Well so far...
I'm not really sure. I mean, I guess you could say it's going alright. To be completely honest, this project hasn't gone exactly as planned. I thought it was going to be easy to fit it all into my schedule and do what needed to be done. Well, life happens, plans change.
So last Friday was supposed to be my second benchmark, which it still was, but I hadn't done what was expected for that week. I thought I was going in to tutor some struggling students but the teacher had something else already planned for that day. They went on a field trip to a fire station. She asked if I would be able to go with them to act as a chaperone and it would also give me a chance to get to know the students more on a personal level rather than just one of the class. When we went the firemen that were supposed to conduct the tour weren't able to be there due to a bad car accident. So again, I had planned on going in to really work with the kids, but it was still a really fun experience. The students showed me some things they love and I got to know how a couple of kids could be engaged in certain teachings.
My mentor, Ms. Payne, is so amazing. She is really working with me on this project and giving me some good ideas so far. She had me play a spelling game with the kids to engage their brains, and it definitely worked. I had to say their spelling words in a random order or some random words that rhymed with it and if they got it right they would stay there, but if they got it wrong they were out. The kids seemed to love it and it gave me a couple more ideas on how to really captivate their minds in school.
I think if there was something I needed to change, it would be timing. I meet with Ms. Payne every Friday from about 8:00-11:00 a.m. I am definitely not a morning person, so sometimes it is not very motivating to know I have to go and get my brain moving in order to help other kids. With the blog posts being due every Friday, I get a little distracted after coming home from the tutoring and end up forgetting about posting until a couple days later. I'm working on fixing that though. As far as the comments go, I will be making sure to add a bit more information to my posts. Hope this one will be better.
I was out doing un-school related things and my neighbor approached me. For who knows what reason, we started talking about this project and how I'm working on a tutoring program. He thought it was a great idea. He has a daughter in fifth grade who has had some hard times learning and also believes in year-round school, so he said that if I was up for it, he would pay me to tutor his daughter a little bit during the summer! Who knew this project would come to things like that?
Well, that's really neat that this project could turn into a job for you! Don't be too disappointed about missing the opportunity to tutor the day of the field trip, spending time with the whole group and getting to know the kids is a valuable experience that may help you yield better results with your tutoring. You're building relationships, one of the most important pieces to the puzzle that is teaching.
ReplyDeleteI agree with April it was smart to go on the field trip. In your last post your mentor said that it would be difficult to have other people come in so are you the only one tutoring or will there be other people volunteering with you?
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you're really handling this project well. I know it can be stressful when plans change so suddenly, but you've done an awesome job sticking with it. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteSounds like your project is going really well. I'm glad you got something out of it. If this goes well you could even make a proper business out of tutoring for multiple ages not just kindergarteners.
ReplyDeleteReally good project idea and it seems to be going pretty well for you. Not being able to tutor the kids that day must have been an inconvenience, but at least you got a free trip to the fire station.
ReplyDeletewow it sounds like you are really starting to connect with the kids. I think this is a great idea because then you could inspire them to do great things as they get older.
ReplyDeletesome strategies i use to keep me on track are setting a date in my calendar where i need to focus on my blog and the goals i need to achieve that day for my project. Maybe these strategies can be useful. More-over, great job!!! :)
ReplyDeleteIts awesome how you have a summer job now because of this project! It seems like you are really getting to know the kids and how to get their attention.
ReplyDeleteI like your potential for learning and passing it on. good job, Samaria. :)
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