When I first got into the school I felt a wave of flashbacks go through my mind. It felt like just yesterday I was a student in my own middle school. Nothing much had changed since I was in their shoes. Once getting to the classroom, the first thing that happened was the morning announcements. We did a moment of silence followed by the pledge and then the lunch menu. The class then went in a circle introducing themselves and something we enjoy doing. A lot of them enjoyed various sports, video games, and being with their friends. Something that I didn’t know was that the first class period in the morning was their homeroom, I don’t recall having a homeroom until high school. Another thing I was unaware of was these sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in the Eagle Academy class are the struggling readers of their grades.

This was only their second time meeting so they decided to make a charter that will outline how they want to accomplish any tasks for their project. They decided that they wanted their workplace to be fun but serious and working in a group atmosphere. So we asked them each to tell us what fun meant to them. All of them generally had the same answer: confidence, trust, everyone being involved, and working together. We then asked them to define serious this one varied a little more: focusing, being courteous, respect, getting along with one another, and welcoming all ideas. I was very surprised by these kids answers because even though they are the struggling readers of their grades they put a lot of thought into their answers. The kids were then split into three groups called the “three w’s: waste, wildlife, and water”. Each group had to discuss and write down how their “w” was affected by pollution and how they could help fix the problem.

These kids are really spectacular and I am looking forward to the rest of the visits with them. I am hoping that my group and I can take their desire for confidence and understanding of each other and apply that to the project we create.