The Reading Buddy

The New Orleans public schools realized there was an immediate need to help poor performing  students in low-income schools after Hurricane Sandy. These students had been displaced the  year before, and some did not attend school in their new cities. As a result, the reading skills of  these students suffered. It was decided to partner with college students be reading buddies to  give them extra attention and time to work on their reading. I was one of those college  students.    The vision of the program was to help the students but also to connect the college students to  the local community. As a reading buddy I too had a vision for my students. I wanted them to  improve not only their reading skills but let them know they had someone they could confide in  as the students were still living with the stress of returning to damaged homes and in some  cases lost loved ones. As the Good Kitchen example noted, the seniors served had negative  feelings towards receiving help and did not enjoy their meals. I learned the children did not  have a positive experience with reading because they felt ashamed of their lack of skills. I  enlisted the help of a librarian to help me find age-appropriate books. I also included some of  my favorite childhood books, so that I could share my own memories. I thought by sharing my  memories I could get the children to open up to me. I too lived in a city impacted by the storm  and understood their stress. In order to get into their minds, I added an additional task. Each  week, I asked them a question unrelated to the book. For example, I asked what is something  you want me to know about you? If you had a million dollars how would you spend it? What do  you want Santa to bring you? The answers were heartbreaking. These might seem like silly  questions, but I gained insight into their struggles. I then asked the librarian what children’s  books I could use to address these topics.     In the second semester of the program, I was ready to launch what I had learned. I introduced  books with characters that struggled in school or had a difficult home life. I wanted them to  identify with characters and see how those characters overcame their struggles. In the end,  each student had a book series they were interested in and wanted to keep reading. Some of  the fellow reading buddies struggled with their children and even had behavior problems.  Something as simple as working with a librarian and asking questions helped.     While this might not seem like design thinking such as the Listerine example, I argue that it is. I  had to get inside their minds and design a curriculum to help the students succeed. These  children went from being ashamed of their reading skills and uninterested in reading to wanting  to read a book series. They finally felt something they had never experienced-pride.


The Reading Buddy The New Orleans public schools realized there was an immediate need to help poor performing students in low - income schools after Hurricane Sandy . These students had been displaced the year before , and some did not attend school in their new cities . As a result , the reading skills of these students suffered . It was decided to partner with college students be reading buddies to give them extra attention and time to work on their reading . I was one of those college students . The vision of the program was to help the students but also to connect the college students to the local community . As a reading buddy I too had a vision for my students . I wanted them to improve not only their reading skills but let them know they had someone they could confide in as the students were still living with the stress of returning to damaged homes and in some cases lost loved ones . As the Good Kitchen example noted , the seniors served had negative feelings towards receiving help and did not enjoy their meals . I learned the children did not have a positive experience with reading because they felt ashamed of their lack of skills . I enlisted the help of a librarian to help me find age - appropriate books . I also included some of my favorite childhood books , so that I could share my own memories . I thought by sharing my memories I could get the children to open up to me . I too lived in a city impacted by the storm and understood their stress . In order to get into their minds , I added an additional task . Each week , I asked them a question unrelated to the book . For example , I asked what is something you want me to know about you ? If you had a million dollars how would you spend it ? What do you want Santa to bring you ? The answers were heartbreaking . These might seem like silly questions , but I gained insight into their struggles . I then asked the librarian what children ’s books I could use to address these topics . In the second semester of the program , I was ready to launch what I had learned . I introduced books with characters that struggled in school or had a difficult home life . I wanted them to identify with characters and see how those characters overcame their struggles . In the end , each student had a book series they were interested in and wanted to keep reading . Some of the fellow reading buddies struggled with their children and even had behavior problems . Something as simple as working with a librarian and asking questions helped . While this might not seem like design thinking such as the Listerine example , I argue that it is . I had to get inside their minds and design a curriculum to help the students succeed . These children went from being ashamed of their reading skills and uninterested in reading to wanting to read a book series . They finally felt something they had never experienced - pride .