After School Club

I came into the new school year with three after school classes and a plan to focus on broadening vocabulary though the art and stories of children's book. I put together a "My English Notebook" for each of the after school club attendees, created worksheets and activities specific to each book, and established a sticker rewards system that they could track on the inside cover of the notebooks. With powerpoint versions of the books to display on the big touch screen, I was confident this was going to be awesome.

It was pretty clear by the second week that my plan had relied too much on their ability to focus that late in the afternoon. Combined with varying levels of English, extreme tardiness, and schedule changes, I abandoned the children's book lesson plan and opted for ABC and ABC phonics activities and English games - many of which I found here - that practiced the key phrases we were learning in our regular English classes.

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All in all, the sticker system was a huge success. I got an, "Oh! Wow! Good job, Abby," every time I would award them a sticker. To receive a sticker was a huge motivator to complete the worksheets and activities. 

I admit that I felt a lot of aggravation and frustration, not at the kids, but at trying to find activities I could successfully explain and monitor with a language barrier and at trying to coordinate activities for regular classes plus after school. I always feel like I'm not doing enough -- I'm not doing a good enough job. However, looking at the work the after school kids completed and being able to have more personal, weekly interactions with them, I feel good about what they have learned. I'm so proud of them.