Tutoring Cont'd

During tutoring overall the students were great! They usually not only listened to the teacher but also listened to the University of Memphis students. Going into tutoring I knew it would be hard to get the students to focus for a complete hour. Not only had the students already been in school for an entire day learning, they also knew that many of their friends were out of school and off playing. With this, the university students as well as the teacher really had to encourage and push the Campus School student. When I knew Ashton did not want to work anymore or was getting tired I would ask him questions like: how was your Thanksgiving, what is your favorite color, or some other question about a movie or cartoon. I asked questions that I knew would get Ashton excited and take his mind off the math and reading for just a minute. This really seemed to help Ashton by giving him a small break and then getting right back to work. One time we finished early so we let the students play an addition and subtraction card game. While playing the game the students started to get a little too excited and wild so we decided to stop the game and make them do something else. They all went back to their seats and acted a little disappointed at first. We then did a timed addition and subtraction test. The students really liked this activity. Since they had worked so hard on their normal activities, we wanted to give them an enjoyable activity. They really like the competitiveness with the other students not only through time but also through accuracy. In an after school tutoring session you have to be strict so the students will push to get something accomplished but you also have to understand that they have been sitting in a desk all day long learning.