Adapting to Lead: Turning Challenges Into Progress

At first, we had all the fifth and sixth graders combined for the tutoring portion of After School club. There were about five students who regularly attending, and unfortunately there was some bullying taking place. The students were constantly talking rudely to and about each other, and refused to work together or listen to us teachers. Together, they would yell and refuse to do work. We decided to adjust how we did things. After taking care of the bullying issue with other teachers and parents, we split up the students and tutored them one-on-one. This was a game changer! Suddenly the students were getting along better for the second portion of After School club. Because the students were not worried about giving in to peer pressure, they began to actually learn and improve in their studies, and they also seemed much more relaxed and felt safer at school. It was a good learning experience because it can be hard to find a good solution to difficult situations. I also learned to not judge--it was frustrating to have to deal with disrespect and bullying, but I made the decision to not judge them for their actions (while still holding them accountable for their action, of course). Instead, we worked to come up with a plan that would benefit all the students, and it did.
-Grace Packer