School Canceled

Due to a teacher development day school was canceled so I could not tutor my students. Hope next week things will work out.

It's Been Awhile

Well sorry I have not blogged in a few weeks. Due to a busy mid term exam week I could not tutor the week of Feb 27th and because of my schools spring break I did not tutor the first week of March. However I can't wait to go back and work more with my students.

Session Four

This session was very similar to last except I only had about 40min with each student, not an hour. This time cut was because of recess, it was our teachers turn to watch the students while outside so we had to cut our sessions short.

During this session the students worked on measurements and used rulers. It was very hard for both students to use a ruler; they both did not understand the different increments a ruler gets split up into. Although by the end of each session the students were doing better they could not complete each measuring task on their own, I had to assist them.

After I worked with both of the students the teacher told me I could go outside with the class for recess if I wanted to. I wanted to see how the children interacted with one another so I took the teacher up in her offer. All the children played together except one, Sam, the male student I tutor. He stayed by the teacher the whole time I was outside and did not interact with the other students. This was interesting to me, why would he not play with his peers when he had the option?

Another thing I noticed while outside was their playground consisted of only one jungle gym and the students were not confined to one area. Some were in the front of the building as well as on the sides of the building with no supervision.

One of the major concepts we discussed in my TE 250 class was school funding. During this session of tutoring was the first time I realized how low the funding in the school I was at must be. As soon as I walked into the building I noticed down the main hall there were buckets. These buckets were collecting the constant drips of water that was coming form the ceiling. This tells me the funding for this school must not be very high if they can not even fix a leaking ceiling.

Session Three

I went to my assigned elementary school this past Tuesday and tried some new things with my two students Sam and Sue. Because only Sue was there for my last visit and she worked so well by herself I thought that this time I would break up the two hours I am there, working with Sam for one hour and Sue for the other hour. This worked so much better than having them work together because I was able to concentrate on one of the students at a time and work with them on the things they each individually needed to work on. I believe both the students liked this better as well because they did not feel intimidated by each other.

I worked with Sam first, again with long division, and he had no problems understanding the concept. He worked very well and asked questions when he had them. I feel he is opening up more which is wonderful. Although at times he got some what distracted by the rest of the students for the most part he stayed on task.

Sue was a bit harder to work with because she “hates math.” Therefore, she constantly wanted to talk about other things and I had to repeatedly remind her that we were working on math. She still does not know her multiplication facts so division is a struggle for her. I told she should try to work on some times tables when ever she got a free chance. She said she would but we will have to see next week if she has improved.

Both children are becoming more comfortable with me which is a good thing but at the same time I feel because they are more comfortable they feel they can talk about other things like basketball games instead of school related subjects. I want to talk to the students about outside activities so they stay interested but it does not get much accomplished.

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.

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.