4/6/11

I had the best day at the PLC yet! I was back with another student I had previously worked with. She was excited to see that she would be the one selected for my help today. We almost doubled her progress just in one period. She was able to skip most of the lectures and activities by passing the pre-tests before each section. Only certain teachers allow this feature to be used and I am still undecided on how I feel about it. It allows the student to skip vocabulary, lectures, and lessons if they answer the 10 questions on a passing level. I think they really miss out on some of the information but some of the activities do become redundant and unnecessary so it seems like a fair trade. My student today was very independent, optimistic, and cheerful. She has the most life and energy out of everyone I have worked with and it was very refreshing. I did not have to get her back on task or push her through the work; she wanted to complete it herself. We did suffer some technological problems with the internet and she lost one of her quizzes. The teacher was able to allow a retake with some confusion as to how to go about setting it up. Overall though, it was a minor detour. I learned that she has had a UGA tutor for every year of her school since middle school and she remembered most of them by name. We talked about dorm life and UGA events. She seemed genuinely interested in my life and what it was like. It also again surprised me how much the English teacher knows. This may sound harsh at first coming from me but simply seeing her sitting at her desk all day while the students teach themselves did not provide me with much of an insight on her abilities. Today, however since there were again few students present she worked one on one with many. Her knowledge was abundant and she indeed did know all there is to know about literature and English. She is very familiar with each of the pieces assigned in the lectures without having to look back and reference any. One thing that bothered me today was listening to the conversations in the room. The grammar and way of speaking disheartened me. The students are so knowledgeable about English and literature but when it comes to everyday language, their diction leaves much to be desired. They use slang to the utmost extent and do not realize how wrong their way of speaking actually is. I think at this age, it is almost impossible to fix because they have become accustomed to speaking in such a way. They have a hard time translating what they read and learn to their colloquial life. Even when reading out loud passages, the words are unconsciously switched to how they would use them in conversations. Words are skipped over and moved to accommodate how they talk to one another. I also noticed that the students seem to all know each other and befriend each other. There is no hostility, no judgement, no sense of competition. All of the students I have witnessed and automatically friends with one another. I admire that quality in them all. It shows they are not superficial or fall into cliche, typical high school fallacies. They treat each other as equals, even not knowing each other's stories as to their placement at the PLC. My tutee's energy today was infective and enlightening. She made me feel very appreciated and important. She even referred to me as her "life line". I hope that feeling will only continue to grow and occur when I myself am the one behind the desk. Her completion of quizzes made me feel proud and effective. It reminded me why I wanted to be a teacher in the first place. I want to help others, watch them grow, help them succeed. As cliche as it sounds, it warmed my heart to see her happiness at her success and progress. The feeling made me eager to begin my own teaching career.