Volunteer Stories: Partners in Math

This week’s volunteer stories come from Patricia Gonzalez, a Classroom Coach for Partners in Math!

Check out Patricia’s story below, and don’t forget to submit your stories here.

What makes Classroom Coaching special as a volunteer experience?

I can see that my presence and interest in the kids I coach definitely has had an impact on how they view themselves and their math ability. We also talk about what they want to study in college on a regular basis. I think this has started to help them believe that a college education is a real possibility for them. They seem more hopeful about their future.

Please share an anecdote or memorable moment that you have shared with your students.

Due to holiday vacation and getting sick, I missed seeing my kids two weeks in a row at one point. Since I was under the impression that they really didn’t give much thought to Math in Education or me in general, I was very surprised and pleased when I returned the following week and was met with comments like “where WERE you? We MISSED you. Why weren’t you HERE?” I knew then that I was making an impact on them. It felt good to know that I had been missed and that they appreciated my being there.

How has Classroom Coaching positively impacted one or more of your students?

Both of my students are quite good at Math, but neither believes this is so. Through constantly telling them how good they are at what they do, how quickly they learn, how nice it is to see them catch on and master skills, I believe their perceptions of their math skills have changed from “I can’t do this stuff” to “I think I can do this stuff”. Maybe by the end of the year, they will say “I KNOW I can do this stuff.”

How has Classroom Coaching impacted your life?

I feel good that I can give back to the community…I try to make what we do interesting and fun so they can focus on school and forget about home/work/family issues that distract them from learning. It feels good to help!

Thank you – we appreciate it when our classroom coaches share their stories! To learn more about the program Patricia works with, take a look at the Partners in Math page!

Don’t forget to share your stories also – they can be submitted here, or you can send me an e-mail at tmagbee@austinpartners.org with your classroom coaching experiences.

Thank you for reading, and we look forward to sharing more stories next week!