Bobby_TP_#16

Last Monday I tutored P.J. for the last time this session. We didn’t have any of the usual articles or homework to go over like we usually did, so we just read a story from his reading book about a boy, his grandfather, and a family of seals. P.J. read well, as usual, but still reading comprehension poses a problem. I stopped after every page to ask him comprehension questions about what he had read. He could usually answer the questions I asked based on information readily presented in the text, such as “What did Ben and his grandfather see at the harbor”, but questions like, “Why do you think Ben enjoys going to the harbor with his grandfather”, were more difficult for him to answer. For questions like the latter I tried to guide him toward answers based on questions about his own experience, such as “Do you have anything special you like to do with your parents/grandparents/relatives?” Sometimes instead of answering the question to the point of the story he would go on a tangent and I would have to reel him back in toward the topic. I think the key to helping him with his reading comprehension is teaching him how to think about what he’s reading to make inferences that could most likely be true. When asked to answer questions that don’t immediately correlate to what he’s just read he seems to make wild guesses.

Craig_TP_#14(C)

Today I tutored Yunseo at the public library. We started a 'Tangled' universe book, where Merida and a suitor from a friendly clan steal emeralds that make some nearby springs clear. After the emeralds are taken the springs turn from clear water to dark, murky water. The main characters are either Irish or Scottish so we discussed: kilts and why people wear them, what clans are and why it is important to the story, what lochs are, and some general archery terms.

Thoughts: Yunseo is a great student and I believe she is very representative of children who are students. She's usually very fidgety and enthused about coloring and interacting. She is also easily distracted by noises in the library and sometimes(not often) I have to tell, not ask, her to read.

Craig_TP_#13(C)

Tonight I tutored Yunseo at the public library. we read mostly fun books today including one where the main character was traveling through the desert and picks up friends on the way to a story telling competition. We also read a Curious George story with the man in the yellow hat takes George to the beach.

After these stories we went back to The Great Mouse Mistake, where Gus and Cinderella go into town to buy Lady Tremaine new flowers. In the village, the people are preparing for a big fair and everyone is very excited. Gus sees a big cake and cannot control himself from having a small nibble. He knocks the cake over and Cinderella is blamed. Cinderella then promises the baker to fix the trouble she's caused. She gets all her animal friends to help her make a lot of tiny cakes and gives them to the baker who is very satisfied.

Craig_TP_#12(C)

Today Yunseo and I finished the Great Mouse Mistake, a cinderella princess story about mice in Cinderella's house and the hijinx they get into. In the story Cinderella meets and takes in a mouse who means well but often causes trouble. The mouse(gus) wants to do something nice for Cinderella so he cuts down some flowers. He does not realize that the flowers are very important to Cinderella's stepmother, Lady Tremaine.

Thoughts:

I usually give Yunseo a coloring sheet and crayons before we start to keep her busy while i'm reading. We have kind of an agreement that i'll read the longer pages and she reads the shorter pages. We also sometimes switch it up by me reading the dialogue and Yunseo reading the non-dialogue passages. 

Craig_TP_#11(C)

Tonight I tutored Yunseo at the public library. We started to read a book called Cinderella: The Great Mouse Mistake.

This book, basically a spin off of Cinderella, which is French in origin. Therefore there were a lot of French words(maison, madame, tete). We also discussed new English words(courtyard, step sister, stepmother). I think Yunseo in generally interested in learning so it's very easy to teach her. I think that this is a trait mostly found in children. This is something to watch out for once learning becomes something mandatory instead of something intrinsic. I think it could be a challenge to motivate students who are forced to be in extra after-school programs against their will.

Craig_TP_#15(C)

Tonight I read with Yunseo at the public library and we read a bit more of the book about the Emeralds. We discussed some of the stories smaller points such as Merida's relationship with her mother. Yunseo really enjoys Disney princess stories.

Thoughts:
Tonight I found out that my tutee's father( Mr. Shin) used to work for the Department of Education in S. Korea which is one of the places i'm most interested in going. They also gave me a very thoughtful card and a gift certificate to Starbucks. This is my second to last tutoring session and I think i've come a long way from the beginning. Yunseo seems to understand what is expected of her and it seems that she enjoys our time together.

Craig_CO_#3

Today I observed Ms. Jerry's Group 2 Listening class. One of my conversation partners was in the class, Fahad and we spoke briefly before class. Priya had a much different approach to teaching that either Ms. Kim or Leslie. Priya let a lot more slide than either of the two other teachers.

The main topic of priya's class was driving. To introduce the lesson she show a public service announcement about the death of a teenage boy who was killed by a driver who was distracted. She showed the video and asked some follow up comprehension questions( how old was he when he died, what was the other driver doing, etc.)

Then Priya shifted the lesson to a discussion based activity where students were placed in small groups of 3-4 and asked if men are better than women in relation to driving. Each student was allowed to speak their mind and follow up questions were asked to students who needed to develop and articulate their opinion very.

Thoughts: All in all, I liked Mrs. kim's class the best and this class the least. It could be related to the level of the students, or possible the activities involved. I didn't particularly care for the way Priya managed students speaking out of turn. This is a very difficult area because students need to learn how to handle themselves and practice speaking, but, at the same time, the class needs to be structured and there needs to be some sort of instructing going on.

Craig_CO_#2

Today I observed Ms. Wagner's foundations speaking class. Leslie's class was composed mostly of Arabic speakers and it seemed like a real challenge to keep the students from conversing with each other in their native tongue. Leslie started the class with a quiz. The quiz had two main sections: an error correction section and a section where the students were required match words from a word bank to small diagrams.

The main lesson was about money. Leslie described how to write money(using either the dollar sign or the cent sign) and different ways these can be said( one fifty, one dollar and fifty cents). She then wrote random amounts on the board and called on students to read the amounts to her.

After this the was an activity in which three items were presented (car, phone, shoes) and each student had to find three classmates and ask these students how much these items cost each of them.

Thoughts:
I think Leslie handled her classroom well, but i think it's very difficult for a young white women to control these young arab men. She implemented a strike system where each time she heard arabic she would give that student a tally mark. Three tally marks and the student would have one point deducted from final final class grade.

I think she could stand to be more strict in the classroom. I enjoyed her involvement of the class but it got out of hand at times, with students shouting the answer before the selected student could answer.

Nicky_TP_#16

12/3/14 TP 16

On Wednesday I spent my last tutoring session with Saja. We did not work on a lot of materials together except at the end of class I stayed after to watch her presentation for the end of the year final. Though during the class Leslie left me in charge while she gave oral exams in the hallway to her other students one at a time. This was a lot of fun. Though at first the other students did not ask me questions, as soon as I stood up to retrieve something from the front of the classroom, students began to bombard me with grammar questions. By the end of class they were asking if I was a teacher and what I taught. I told them I was currently not a teacher but would be one in the near future. As I made my way to the back of the classroom several students proceeded to exclaim, “new teacher!” This was really sweet and funny, and made me miss them all the more after I left. 

Bobby_TP_#15

On Tuesday after class I had my weekly session with P.J. This time the session took place at CIES, which really benefitted me because I was feeling particularly restless that day and relished the opportunity to use a room with not one but two white boards and plenty of space to excitedly walk around. I’m feeling that P.J. and I are beginning to form a healthy rapport. Once we started he quickly got over his initial tutoring blues. We started by working on his homework. I believe this went smoother than the tests we usually cover because there it felt like less of a critique of something he’d already taken and was forced to review and more like a productive, useful activity. I also think my ability to walk around the room rather than remain stuck in the chair next to him helped make finishing the homework more exciting. I eagerly made use of the whiteboard to draw graphics to help him with answering questions. After we finished the homework we went over the mistakes he’d made in two mini-magazines. I stressed the difference between “thinking questions” such as what is the main idea and the author would most likely agree with and “info questions” that could be found by scanning the reading. I hope that by being able to identify a specific type of question he can relate that to a corresponding answer strategy rather than seeing all questions as equal obstacles. We made it through these with ease, and I think P.J. actually enjoyed his time. 

Nicky_TP_#15

12/1/14 TP 15

    Yesterday was my last tutoring session with Mathew and David. I think I have a knack for teaching them now because it went really well. Though it was a little hard to originally round them up but once we started it was pretty easy to maintain the cooperation. We first worked on reading comprehension. David did his on his own but Mathew likes reading his out loud with me. After reading comprehension we worked on math which went fairly smoothly. Then we worked on their book report on De Soto. At the beginning of the session we also worked on vocabulary. Though when writing the vocabulary sentences down at first they were incorrect. But then I would make them say it out loud in a normal conversation. From there they would come to the answer on their own. They still have short attention spans but with proper motivation it was easier to manage them. Yesterday’s was that I would teach them some origami if we finished in time and we worked efficiently, so no talking unless it was a question about the homework.

    I will miss them, they are good kids. Also the mom was very put off that I will not be returning. Over all this was a great experience. I have become inducted into David and Mathew’s “cool kid club” as they were giving me tons of Pokémon trader cards on the way home. I just hope they make it through the rest of their school year without causing their mom too much stress.   

Nicky_TP_#14

12/1/14 TP 14

    Yesterday I worked with Saja at 1:00 pm in Leslie’s class. We started the class with my teaching evaluations. It was very hard explaining the definitions and concepts that the students were to write on the evaluation. It probably would have been better had they been a fill in the bubble evaluation. After this we worked on self-corrections for the lab we worked in last week. For the most part Saja was good on her own but every once in a while she would ask me why something was incorrect or if her correction was correct. Afterwards we worked on some interview questions for people in class. So Saja asked me what I ate everyday for breakfast, what I bought last week, etc. And then I did the same but for her. We finished earlier than the other students so I proceeded to ask her what she was going to do after the semester ends. I think she still thought it was a test question so she responded with her usual, “I will go to Saudi Arabia”. She asked me afterwards if I was going to be in class on Tuesday for her presentation. I said I could not, but it’s nice to know that she wanted me to be there.