Allison+Quesenberry

**Life Skills**
Week 5/12/14 We had all A days this week, so I was given the opportunity to see the kids everyday. Patrick went through a few mood swings and had to work with Mrs. Powers twice this week. On Friday we went and looked at all of the artwork that was left up from the art show from the night before. I enjoyed watching the students eye up all of the pieces, I could tell that they were interested. I especially loved that Pat and Becca had a piece out on display! That is an awesome accomplishment! I know that Mrs. Gates cares for these students as she often asks me how they are doing.

Week 5/5/14 This week I was given the privilege to tag along with the students to the Special Olympics! This was such a great experience for me! I was with Pat and Becca for the day, and I did not know that Pat was a celebrity! Wherever we went he knew someone! That means so much to me to think that he has so many people that have made an impact on his life in some way or another and they truly care for him. That is seriously awesome! He did not want to do Long Jump at first and I was not okay with this so I gave him a choice...he could go say hello to Tyler in the snack stand, or he could do Long Jump. This made his decision a whole lot easier and he did very well in the event! ;) I was glad that Becca was with Pat and I because I have not had the opportunity to get to know her in class. By the end of the trip Becca and I became great friends and in class the next day, I could tell she was more comfortable being around me. Thanks for allowing the peer tutors to attend the trip! It was so much fun!

Week 4/28/14 I have not worked with Cathy in so long! It is different working with her because she knows how to read better than the other students in the room. She is more capable of reading the words, however I think her biggest struggle is understanding and comprehending what she is reading. She is so sweet and I love seeing her smile!

Week 4/21/14 It is very funny for me to hear Mrs. Brown call out John's "smells." It sounds like he has a hard time knowing when to let out his gas. I have to say that I actually agree with this statement. After working with him I would say that he sure knows how to clear out a room!...Pee-yew ;)

Week 4/14/14 Lee sounds to be liking Handycrafters! This is so exciting to hear as she had a hard time taking in the adjustment at first. I am glad that she has a plan for next year and I hope she has a better time accepting the adjustment of not going back to oxford next year. Working with Lee, she has a hard time understanding what she is reading. I try my best to explain things to her, but she still guesses on every question.

Week 4/7/14 I have worked with Fernando a lot over the past few weeks. He tries anything to try to get off of the topic of reading. I wish that he would try harder because he definitely has the capable to make improvements, but I think he gets lazy. Regardless, he always fun to work with as he keeps me laughing!

Week 3/31/14 On Tuesday of this week was April Fools Day! It was very funny to hear about the kids reactions to pranks pulled in the morning and I won't forget the look on Patrick's face when he looked into the box of donuts to find toothpaste instead! Patrick always finds a way to keep me laughing!

Week 3/24/14 The thing I love about this class is the stories I get to tell my mom about when I get home. I cannot forget about the time when I hid Patrick's wrestling bag, very funny, but big mistake;). My mom is a substitute special ed teacher for the elementary school and when I tell her stories she can always relate.

Work 3/17/14 John made my day the other day when I went to the art room 7th period because I left my iPad in there the period before. I saw John, Fernando, and Patrick sitting at a table listening to Mrs. Gates's instructions. Mrs. Gates said hello to me and I guess John was in his own little world because when I said hello to John as well, he jumped up and smacked the table! I did not mean to scare him, but I could not stop laughing about this!

Week 3/10/14 When I read the Goosebumps books to John, I am not quite sure if I am reading to fast or if it is hard for him to understand. I try to always explain what is going on or ask him questions about the book to see if he is understanding what I'm reading. John is always so easy to work with and I love his work ethic!

Week 3/3/14 It is finally March! The year has flown by and I cannot believe there is only three months left of school! Patrick of course is pulling out his Irish shirts to show his support for Saint Patrick's Day. The coffee breaks seem to be getting longer and longer, but I am not complaining!

Week 2/24/14 On the days that I have third lunch, I love how some of the students always make an effort to say hello to me in the lunch room. Whether it is John or Pat helping by the trash cans, or Fernando that wants to act like he knows every person in the school, including myself. John always cracks me up as he mixes the words, "hello" and "hey" into, "heyllo."

Week 2/17/14 I haven't been able to work with Cathy in a while, but every morning that she is there she makes an effort to say hello to me. I will always appreciate this small gesture because I love seeing her sweet big smile.

Week 2/10/14 This week was Valentine's Day and I appreciated the small gift. I've worked with Fernando more than usual and he is so funny. He does anything and everything he can to avoid reading all class period. He will try to act as is he doesn't know a few words and it always takes me a minute to catch on and realize I am reading a whole paragraph to him. He really knows how to getme of task because he will talk to me about shoes, and I love shoes. It always takes me a second to notice that he doesn't really care about my shoes, he just doesn't want to read. I can always have a good time laughing with Fernando.

Week 2/3/14 I have been working with Lee a lot lately and I have been able to get to know her more. She is not excited about Handycrafters, she loves Paris, she loved visiting New York with her family, she loves her sister, and she is always tired in the morning. I love working with her because I can see that she really tries her best when I work with her.

Week 1/27/14 This was our first full week of school and midterms are this week. Working with Pat, he cracks me up as he guesses his word rings while trying to clean his shoes that have a tiny little smudge of dirt on them. First he looks at the word, and if he doesn't know it right away, he gives up. I wish that he would see how much he progress he has made and be more confident in his guesses. He shouldn't beat himself up so much because I know he will learn these words over time.

Week 1/20/14 We only had two days of school this week because we had snow days, but the long coffee breaks were really nice. I worked with pat on his word rings and I hadn't worked with him in a while. I was so surprised to see how many words he had memorized since the last time I saw him. It was really neat to be able to notice the progress he has made. Lee also does NOT want to go to Handycrafters. I feel sorry that she doesn't want things to change, but I'm sure the change with be good for her. Mrs. Brown started clapping and singing about Handycrafters and Lee looked at her and just turned around and ignored her. She definitely was not happy about that!

Week 1/12/14 I was very surprised when the students came in with some birthday bread that they had made for me for my birthday! Thank you again! This week, when the bell rang and I went to gather my things, I noticed that my purse was missing. I looked at pat to find a huge suspicious smile on his face. He quickly grabbed my purse buried under other supplies and gave it back. I feel honored that he feels comfortable enough to mess with me :) The next day he egged me on as to when I would get my revenge on him. So, when he left the room to help with the laundry, I asked permission to get back at him. I quickly grabbed his wrestling bag and put it into the closet. When he returned, Tyler couldn't wait to ask pat where his wrestling bag was. Pat walked back to the nurses office to see if he accidentally left it in there. When he returned and saw that his wrestling bag was right where he left it, his smile wiped right off his face. The rest of the period, he sat in the corner to cool off. When I said bye to him he quickly snapped and said that he did not want to talk to anyone. I didn't take this personally, but I felt really bad that I made him upset.

Week 12/23/13 Thank you again for the Christmas present! I definitely was not expecting that and it was very thoughtful of you! The students were all anxious to get done with school this week. They all knew that winter break was coming up. When we were able to skip class for the Polar Express Movie, Lee followed me to sit with my friends, which I did not mind at all! I felt sorry for her because I could tell she felt uncomfortable so she left the movie early.

Week 12/16/13 When I work with Lee, I've noticed that she reads a few sentences and then she'll start a conversation with me that has absolutely nothing to do with the reading. It is so funny for me to see how easily distracted she gets. I can tell that she wants to be a part of everything so even when someone gets up to go to the bathroom, she watched their every move just so she doesn't miss out on anything. It makes me laugh every time.

Week 12/9/13 Every morning John stands by the door in the hallway and waits for me to walk in the room. He always says hello to me, but his head is always looking at the ground and I figured that he has trouble making eye contact. How can I help him with this struggle? I think it would be great for him to be able to look people in the eye when saying hello.

Week 12/2/13 When returned from Florida, all of the students seemed really excited to see me and they were really welcoming. Tyler had a lot on his mind as he got fired from work recently. I do enjoy listening to him and giving him advice, but I also don't want to show too much interest, as he takes an over bearing advantage of that. However, I know that he also intends well.

Week 11/25/13 Unfortunately, I was absent this week, but the students seemed really excited about the Thanksgiving feast that was hosted. (Pat especially)

Week 11/18/13 ==== I've worked with John a lot this past month and seeing his progress is really neat. It is really cool for me to watch and learn his ways of thinking. I can then understand where I can help him more. Whenever I read the Goosebumps books to him, every page or so I try to ask him questions about what's going on or I'll update him with a short summary. Through this, I can learn what he understands and what he doesn't. ====

Week 11/11/13
==== This week I worked with Cathy more than once and it was very easy to work with her because she is better at reading than the others. She was telling me about how she was watching the tv the night before and suddenly the lights turned out and she was like, "Really!?" I remember her face lighting up with a huge smile. Definitely a smile that brightened my morning. ====

Week 11/4/13
==== Recently, I have been able to work with John a lot. I have been made aware that John has not been able to take his medications for the day. It is very amusing to see the difference in his behaviors during classes. When he started telling his jokes, that was the funniest thing for me to hear from him. I definitely did not expect that of him. However, when it was time to get back to work, he struggled with getting himself back on task for the rest of the period. ====

Week 10/28/13
I got to work with Cathy again this week and I remember being so excited. Cathy is the type of student that will always put you into a good mood for the start of the day. Her reading has already improved a significant amount this year and I enjoy seeing her succeed.

Week 10/21/13
I have not been able to work with Lea in a while, but I finally got to work with her again. It always makes me laugh how she is looking for attention in subtle ways. For instance, she'll begin to read silently before class even starts, waiting for Mrs. Powers to acknowledge her good behavior. It has been neat to see how her reading skills have grown since the beginning of this school year. On a side note, I have felt a little uncomfortable with Tyler lately as he has started to compliment me on my physical appearance and rub my arm. I know that he does not always know the boundary line and struggles with controlling his hormones, but I personally am having difficulty communicating that he needs to "take a step back." I know that I am not the teacher in the room, but I also want to let him know that he is crossing the line sometimes.

Week of 10/14/13
I have been able to work with John a lot this week, which has been good for me because I have gotten to see what he struggles with and what he is good at. I have noticed that he has been looking up at me for help when he is stuck on a word, instead of trying to sound it out on his own. As I have noticed this, I have been working on telling him to sound it out before I give him the word. It is great to see how he knows that I expect him to sound the word out before he asks me for help.

Week of 10/7/13
These students have encouraged me more and more throughout the school year. I love seeing how the students progress each week. They can always find a reason to smile each day, even Patrick when he gets moody. This is something I can apply into my own life.

Week of 9/31/13
Each and every week I enjoy working with these students more and more. This week I worked with Cathy and John for the reading activities. John worked especially hard on his reading this week because he wanted to finish his Goosebumps book so badly. When we finally finished the book, Mrs. Powers let him stand in front of the class and give a short summary of the book. Even though he was a little shy with of all the eyes in the room on him, it was encouraging for me to see how much he had learned from listening to me read the book to him. On every C day, I have the same lunch as most of these students and I love seeing them interact with me when I pass them in the lunch room. Each and every one of these students have been so encouraging to me.

Week of 9/23/13
I worked with Pat, Cathy, and Lee this week. I've really enjoyed working with Pat because I have seen his progress and determination to succeed. The day that I worked with him, he really stepped up his game and I was encouraged in seeing his efforts. Both Cathy and Lee are always great to work with, not only because they are able to read without my help, but because they always puts forth her best. John and Fernando always enjoy joking around with me and making me laugh whenever I see them outside of the classroom. It has been really sweet for me to see all of these students interact with me outside of their element.

Week of 9/16/13
This week the students have taught me to smile through the downs in life. For instance, even when Pat is having an awful day, Mrs. Powers can always make him smile. Whenever Lee messes up on a word when reading, she laughs and corrects herself. Even when Tyler wanted to switch out of a class or doesn't get the job he applied for, he still finds things to smile about in life. And Fernando and Kathy are both __always__ smiling and laughing. This class had taught me so much already about myself. I love learning more and more about the students each week.

Week of 9/9/2013
This week I worked with Pat, John, and Kathy. Kathy is so fun to work with because a smile like that can make anyone's day. Kathy clearly did not want to read the day I worked with her because she all he wanted to do was make conversation with me, which I enjoyed. Pat had a little bit of attitude this week. Thankfully he hasn't taken his anger out on me yet. His way of getting me off task is by faking a yawn and since I'm in this class in the early morning, I fall for the the yawn every time and can barely say anything. When I use the sight words flashcards with him, I noticed that he straightens up the two piles of cards I put down. At first, I thought he was just an organized person. Then, I realized that he was comparing the two piles to see how many had gotten right. He always guesses the words, "is" and, "and" first. So I give him three tries. (One try for, "is" one try for, "and" and one try for the right word.) John is so fun for me to work with. I can see that he is actually trying and actually wants to learn how to read. I can't wait to see how much all of these students improve by the end of the school year.

Week of 9/3/2013
It is such a pleasure to work with this class! This week I worked with John, Pat, and Lee. I enjoy working with John as he doesn't always give up. I like seeing him put forth effort and trying to sound out words. Pat is fun for me to work with because he always makes me laugh and tries to un-sneakily cheat with his sight words. I wish that he would try harder with flashcards because I see so much potential in him. I want to work on trying to sound out words with him more. Lee is such a pleasure to work with, but it is so sad that this year is her last year! I love how when she reads she looks at the pictures in the book first so that she can understand what she's reading. At the beginning of class on Monday, Tyler asked me to hang out/go to the movies with him. This made me extremely uncomfortable because I was not expecting this and I didn't know how to react to it. Mrs. Brown handled it well and made it clear to him that peer tutors cannot date the students, but this situation still made me uncomfortable. How should I handle situations like these?