Blog post written by Ann Black, Iowa Reading Corps AmeriCorps member at Neil Armstrong Elementary.
My first great story not only focuses upon the growth for one of my kindergarten students with letter sounds, but also touches upon my own, personal growth. I start each day by walking to one of our kindergarten classrooms. Anna* sees me at the door, smiles and runs toward me. We talk on our way to my room and then she sits right down to work on her intervention. She listens intently to the instructions and then we get right to work with letter sounds. She works through the five, letter-sound flash cards and as we substitute two new letters, she has a huge smile on her face. When I first tested Anna's knowledge of letter sounds, she recorded a score of 0. However, she is now able to identify 17 letter sounds and I am proud of how far she has come in the short time that we have been doing the interventions. I knew when I became an AmeriCorps member that this would be a rewarding experience, but I could not have imagined the personal growth that I have experienced in one short month. This experience is incredible and I can’t wait for each school day to begin.
My first great story not only focuses upon the growth for one of my kindergarten students with letter sounds, but also touches upon my own, personal growth. I start each day by walking to one of our kindergarten classrooms. Anna* sees me at the door, smiles and runs toward me. We talk on our way to my room and then she sits right down to work on her intervention. She listens intently to the instructions and then we get right to work with letter sounds. She works through the five, letter-sound flash cards and as we substitute two new letters, she has a huge smile on her face. When I first tested Anna's knowledge of letter sounds, she recorded a score of 0. However, she is now able to identify 17 letter sounds and I am proud of how far she has come in the short time that we have been doing the interventions. I knew when I became an AmeriCorps member that this would be a rewarding experience, but I could not have imagined the personal growth that I have experienced in one short month. This experience is incredible and I can’t wait for each school day to begin.
I am also blessed to be at Neil Armstrong with a returning Internal Coach who gives me encouragement every day. Even though she is very busy, she takes time to check-in and answer any questions that I might have on a given day. Neil Armstrong is a very caring community and I have learned so much from everyone at the school. Just watching the interactions between teachers and students has been rewarding and has helped me strengthen my own interactions with students. There have been some challenges, but we have worked through them as a team. I am excited to be a small part of this team and an AmeriCorps member.
*Name has been changed to ensure confidentiality.
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