Rebecca

Rebecca //Who I Am //

I am a Grade 11 student at Gleneagle, formerly a student in the TALONS program. I have a passion for music and creative writing, and I love to travel the world and meet new people. I play four different instruments, and hope to be completely trilingual by the time I graduate. My favourite courses have always been English and Band, though I also love languages (I was a French Immersion student for eight years, and am now learning Spanish), and I have recently discovered an enjoyment of Social Studies. Outside of school, I am very involved in my community and do a lot of volunteer work, especially through organizations and charities such as Free the Children, Amnesty International, and SHARE. I also teach Tae Kwon Do to young children; I have been training in Tae Kwon Do for six years, though I have had to take a break due to a back injury. I love traveling, and hope to live in Paris for a year after graduating. Also, ever since I was five years old I have wanted to get married in a tree, mostly just because I think it would be fun.





//Week One //

I am comfortable tutoring most subjects, and have some experience tutoring, so I was initially assigned to the Learning Centre during block four. I worked with several different students in my first week, some who were very willing to learn and just needed some extra help, others who had no desire to be in class despite their abilities. From experience tutoring and teaching Tae Kwon Do, I was able to work with some of these less cooperative students through respect. It isn’t fair for teenagers to be treated as children, and after a few days talking people through their homework and helping them without being condescending or controlling, I was able to earn a bit of trust from some of the girls I was helping. Towards the end of my second week, I was asked to join a Science 9 class upstairs (being the very beginning of the semester, the Learning Centre was fairly quiet and empty). I am now assisting in a Science 9 classroom, working primarily with a small group of students in danger of failing the required course, but also circulating through the room and helping students to complete homework and understand notes.

//Week Two //

Last week I was moved to a Science 9 classroom, since the Learning Centre was full of tutors, with not many students as it is the beginning of the semester. I have been working mostly with three Grade 9 girls; one of them is fairly bright but lacks motivation, while the other wants to do well but struggles to grasp concepts, and the third girl does well in the class but has trouble retaining instructions and sometimes needs help clarifying directions. All of the students in the class, however, know my name (even after only a few days), and seem to all respect me. I have made an effort to make personal connections with as many students as possible, while still having some authority and control as a tutor. One thing that I think I could do to improve in my tutoring is to make more of an effort to communicate with the teacher as to who needs help. Right now, I am working regularly with three students, and then others can come ask me questions if they need it. I also circulate through the room when everyone is working independently. By talking with the teacher, I could find out who needs help, but maybe isn’t seeking out assistance. Overall, my tutoring so far has been a really great experience, and I think I’m doing really well.

//Week Three //

After several weeks, I have gotten to know several students in the classroom where I am helping. In all honesty, I still don’t know everyone’s names, as I am mostly working in one corner of the class. However, I have made fairly strong connections with about six students, and am working to maintain a balance between respect and friendship. I am beginning to feel more comfortable approaching students and enforcing rules.

A few days ago, the class played a Jeopardy game in their class to prepare for a unit test. One of the girls I was working with raised her hand for almost every question. She only got a handful of them right, but the rest of the class was supportive; with every right answer came congratulations and high fives all around. One of the other girls, however, who is actually quite bright, was reluctant to answer any of the questions. Although she tries really hard to convince people otherwise, she is very self-conscious of how others see her, and doesn’t want to be labeled as “the stupid one”, as she puts it. That day though, a question came up that no one else was able to answer. I gave her a tiny hint, reminding her of what we had been reviewing a few minutes before, and she came over and whispered the answer to me. After convincing her that she really did have the right answer, she finally raised her hand. There were congratulations and high fives all around, and she answered two more questions (correctly, of course) that day.

//Week Four //

With only two days of class this week, I didn’t do much as a tutor. The students all got progress reports today with updated marks, so after Spring Break I’ll be working with several more students who only just realized how behind they were in the class.

I have had a lot of experience working with and teaching others: I tutor several subjects at both a middle school and high school level, and I have taught Tae Kwon Do to young children for years. I love the sense of accomplishment that comes with teaching someone else something new; when someone succeeds and finally understands a concept, or does well on a test, I always feel great knowing that I helped to get them to that point. As a peer tutor, I am not just a student in the classroom (though I find myself learning something new almost every day); I am a teacher, a leader, and a role model. I have the privilege of helping other, younger students grow and learn, and eventually succeed.

//Week Five //

Now that students have received progress reports with updated marks (and teachers have resumed entering marks for report cards), several students have taken the initiative to ask for help, as many of them hope to improve their grades before the end of the term. This week I was away for a couple of days for medical reasons, so I didn't see the students much, but they have just started a new unit and there is lots going on all at once.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">On Monday, one of the girls asked for help studying to make up the test that she had missed; she admitted to skipping class in an attempt to avoid the test that she didn't feel she was ready for. Normally very confident, sometimes bordering on arrogance, she confessed to being completely nervous and unprepared. The teacher allowed to me to work with her individually for the block. As she began to understand some of the concepts, and really listen to what I was saying, I felt more confident in my ability to teach her (she usually refuses help and pretends not to care). She even said thank you at the end. It was a nice confirmation that sometimes she does want and appreciate my help, and that made me more confident in my teaching. I think that it's important to gauge students and their ability and willingness to learn; it varies from day to day, and you have to find a balance of how much pressure you place on students to focus and get work done.

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Week Six //

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This past month, I have easily settled into a routine in the science classroom where I am tutoring. The Grade 9s are currently working on their Biology unit (cell structure, DNA, mutations, reproduction, etc.), and although I am more inclined towards the Humanities, I am finding the curriculum simple as I don't have any trouble remembering my previous science classes. Every class starts with a brief PowerPoint lecture covering the day's lesson; at this point I sit in the back with the three girls I regularly tutor, and make sure that they are paying attention and taking notes. Although I don't actually tutor during these mini-lectures, I usually listen in anyway so that I know exactly what the students will be working on later.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">The rest of the class is spent filling out worksheets and working on projects (there is usually one small project every week). At this point, everyone moves around the class to work in groups, so I always join the three girls in the back who need some extra help with their worksheets. I help them find information in the textbook and understand the more complex concepts, although they are responsible for doing their own homework as well. Occasionally, when someone is absent or away sick, I am asked to work with them to catch up on missed work. When this happens, we go out to one of the study areas in the hallway. On test days, I have time to do my own homework, and answer students' questions as needed. At the end of every class I check in with the teacher, voicing any concerns and discussing students' progress. Overall things are going really well; I have the respect of the students, I am comfortable with the material, and I am helping the girls improve their marks.

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Week Seven //

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">This week, I had a really great conversation with one of the girls that I tutor on a regular basis. The other two girls were away, so it was a one-on-one review session in the hallway, to prepare for a unit test the next day. I was working with a girl who is usually very stubborn and sometimes obnoxious. She rarely tries in class, and insists that she hates school and wants to drop out. While we were in the hallway, she initially didn’t want to study at all, but eventually she admitted that she didn’t think she knew any of the answers and didn’t want me to find out. I have noticed a couple of times that she gets very self-conscious in class and doesn’t raise her hand; when she does answer a question and gets it wrong, she tries desperately to make up excuses for why she got the wrong answer. We talked about it, and I think she felt a little better. She agreed to study a bit for the test the next day, and it turned out she actually knew a lot more than she thought. Around the other students she refuses to try, but she actually does do her homework at home every night, and her grades are steadily improving. Once in a while (when no one else is around, of course), she even thanks me for helping her.

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Week Eight //

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">When I tutor, I try to make connections with the students as much as possible. I still have to maintain the role of "tutor", not just "friend", but I find that when I show genuine interest in the students and their lives, they are more receptive and cooperative. I also think that people learn better when they care about what they are doing, so I am constantly having conversations with students about "why" and "how", as opposed to simply regurgitating facts from their textbooks. When I was in Science 9, I got good grades, but often didn't fully understand the concepts. Now, as I "relearn" all of the curriculum, I have found that this teacher's style works much better for me, and I am learning far more now (three years later!) than I did in Grade 9. Because of this, I try really hard to find what works for different students, and do my best to cater to students' individual learning styles. It is a lot easier for me, working with only three or four students at a time, than it is for the teacher, who has a class of thirty unique learners. I think this is why some of the students I have been working with really benefit from tutoring, and why their marks have improved so much.

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Week Nine //

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">In the past two weeks I think that one thing I have really excelled at is having patience. One of the students that I tutor has been absent for several weeks (partly for legitimate reasons but mostly because she is skipping), and now she has gone from doing fairly well in the class to being on the brink of failing again. I have been working with her individually to help her catch up on the unit that she has missed so that she can take the test and pass her class. Because she has fallen so far behind she has started to give up, and as a result she is very uncooperative in tutoring sessions. I have been working really hard to help her succeed, and although it has been difficult it is starting to work. Another thing that I have done well is reading ahead in their textbook, as I don't remember everything from Science 9 and in previous units I have sometimes been unable to answer students' questions. In the past two weeks, the one thing that I really need to improve is attendance. Though I have legitimate reasons, I have missed several classes and it makes it harder to help the students when everything is interrupted and disjointed. I hope to be able to show up more regularly in the last few weeks of the school year.

//<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Week Ten //

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Since the very first day of tutoring, the whole semester has just been a flurry of new experiences. After a couple of weeks of adjustment and finding a suitable placement, I spent almost all of my time working with four different girls in a Grade 9 Science classroom, and I am very glad that I chose to take a tutoring course. I learned more about teaching and working with others than I ever could have from books, I met new people, and it was a welcome break from an intense academic load. I am proud to say that the students I have helped are all passing the course with marks 10-20% better than when I first came in, a few weeks into the semester. I have learned to adjust to different learning styles, work closely with a teacher to teach students most effectively, and create a mutual respect and understanding in a classroom. I had lots of fun with the Grade 9s I helped, and learned more about Science than I ever remember learning back in Grade 9. Although I thought there might be some challenges along the way, it ended up going pretty smoothly and I feel like I am much more prepared for anything I should choose to do in the future, working with others and perhaps even teaching. All in all it was an amazing experience (and I am maybe even a little sad that the year is over already---though I can’t wait to be finished my own courses).