Day Two

Yesterday was another day of tutoring however this week, only the girl student, Sue was there. Sam was absent for a reason unknown by the teacher.

When I first arrived the teacher gave me some instructions. First Sue was to take a math test which I could only assist her with the directions of each problem, not tell her how to do them or the answers. Then I was going to do two math worksheets with her, both working on long division problems.

While Sue did her math test she did have some questions. Most of them were regarding the directions however in some cases she asked if she was right or not. In those instances I could not assist her so I told her to take her time and do her best.

After her test was completed we worked together on the long division problems. At first she had no idea what was going on but after a few examples she understood the process. What she had the most difficulty with was using multiplication to find the answer to the division problem. Because she had not yet memorized her multiplication facts, which should have been done in the third grade, she was having a hard time.

I also had a hard time trying to help her because she didn’t know her multiplication facts. Not only did I have to help her with the division but also multiplication too. This would not have been a problem if I was working on them separately but because we kind of had to do both at the same time it was a bit confusing. I tried my best and told her to go home and work on her times tables because it would help her understand division.

Because Sam was absent I feel Sue kept her attention on me. I was able to only focus on her and help her with the problems she had, not juggle the two students together. I believe she works better when she is just with me, not the other students too. When she is just with me she does not feel her questions are stupid and that she needs to impress the other student. However I can’t only work with her so I can only hope that over time the two of them will feel comfortable with each other and myself. This was they will get as much help as they need.