Appendixes

Appendix A | Appendix B | Appendix C | Appendix D | Appendix E | Appendix F | Appendix G

Appendix A

General Information about the Participants in Wave One

Participant A. She was 25 years old and had two children. She attended four out of the twenty-four class sessions offered. She was a great student—so eager, so attentive, and all of this…with a two-month old baby at home. You could see the desire to learn in her eyes every time she came. One day after she had missed a class, I called her home to see if everything was all right. Her husband informed me that after being out of work for two months, he had gotten work, and she had as well. Unfortunately, her job was during the evenings, so she wouldn’t be able to attend our class anymore. He commented to me that she was sad to not have this opportunity to participate in the class anymore. I was crushed! (She appears as Eva in my journal entries.)

 

Participant B. She was 23 years old and had two children. She attended five out of the twenty-four class sessions offered. She was seven months pregnant when we began, and many of her absences were related to false labor, pain and the morphine to halt it, and ultimately, delivery of her baby. Most every time she came her 11-month-old daughter would stay the whole class with us because she cried in the childcare. (She appears as Victoria in my journal entries.)

 

Participant C. She was 27 years old and had two children. She attended two out of the twenty-four class sessions offered. After she didn’t come to class I called her house to see why she had missed class, and if everything was all right. When I asked her if she would make it to class that night she told me she didn’t think so. Then I asked her when she thought she would make it back, and she told me it was hard to say. It all felt very mysterious to me. I think she was in a somewhat abusive relationship at home and it was hard for he to get permission to leave the house. I was devastated for her. She was very shy, but the two times she came, you could see such a spark within her! (She appears as Clara in my journal entries.)

 

Participant D. She was 27 years old and had two children. She attended six out of the twenty-four class sessions offered. She was somewhat bi-polar, and was often visiting the Counselor before our class sessions. She went in spurts. Some days she was all energy and desire to learn!! Then other days, she was too depressed to get out of bed (I found this out when I called her home many times to see if she was OK, and why she had missed class). When she was “up,” it was great to work with her. When she was “down,” it was tough, especially since she didn’t come most of the time when she was depressed. (She appears as Estela in my journal entries.)

 

Participant E. She was 42 years old and had six children. She attended eight out of the twenty-four class sessions offered, but she learned about the class later than the rest. She actually didn’t come until the seventh session. She ended up being the most consistent of all my students in Wave I. Some of her absences were due to a trip to Mexico to help out family. (She appears as Marisol in my journal entries.)

 

IMPORTANT NOTES: I had an original list of ten to twelve people who had expressed interest in the class, and committed to being there. After the first night, when only two or three showed up, and I needed to tell everyone that the next class would be held at the Public Library, I called each potential participant personally. Each one gave a reason why they hadn’t come to the first class, and committed to coming on Thursday. TWO of those ten people actually came on that Thursday. None of these five “faithful” participants came on the last day of class, and therefore I have no “After” surveys filled out by them. In my efforts to call these ladies later and “track them down,” I was also unsuccessful.