anyway, at work, i didn't really expect any of the kids to give me anything. i've been telling them all week that my birthday was on the 9th, and told them i wanted them to be good for my birthday. you see, we have this empty jar and a bag of marbles...and we use it as some kind of bribe for good behavior to get ALL of the kids to settle down and behave.
all of us have some problem kids, so vickie and erique came up with this jar. all 32 kids have to be good (with their partner) for 1/2 a marble, and since we can't cut the marbles in half, if one kid is good, and his/her partner is bad, then the pair doesn't get a marble for the jar. the goal is to get the kids to understand that filling up the jar relies on their behavior, as well as every other kids' behavior, since it's a community jar. basically, it'll get filled up faster if everyone behaves. when the jar gets full, all of the kids will get a prize, since they worked together to fill it up.
i though the jar was going to be pretty small, but no. it's an 8 quart jar, and after two days, there were four marbles in the jar! the kids just don't get that if all 32 kids are good for one day, 16 marbles can go into the jar, and if every kid is good for the whole week (we have a 4 day week), 64 marbles go into the jar. the size of the jar is pretty daunting, and the kids see it as never getting full, especially when they think it's only their jar (so many kids have asked me where the other groups' jars are). none of the kids understand fractions or anything, so the jar really isn't doing it's intended job.
i tried my best to get the kids to understand it, and used my birthday as a way to get them to behave, like i wanted their behavior to be a present to me, which i would then reward with a present to them. for some reason, my birthday had the opposite effect. it got them so hyped up that i was only able to give one marble away. plus, two of the kids gave me presents.
angeles gave me a small (but heavy) glass block that had the lady of guadelupe in it. my first thought when opening the gift, after, "oh, how sweet...and heavy!" was, "well, at least i'm catholic." but it was cute that this little girl went through some decision-making process and ended up giving that particular gift to me. she wrapped it in a paper towel, and put it in a zip-loc bag. i loved it.
brianna also gave me something. brianna is in the same class as angeles, but i see them one at a time. when i dropped angeles back at her class, and brianna saw me, instead of walking toward me, she went to her cubby. i was running late, so i asked her to hurry, and she playfully told me she was getting something. i saw her pull something white out of her hello kitty messenger bag, and i thought, "oh, yay! she drew me a picture!" i instantly pictured myself framing the picture and putting it above my bed.
when we walked in the hallway to our classroom, instead of a picture, she handed me an envelope with a note on it from her mother that read, "for: trina, from: brianna f*****, happy birthday! (*please take it. brianna wanted to buy this for you*)." i assumed it was a card, which i still appreciated. again, i thought it was cute. i told brianna thank you, and was really touched. i wanted to give her a hug, but, you know, that's kind of a no-no these days.
later, i opened the envelope, and the front read, "for someone special...hope your birthday finds you smiling..." the greeting finished inside with, "...all day long!" i also saw that inside the card brianna wrote a little message in her big left-handed handwriting, "thank you for all your help. happy birthday trina from brianna." it made me smile. brianna's mom also wrote a little something: "a small token for your help with brianna. she talks to us about you all the time. thank you for your book for her. enjoy your birthday! brianna's mom (blanca)." inside the envelope was a $25 gift card for chili's. i was shocked, and immediately wondered what to do...could they afford this, especially for someone who they don't even really know? am i ethically allowed to accept this gift? i mean, i don't want to insult anyone, and i don't really see this affecting my tutoring. i've always enjoyed tutoring brianna (as previous posts can illustrate), and seeing her at the school is one of the highlights of my day. i like her, and want her to improve and read like a pro.
brianna also gave me something. brianna is in the same class as angeles, but i see them one at a time. when i dropped angeles back at her class, and brianna saw me, instead of walking toward me, she went to her cubby. i was running late, so i asked her to hurry, and she playfully told me she was getting something. i saw her pull something white out of her hello kitty messenger bag, and i thought, "oh, yay! she drew me a picture!" i instantly pictured myself framing the picture and putting it above my bed.
when we walked in the hallway to our classroom, instead of a picture, she handed me an envelope with a note on it from her mother that read, "for: trina, from: brianna f*****, happy birthday! (*please take it. brianna wanted to buy this for you*)." i assumed it was a card, which i still appreciated. again, i thought it was cute. i told brianna thank you, and was really touched. i wanted to give her a hug, but, you know, that's kind of a no-no these days.
later, i opened the envelope, and the front read, "for someone special...hope your birthday finds you smiling..." the greeting finished inside with, "...all day long!" i also saw that inside the card brianna wrote a little message in her big left-handed handwriting, "thank you for all your help. happy birthday trina from brianna." it made me smile. brianna's mom also wrote a little something: "a small token for your help with brianna. she talks to us about you all the time. thank you for your book for her. enjoy your birthday! brianna's mom (blanca)." inside the envelope was a $25 gift card for chili's. i was shocked, and immediately wondered what to do...could they afford this, especially for someone who they don't even really know? am i ethically allowed to accept this gift? i mean, i don't want to insult anyone, and i don't really see this affecting my tutoring. i've always enjoyed tutoring brianna (as previous posts can illustrate), and seeing her at the school is one of the highlights of my day. i like her, and want her to improve and read like a pro.
i almost started crying when i opened her card. seeing her message, and then reading her mom's message...that was wonderful and really made my day. the gift card wasn't needed. i was happy with just the card, and already on a high from angeles's ziploc gift. again, i like this job. it's stuff like this, and feeling like i'm doing something good, that makes me glad i do what i do.
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