1st day volunteering in 2nd grade

A few days ago I had my first visit to the elementary school that I am volunteering through the VIPs program.  While I was contemplating all the scenarios in my head on the walk from my car to the entrance of the school, I wasn't sure what to expect.  I walked up to the big brick building next to parents holding their child's hand who were all getting dropped off at the gym door.  As I reached the main door, I took a deep breath, walked in and went up the stairs to the main office.  To my surprise upon entering the main office, I was greeted by friendly staff and even the secretaries greeted me warmly.  This put me in a great mood already.  While I was signing in, a young boy walked in who happened to be from second grade (the grade I was assigned to) offered to walk me down to the second grade classroom. 

On the walk to second grade, the hallways seemed to be outdated but reminded me of movies seen in the past which put a smile on my face.  The hallways weren't filled with much color but the atmosphere still seemed like the school is loved by their students.  It wasn't a far walk to second grade and immediately upon entering the students were grabbing breakfast out of giant coolers.  Today's breakfast was Pillsbury apple pastries, cantaloupe and orange juice.  This was different from any of the other schools I have been involved with in.  The past schools I have worked with, only offered breakfast before school and very few students ate it.  Here, every student must eat breakfast and everyone eats together in the classroom before the morning rituals. I found out later through InfoWorks! that 74% of this school is on subsidized lunches.

Looking around the classroom while everyone was eating the pastries, I noticed much of the walls in the classroom were covered with student work.  If it wasn't student work, it was handmade by the teacher. I was wondering if this is because it was a teacher choice or because the budget happened to be low.  Either way it made the classroom have a home-like feel to it.  The students in this classroom come from a variety of background.  According to InfoWorks! the school is very dynamic in their ethical background, 43% are Hispanic, 26% are African American, 21% are Caucasian, 5% are Asian, 3% are multi racial and 2% are Native American.
After breakfast, pledge of allegiance and announcements the teacher had students break open their reading street books.  Everyone was to review the short story; Horace and Morris but Mostly Delores.  Many students got right to work but others were more focused on drawing attention to themselves by dropping their books on the floor.  This didn't last long because those particular students were leaving for the reading specialist teacher shortly. 

After silent reading students began working on assignments the teacher wrote on the board for students to work on.  The teacher had me help specific students who needed the extra help on vocabulary and pronuncing their words correctly.  I expected these students to really need extra help but they actually were quite fine once they received one-on-one time.  The students were very eager and excited to work with me.  It made for an easy transition in a school I have never been before.  Spending time with these individual students, really made the time go by fast.  Before I knew it, it was 11:00 and my volunteer session was up. I am looking forward to the next time I return to this second grade classroom and the adventures that we have ahead over the next month.