On September 22nd, 2024, AYLUS Branch Roslyn volunteered at Chinese Cultural Association of Long Island’s Chinese School from 1:30 to 5 p.m. The volunteers assisted the teachers and help make their jobs easier by reducing workload.
As Teacher Assistants we need to maintain order in class when the teacher cannot. We were assigned to rooms and right away we got to work. We comforted the kids who were crying or anxious from being separated from their parents. When the teacher wanted the class to calm down we helped the teacher settle them down. The teachers started their lessons and we helped the students who were distracted or unsure what to do. Whenever the teachers needed to distribute papers, take a student to the bathroom, or going to the lobby to retrieve items. We were there to assist the teachers and make their jobs easier. In the middle of the school day we had to ready the class and bring them to the gymnasium. Today the Chinese School was celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, we brought the children down by class inorder not to overfill the gymnasium. In the gymnasium the parents set up tables for the children to make moon cakes. We lined the kids up and they made their moon cakes. After all the students got their moon cakes we took a group photo and went back to class. We finished off the day watching youtube videos of chinese fairytales.
Being a Teachers Assistant at a Chinese School is a humbling experience. Dealing with younger children makes it hard to keep the class still with all that excess energy. It is important to emotionally connect with the students so you can comfort them when they are upset. Being a TA teachs a lot on how to be patient, compassionate, and efficient. It is a bit difficult but nonetheless rewarding.
Participants: Siming (Simon) Long (3.5 hours), Hunter Chen (3.5 hours), Joy Zou (3.5 hours), Sofia Chen (3.5 hours), Jinrui Lei (3.5 hours), Lyann Lin (3.5 hours), Elizabeth Ouyang (3.5 hours), Xiaoyu (Olivia) Yang (3.5 hours), Hua (Tiffany) Lin (3.5 hours)
Reporter: Hunter Chen