1-1 tutoring, K-College. Specialty - increasing skills in Reading, (phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, comprehension, fluency/speed, vocabulary etc.) and increasing skills in Writing (5 paragraph essays, spelling, creative writing, writing for a specific purpose, Senior Projects, college essays and term papers etc.)
Current Happenings
Even tutors need encouragement once in awhile and I thank Monique, the parent of a new student today, for her encouragement. She thanked me this afternoon tutoring her 4th grade son for the first time, when I had explained a couple of strategies we had worked on with the goal of working smarter rather than harder. She said, "I am so glad we found you." Later this evening, she called to tell me that on the way home she could tell her child was so happy after working on homework with me for an hour, telling me "He was a changed child. He was on fire when we got home". What a blessing for me to help someone else, knowing this child has experienced the joy of learning. I look forward to working with him again day after tomorrow!
Ok Duck Dynasty fans and/or those who like to play with language, here is a Word Puzzle for you. Feel free to leave comments on the Comments Page of this website. (Or after you really try by yourself, you can leave a message on the Contact page if you need another hint.) Can you read these two conversations? Each line is a new speaker. Hint: If you read this out loud, it's easier to decode it. MR ducks MR not MR mas SAR! CM wangs? LIB! SAR! MR ducks! MR mas MR not MR ducks SAR! CM id E bid E feet? LIB! SAR! MR mas! In my last tutor session with a First Grade student he arrived at our appointment, which was very late in the day, looking quite tired and sad. After a quick snack and a little chat, we started playing games in order to review concepts he had learned over the last months. Soon he perked up and fully participated throughout the session until his Grandma picked him up. She took one look at him and the first thing she said with a big smile was, "He certainly changes from the time I bring him to you and the time I pick him up!" The child said, "Grandma, I haven't learned everything yet. Could YOU pay for some more tutor lessons?" Alas, this is not possible, but I am thankful for the time we did have together because I saw, and I hope he takes with him, growth in his confidence, willingness to participate fully, and a new more positive attitude toward learning which now shows in his eyes." One student I was working with in Science this week found it very helpful to draw pictures for the Nitrogen Cycle when he was trying to understand the relationship of the steps and to memorize them. He said it was easier to remember the pictures he had drawn than just a list of words; the pictures in his head then helped him to recall even the details of each step in the cycle. A high-schooler and I were working on vocabulary words from his reading by making a list, defining each word, then doing a close exercise/plugging them into appropriate sentences. Two of the words were "platonic" and "inconsequential". When it came to the sentence, "She is not my girlfriend; we have a _______relationship", with a twinkle in his eye, he chose "inconsequential", then...added..."or it could be the word 'platonic' ". He made me smile, too ( : This week I was working with a high school freshman who was completing short answers on a comprehension pg. for his English assignment. The first challenge was to read all the parts to the questions - sometimes it was part a and part b, meaning 2 answers were needed. He realized that his previous reasoning of cutting his answer short because of "not having enough room to answer" was not acceptable because it did not allow him to tell all he had to say and that he knew was pertinent. This was a big step in developing his work ethic. Yesterday during a tutor session, a high school sophomore was working on a vocab. assignment, choosing from 3 multiple choice options to complete each sentence. He found that instead of guessing, this worked better: reading the sentence 3 times, each time putting in one of the 3 possible answers. (I call this strategy REC = Read Each Choice) When he did this, he noticed important clues in the whole sentence, including "so" or "but" to know whether a positive or negative word would make sense in that context. ex. Climbing the hill was difficult so he had to persevere before reaching the top. ex. Climbing the hill was difficult but he had to discontinue before reaching the top. The context of the sentence can help in choosing an appropriate vocabuary word! Knowing the meaning of conjunctions like "so" or but" can help with comprehension when reading, too! Last week I tutored a sophomore at Nevada Union High School who has done some research for a speech in his English class on obesity and the question of what will that be like in the future in the USA.
He had done a good job of researching the facts and had a clear, basic outline. I was able to help him choose and organize the info. logically to fit that outline. |