journal entry 3

Working up at the school continues to be a uphill battle for me. As previously stated, young children can be difficult for me to communicate with, but the school is opening my eyes to new forms of interaction. I was excited to work with two young male students today because of the material I was going to get to tutor them with. I got the opportunity to help them with their social studies homework, and me being a history major, the material they were learning was right up my alley. The homework was focused around the impact of the underground railroad here in Wisconsin. The students were asked to draw a representation of not only the underground railroad but what it stood for as well. When one student began to draw a railroad track, I quickly intervened and described to him that their was no real life railroad and that it was simply a metaphoric expression. I went on to make the analogy that if he were to stay at all of his friends houses to feel safe,on his way back to his own home, that this would be considered a similar experience. Each friends house represented a safe haven until he got home or to his final destination. It was a great feeling would I could see on the young boys face, that he had finally understood what the underground railroad truly represented. This small moment of success for me was self gratifying and gave me courage to continue to work through my interaction problems with that of the younger generation. I hope to in the future become a professor of History, and if I can continue to see my teaching make an impact on the younger generation, than that is all I can hope for in my lifetime.