Change for Kids

So this semester at PS 160 has been a HUGE improvement over the Fall semester. Instead of working with random kids, I was assigned four children. What we usually do is read passages out loud and solve word problems. 3 out of the 4 kids I work with need A LOT of help. But the fourth child is amazingly great at reading. So great that after class I asked Ms. Jenkins (the teacher) why she was chosen to work with me. The teacher said she just came from Bangladesh and did not speak or read English at all last year. I was so shocked because her reading skills are flawless. Ms. Jenkins also said that the little girl lacked confidence to even read in front of the class. This shocked me even more because she’s always asking me to read out loud and when the other kids need help she is my little helper. So it’s great to know that in some way I’m helping her overcome her shyness.
With the other three kids, I think it may be best to help them individually. They are really struggling and I think it makes it worse when other kids are there because they begin to feel pressured to read the passage perfectly. So I’m going to talk Ms. Jenkins about making it one-on-one, and if that’s not possible, two-on-two will have to do.
Also, it should be noted that this is a different class I’m working with from last semester. I actually visited the old class that I worked with last year and most of them remembered me, so that was nice because kids usually have very flighty memories.