  We benefitted from their wants and needs of aid with their work and wanting to get to know us better.  We were able to give each other new intercultural experiences, which was very fun and interesting. The experience overall was very rewarding, and I am glad that I was able to participate in this program.

    These experiences will help shape my intercultural experiences in the future, because I have a better understanding of how to approach these situations without a set perception in mind already.  I will also use effective verbal delivery guidelines to help guide my conversations, and to use the best form of language for the situation.  I will not be as intimidated as I would be around those from other cultures if I did not have this experience. 

   

Becoming More Personal

    The next couple visits to Rock Island high school were more interesting because our relationships became more personal with the students. More students  in the classroom started asking Cassie and I our names and would start a conversation with us before the second bell rang, which signaled the beginning of the period. Majority of the time when we would visit, the same two girls would come with us every time. We walked down to the library just like we always do, but this one session was different. During this session, for the first time, we focused more on each other than on the homework. The girls asked us many different personal questions, like our age, if we enjoyed college, if we had a boyfriend, etc. In turn, we asked them more personal questions as well just to get to know them, and I was honestly curious as to some of their answers for certain questions would be. We did not want to ask a question that might offend them, so we were cautious as to how we worded our questions. Learning they were from Africa and that they come to the US at a young age gave us some sort of cultural background on who they were. By taking this class I was able to be respectful and not over-step any boundaries in situations like these.  It was very cool learning more about the girls and their family life compared to how they interact with their friends or us. 

    In this situation, we practiced the interactive strategy. This interactive strategy means is when we communicate directly with a person from which we are trying to get information from. Since we were all asking questions about one another, this interactive style was used as we were in a group setting. We directly asked that an individual specific questions to get to know the other person better. We also used effective verbal delivery in this situation.  Effective verbal delivery expresses an object or idea in the simplest way successfully.  Effective delivery includes using words well.  The usage of specific and concrete words refers to an object or action in the most specific way possible. 

     Having this type of experience will help me in the future for when I am faced with a conversation of someone with a different cultural background as me.  Using the interactive strategy and effective verbal delivery helped everyone involved in the situation, because we were able to find out new information about the girls, and they found our information about Cassie and I.  This session was important in our relationships with the girls, and I’m glad they initiated the questions.

Continuing the Service

The second time I visited Mrs. Kanter's room at RIHS to help students with their homework was an even better experience than my first visit.  Two of the same girls who I had helped two days before wanted help again.  As we walked to the library to work on some math problems, the girls began asking Cassie R. and I many questions.  The questions continued until we sat down to begin the homework problems.  One of the girls continued to ask Cassie and I questions about our friendships and our school and would not work on her homework.  I became a little stern with her and explained to her that we can talk more about her questions once we started the homework.  After the situation was handled, the girls asked for our help and would laugh at their mistakes, or us as we tried to double check our work.
This situation illustrates how power and language work together.  I was able to keep the student on task by using powerful speech mannerisms to cause an effective line of communication.  I know I am not her teacher, but in the situation, Cassie and I are the authoritative figures, and must try to keep the students we help on task.  The power distance is low, because in the big picture I am a student myself, but I am there volunteering hours to help students understand their work.
During this visit the interpersonal relationships began to move to a more personal level because both of the girls wanted to know about us, and we wanted to know about them.  We used our time with the girls wisely and helped them with their homework, and would discuss our questions on our walks to and from the classroom.
In my future interactions I can try to be less stern with the students and just make sure they know that once we are in the library that it is time to focus on homework.  Although I was confident in my actions with the student, I know that this confidence will help me in the future within situations of presentations, or babysitting, or group projects.