Counseling Volunteers

	Interviewing A Remedial Teaching Volunteer
	Interviewee: Mei-ting Chen Experience: 1 year Works:large-group counseling volunteer, remedial teaching volunteer in Chinese phonetic symbols

	Q: How long have you been a remedial teaching volunteer of Chinese phonetic symbols? What is your job? More than two months. I am a housewife. Most of the time I have been a life- education volunteer. But one day I was invited to join in the volunteer team to support remedial teaching activities of Chinese phonetic symbols, I resolutely say yes. Q: Is there any requirement to be a remedial teaching volunteer? It requires mainly accompany and patience. The teacher is in the front to teach the kids. We look at the children's lips and check if they can follow the teacher. We encourage and accompany them, so key can keep up with the progress of the class. Q: What kind of students need to attend the remedial teaching class? When is the remedial teaching class? How long does it take to go through the total class? We get the name list of the first graders in need of help from their home-room teachers after the grand exam of Chinese phonetic alphabet. The class is the self-study time in the morning every Wednesday and Friday from November 20 to December 23. So we only have 10 lessons. Q: Do you need to prepare before the class since the children need to prepare before the class? we only need to come earlier. The teacher has prepared all the teaching aids. We only take a look of the teaching content of that day so that we can help the children we accompany. Q: In the class activity, the kids are asked to go to the front and point at the right phonetic symbol. What would you do if the kid you accompany refused to go to the front? Most of the kids coming to the class don’t do a good job in the learning and lack of self-confidence. I won’t force the kid. I would help the kid practice and get skilled then I encourage the kid to perform in front of the others. As long as the kid wants to take a step further, no matter the performance is good or isn’t good, I would give my encouragement when the kid returned to the seat. I would certainly give a louder applause if the kid gives a correct answer. Q: During the classroom observation, we saw the volunteers keep some records. What record does a volunteer need to keep except for accompanying the kids to attend the class? Mainly what the kid has learned in the class, such as the right phonetic symbols the kid learns and writes down in the nursery rhyme lyrics sheets. The record can make the kid’s home-room teacher know what the kid learn here so that the home-room teacher can give us feedback and suggestions. I think a remedial teaching volunteer in Chinese phonetic symbols is required to be good at observation and keep a complete record of the child's performance. Q: We have interviewed some volunteers in other small-group counseling team. at In end of the class, they give feedbacks and share with each other their thoughts so they themselves can get growth. Do you have the similar activity? If you do, what about the activity is it? We don’t have the similar activity, but we discuss the kids' learning in Line group on the Internet. Some senior volunteers provide good advice which let a novice volunteer in remedial teaching like me can adopt some skills promptly. Q: Do you feel pressured when the kid you accompany gets little progress? Of course I do. I’d like the kid given to my company can do better in the learning. But we have only 10 lessons in the self-study time in the morning. It’s difficult to elevate the child’s ability to the extent of the other students in his original class in such a limited time. I hope that the kid’s parents can also spend more time with the child in learning. Then the kid can make a more significant progress. Q: Do you have any other thing to share with us about being a remedial teaching volunteer? I can only say it’s a good harvest. First, because of being a remedial teaching volunteer, I get to know more children in need of help and their family backgrounds. Then I know I need to cherish I currently have. Second, some of the children in class yawn a lot because they go to bed too late. This reminds me that my children and I should go to bed early. Third, learning from a game can help many of these kind children. It helps them to reclaim the interest in learning. Thanks to the teacher for making me learn a lot. Finally, it’s coincidently cold in the period when we have the class, but not a volunteer has been late for the class. We come to prepare in advance for the kids. I am very impressed that every volunteer has been so devoted that she can contribute without any complaint.


	TOP