Boys Group

BOYS GROUP

Imagine a room, a school classroom in the Dominican Republic, where 10 young boys learn basic science skills, listen, are attentive and interested in the subject matter. It's not possible you say, I didn't think it possible...on a certain level of my consciousness I did believe. After my first three classes failed to keep the interest of the boys I was hoping would turn into my rockstar leaders, I decided to forge ahead and hope that some of them would stick around and stay interested. I mean, I was dealing with some serious behavior management stuff that I haven't dealt with since those old AYA days and I was dealing with the behavior without any apparent structure nor consequences. For example, in the middle of explaining the days lesson during my second class, not rocket science stuff I know, they were to pick out a picture from a magazine, cut it out and glue it to a piece of cardboard (they would eventually cut the picture and cardboard up to make their own puzzle), one of the kids gets up out of his seat, walks over to the other side of the room and roundhouse punches another kid across the back of his head. The assailant then strolls back to his seat, sits down and continues flipping through the magazine looking for an appropriate photo! I'm thinking to myself, what did I sign up for? and WHY DID THIS KID CLEAN THE OTHER ONES CLOCK?? I still don't know why and likely never will. The kid who got his noggin smacked didn't even bat an eye nor try and fight back.

I'm not a school teacher. I have little training in teaching and much less experience. I'm much more comfortable in settings outside the confines of a four walled classroom (I would have been more comfortable and at home under the shade of a tree in the town park or in the mountains, not in a classroom. And for my AYA'ers this kid and I are going on a long long long walk and it'll be me, you and gavin, or simon, or andrew, or jack, or dustin or...you get the point). Not only is teaching both my boys and girls group a personal challenge, but also I find myself conflicted because I have this resource (an actual classroom) which so many of my fellow PCV's don't have, would kill for (are writing grants for) AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT!

Well, thankfully I know an excellent school teacher and I get to speak with her everyday, my wife. She has been helping me set up a classroom management structure that the kids sometimes respond to and other times, well... After my first three disastrous boys classes, I created the sticker chart AND knew that I had to do a science activity the boys would love. I got lucky, I think. I found a used two liter bottle of coke, bought a liter and half of cooking oil, filled a 12 ounce coke bottle with water, bought alka-seltzer and borrowed food coloring from the volunteer house at the orphanage. I showed the boys how to make a lava lamp and they were transfixed. At the end of class I introduced the sticker behavior chart which would reward the boys for their participation, attendance and behavior during class. Even in the DR, stickers work, more or less, to entice the boys to come and participate and most importantly, their behavior has improved. I haven't had any clock cleaning incidents. I feel like my classroom is much safer for the kids and maybe they are learning, a little.

My favorite class, since blowing their minds with the homemade lava lamp, has been teaching the boys about movement/flight/force. I gave a brief lesson on measuring and force (Remember I'm a psychology major so Anthony go easy on me). The boys taped a string on one wall, measured it and marked it every 10 centimeters with a black marker, blew up a balloon, taped a drinking straw to the balloon and slid the straw through the string. Next, of course, they let go of the balloon as it flew in their faces because they put it on backwards! Once they figured out which direction to put the balloon on the string, they were laughing and jaws were wide open as they watched the balloon slide down the string and slap against the wall as the string ran out.

I loved seeing the smiles on these boys faces, their giggles of laughter as they enjoyed themselves in attempt to get their balloons to smack harder against the wall. For 15 minutes, they let go of their incessant need to fight, be bigger, badder and cooler than one another. They were just kids playing with balloons. Then they went back to "normal" and asked me for more balloons so they could chew on them like pieces of bubble gum. Okay, no you don't get another balloon kid. We did put washers on the balloons, making them weigh more. I attempted to teach them that the heavier an object is the more force is needed to move it along the string. I'm not sure if they got it, and may never be sure, but at the end of every class, when the boys give me a handshake, or fist bump or a hug, I get something.