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.
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