RPCS Day Two (A Great Day!!)

We just got back from the basketball game at Rough Rock! About a 45-60 minute drive from Rock Point, we arrived at the end of the junior varsity boy’s game. We saw the end of that game, the varsity girl’s game, and the varsity boy’s game. WE WON ALL OF THEM!! It was a lot of fun to watch. It was really clear that Rock Point worked AS a team during the games – they definitely played off of each other and had great communication in a matter of seconds during the game. There were definitely a couple star players on every team, and I recognized a lot of the team members from the classes I had been observing (which was so great!!)

Probably an obvious side note, but besides one or two white teachers who were attending the game from Rough Rock, we were the only white people there. I felt a little uncomfortable for the fact that all six of us sat together in a clump on the bleachers. I know the focus was most definitely not on us, but I did feel like we were bringing a little more attention to ourselves sitting all together. A good thing about the game was that the man sitting next to Emily heard about us from his student at the school and said it was great that we were there. That was an awesome feeling when I heard that.

Today was a better day in the sense that I feel like I made some connections with students and took initiative in the classroom. I stayed in the same classroom and observed the same teacher. All her classes were still working on the advertising assignment. Some good things about today included a few students calling me by name to ask a question about the assignment and a couple students asking me to read their persuasive paragraph to make sure they were good enough. That was really great!! Instead of just sitting at the side of the classroom and observing, I decided to take a more active role and tried to motivate students to complete the assignment. I asked them questions about their advertisements (or the lack thereof) and walked around to observe what students were doing.

There were also several new students who hadn’t received the assignment, so I explained the assignment individually in hopes that by one-on-one explaining, they would feel more motivated to do the assignment that period. I don’t think it necessarily had that response, but I did get to meet some students, work on my explaining skills, and I think it showed that I cared what they were doing. I met one student who had a drumstick, and he told me that he was a member of the Navajo Culture club. They practice during lunchtime, and he invited me to come see it.

I felt so honored to be there during their practice. Students only get 30 minutes for lunch, and the boys that are part of the drumming either eat very quickly in the first 5-10 minutes of lunch and come practice, or they don’t eat lunch at all. The Navajo drumming is one large drum, four feet diameter and about two feet off the ground, with four to seven boys surrounding it. They sang tribal songs and played the drum together. It was so beautiful. It was so cool to see some of these boys who I had seen uninterested in English class be committed to this traditional cultural practice. It showed a new side to some of these students for me.

The principal of the school had made an announcement about us over the school intercom, saying ‘student teachers’ who were visiting for the week were there to help, and students are encouraged to seek their help and ask them questions. I think because of this school welcome, more students were receptive to us in the school. Quite a few students said hello to me in the hallway, or nodded their heads in recognition. It was…amazing. I felt less like an observer today and more like a participant in the education of these students.

Tomorrow Alyssa and I plan to explore the school more and observe different teachers. I’m excited to see some different classrooms, teaching styles, and students.