Tutoring

Tutoring takes a lot of energy out of me, yet I know I am doing a good thing for the African refugee children who are immersed into American schools. I just have mixed feeling about doing it. I know that the children need me and I love them. It is their teachers and the principal and everyone around them who are adults that are the problem. When I went to tutor last Friday I had the most hellish day. At recess, the teacher on duty ran around the yard and yelled at the children to not play tag. So I was gently reminding them so they wouldn't be bawled out by this teacher. When the bell rang a little boy was slowly getting off the play ground equipment and she SCREAMED at him to get off and get in line. I was picking up the equipment and putting it away for the children and then I saw this little boy start to cry because she was yelling at him and she called him a crybaby and screamed in his face to get in line. OH MY!!! I can't believe people like this are actually employed in an elementary school. Then I witnessed the principal in the middle of the lunch room with a microphone yelling at the kids to be quiet, sit and eat, and when they were done and sitting quietly she'd let them dump their food and go to recess. I don't think children should be yelled at like that. Children are so innocent and to see this stuff go on makes me want to vomit. Then I go into a classroom to help tutor a child from Somalia and the class is PURE chaos. The teacher doesn't know her left hand from her right and finally sends three kids out of the class with me. These kids were required to do some reading and answer the questions. These children could read but had NO comprehension of the piece and these kids are not getting ESL time. These were only a few of the problems I encountered that day. There were so many that I wrote three pages to my professor. He said inner city children rarely get the help they need and the teachers show signs of frustration and are probably worn out. He agreed with me that the adults' behavior was inexcusable. I told James never on earth will I EVER put my kids in public school. I tutored last year at a different school and had a miserable experience with the teacher there as well. She was MEAN to the poor babies in kindergarten and she wondered why the kids didn't like her. Oregon has some of the highest qualifications to get into teaching, but these teachers are seriously lacking. I guess the most I can do is keep going back and hope I can help as many children as possible and love them because they are God's precious children.