Prompt #6

I have communicated in several ways in this classroom. I have asked Ms. Lee questions about my concerns of the students. Sometimes, I would ask her the purpose of some lessons that I was confused about. In the beginning of my tutoring, she was teaching the students from out of a book. I was confused of the curriculum in the class and asked why she had to do literally teach from a book. When I worked with students, I used what I learned from class about certain theorists. If one can recall from my first post, I worked with a girl named Kiara, who wanted to beat the time instead of actually reading and pronouncing the words. I think it is important for a student to know why they are learning the things they learn in class. I explained to Kiara that the point of the “Reading Fluency” is not how fast you can read, but how well you can pronounce each word. I wanted her to understand that reading the words clearly is far more important than being a “fast reader.”

Another student I worked with was Tommy, the only white student in the classroom. Tommy is very shy and does not like to talk to anyone. The classroom was working on writing their own paragraphs that included a main idea, three detailed sentences, and a “wrap-up” sentence. I noticed Tommy was sitting there just staring at his blank piece of paper. I asked him what he would like to write about, but I got no answer from him. I tried again, but still no answer. Then, I noticed his Lady Gaga t-shirt, where he drew a heart on her forehead with a marker. I remembered an example Lisa Delpit used in her article, where a teacher was trying to teach Shakespeare. Before teaching Shakespeare, she had the students talk about their favorite rap songs and the verses and rhymes in the songs. When I inferred that Tommy had a crush on Lady Gaga, I asked him if he wanted to write about her. He looked up at me and gave me a smile. I helped Tommy construct an informative paragraph on Lady Gaga. It turned out he knew more of her than I ever did. When I returned the following week to the classroom, Tommy with pride held up his paragraph to show me his grade. He received and A-. I gave him a smile and a high five. This is a moment I will never forget.