And The Adventure Begins

Although I have already been to the elementary school in which I will be tutoring, today was the first day I began working with a forth grade student, two for that matter. When I walked into the classroom the teacher was not expecting me however, when I told her I was there to tutor students she was overjoyed and said “perfect timing, were working on math.” She then sat me at a table and gave me a math book and informed me on the sections in which I will be working on with the students. It seemed as soon as I opened the book the two students were at my table, a male and a female, for the sake of privacy we will call the Sam and Sue.


First I will talk about Sue. She seemed very interested and wanted to know everything about me. I told her I was a student at MSU and I was here to help her with anything she needed help with. She then informed me that MSU is where she wanted to go to school to be a lawyer or judge; this was also her mother’s goal before she dropped out of school. After we got acquainted with one another I began to review with her some common mathematic procedures. However, that was the last thing she wanted to do. She kept changing the subject and asking unrelated questions and telling me unrelated stories. This to me shows that she is not very confident in her math skills. She had a very hard time understanding the material regardless of how I presented it to her and how many times I repeated myself, she was just not interested. The most interesting comment she made to me was regarding the tutoring session. She asked “why are we working with you? Is it because we are stupid? The other kids always say when you have to work with someone special or go to another classroom your in special Ed.” This caught me off guard but what surprised me more was Sam’s comment after Sues which I will get into later. At first I was not sure what to say so I just continued on with math until I realized what I was teaching her the same thing the class was working on. After realizing that I told she was not stupid, she was on the same level as the other kids and learning about the same things. Once I pointed that out she felt somewhat more comfortable. Sue seems like a bright student because when she did pay attention she understood the material. I think it is just a matter or her getting more confident in herself and more comfortable with me. Once these things happen I think she will feel better asking me questions about school subjects she does not understand.


Sam is the male student I also worked with. He, unlike Sue wanted to learn math. Although he didn’t want to tell me much about himself, it seemed he was very eager that someone was going to give him the time of day. He did make a startling comment through which was also the first thing he said to me that was not math related. When Sue made the comment about being stupid Sam said “yeah, my dad tells me I should be in special Ed.” I could not believe these words came out of hi mouth. It just seemed shocking to me because I was raised differently, with my parent’s support 100 %. Besides that Sam caught on very quickly which is another reason I think Sue felt uncomfortable, because she did not. Sam is very bright I think if he has more one on one help he will just continue to get smarter. A reason why I think he was happy to work with me and get one on one time because it seemed the teacher of the classroom was not very concerned with the failure or success of the students. As she would stand in front of classroom talking she was pretty much talking to herself. The kids were fooling around and she did not once stop and bother to say get in your seats. Yes I know it most likely would have taken more than just a simple get in your seat but the point is she didn’t even try that.


Hopeful my tutoring sessions will get better and the children both will open up more so I will be able to help them in all of the areas in which they need help.

My First Visit

Yesterday was the first day I visited my assigned elementary school and although I was not able to begin tutoring I was still able to make some observations. The location of the school is not in the greatest part of town and the exterior of the school did not look that great, I didn’t feel it was as welcoming as an elementary school should be. The school is made of children that are of all different races and come from all different backgrounds. While watching some of the children interact in the main office after they got done with lunch, it seemed both of those things, race and background, did not affect the student’s abilities to interact with each other. I was also able to see how some of that school’s staff interacted with the children and although they seemed stern they showed compassion for the children by listening to their stories from recess and making sure they got to class on time. I met with the schools secretary and principal to discuss where I would be placed and what times I would be coming in for my weekly visit. Although I was not able to meet with the teacher I will be working with or the student(s) I will be tutoring I still was able to go into a classroom while class was in session and see some of the fifth grade students. Just walking into the classroom alone was an experience in itself. As I entered the classroom all of the boy started hooting and hollering making comments such as “whoot whoot, owww, owww” and “we get more of these girls, yes”. Because I am tutoring at the same school with two other females I know I was able to experience the children’s reaction to us when we walked in the classroom with people in the same position as my own. I could not believe that boys at such a young age were capable of acting this way. I didn’t know what to do until the teacher began to yell at them and stated “we will discus this behavior later!” Remembering my own elementary experience I was shocked at the behavior of these students. Although this first visit was somewhat overwhelming I can’t wait for next week to see what I will be doing and to meet with the student(s) I will be working with.

Welcome Everyone

Hello everyone, my name is Ashley Andersen and I am a sophomore and Michigan State University. I am a new comer to world of blogging and although it took me some time to figure it out, I am now ready to go. The purpose of my blog is to record my thoughts and feelings about an assignment I must complete in my teachers education course, TE 250. Each week, starting Tuesday January 23, 2007 and ending on Tuesday April 24, 2007, I will go to an Elementary School to tutor a student. Each week, after my session of tutoring, I will post a new blog commenting on things I have done and observed as well as the feelings I have felt while working with a child. I will be documenting any obstacles I encounter as well as overcome throughout the approximated three months of working with a child. I will also be reflecting on any goals the child and I make and anything at all that connects to TE 250 themes. I feel the experience of tutoring a child will be great for a college student like myself who wished one day become a teacher and make a difference in other’s lives.