Summary

My experience at this high school is one that I will never forget. I was very lucky to meet such interesting, insightful, and intelligent students. Although most of the books that we read in class did not directly relate to the 3 students I constantly worked with, I definitely saw some parallels between the overarching themes discussed in our class and the high school. We talked constantly in class about feminism in the classroom which was something I was able to discuss with the young ladies. Although they became distracted when a boy joined the group, I was able to get them back in track by reminding them that a man does not have to be their end goal. They can have successful careers of their own if they work hard enough in school. I am also able to relate my experience to the concepts in  What Keeps Teachers Going. Although I often became frustrated with the student's distraction, I reminded myself why I was there and I didn't lose motivation (for too long). At the end of the day, this is an experience I have greatly learned from. To tutor or not to tutor: there is no question. Do it.

My Last Day

Today I went to the High School for the last time this semester. There was a substitute in the class and prom is this weekend so naturally no students were being overly productive. However, all the students were behaving and it was still a fun day. I gave the 3 young ladies that I have been working with all semester my email address, and I will hopefully be helping them with their college applications! I have greatly enjoyed my time with the students this semester and I cannot wait to see what all they achieve in the upcoming years! This is definitely an experience that I have learned from and will never forget.

The 3 Hour Day

Yesterday I decided to make up some of my hours by getting a different classroom experience. First, I went to the class I usually mentor/tutor in. From the group I usually work with, only Student K and Student F were there. To be honest, I felt pretty helpless for most of the class, because they were reviewing on USA TestPrep for most of the class. Student K seemed to be obsessed with Student F during this time so I mostly just kept them on track. The next class period, however, I was in an education 2020 class -- online english/ foreign language. Assisting the students on the computer turned out to be quite the struggle. One student was very happy to have my help, but he didn't really need it. It was actually really hard not to just give him the answers to some of the questions, because they were so pointless. This student obviously enjoys English class, but the (stupid) questions turned him off from actually completing the lesson and reading the excerpts. To be honest, I can't blame him. I was in his situation, I would just try to test out of the lesson too. The students are at this school for a reason, but the reason isn't that they are stupid. So I don't understand why their online work is designed like they are. If my classes in high school were set up that way, I wouldn't like them either.

The Day No Students Showed Up

Hello dear readers!

As per the norm, I went to the high school yesterday. However, only one of the students I work with on a weekly basis showed up! So Student K and I got some nice one-on-one tutor/mentor time! As always, she didn't really need help with her work. Even though she was doing group work by herself, she finished first in the class. After that, we were just having casual conversation when SHE brought up her personal life! I didn't even have to ask! She told me about her new boyfriend, why she agreed to go out with him, etc. (I'll spare you all the juicy details). Long story short, she is settling for less than she deserves and she knows it. This is the first time that it was really apparent how low her self esteem is. After the boy talk, I asked her about college. This seemed to hit a soft spot. Her boyfriend is going to Kennesaw State University and she seems to think that she is not good enough to get into KSU. Seeing as I worked in the orientation department at KSU for two years, I assured her that she could. We talked to the teacher and she is going to print out a grade report for Student K so that we can see her GPA. Student K and I are going to look into colleges based off of her GPA and work on getting her ready for the SAT/ACT. As soon as I volunteered to help her, she perked up and became excited about college! It was probably the most beautiful and fulfilling moment I have had as a mentor. She is incredibly bright and I can't wait to help her reach her full potential. I feel like this is going to turn into a long term mentorship and I am ecstatic.

The Day of The Substitute

Today was an odd day at the high school. There was a substitute with no lesson plans and who had never substituted at this high school before. The students were told to work on the computers individually on any school work they had not yet completed. Overall, the students behaved very well. Many finished their work for the week, and most others were working for most of the class period. I really was quite impressed. Towards the end of the class I went to talk with my three young ladies. Student C was sleeping for the last half of the class. Student S just continued to work. Student K, however, told me about her break up with her boyfriend. For the first time this semester, I feel like I got the chance to truly mentor a student. Although I help Student K with her school work every week, I rarely get the chance to talk to her about her personal life. I took the opportunity to tell her that she is incredibly smart and talented and should not except less than she deserves. I quoted Anna Karenina in the discussion of jealousy, and shared a personal story about being an independent young woman. Today I connected with Student K and it was an incredible experience.

A Rough Day

I was able to go to the school again last Wednesday and it was not exactly the positive experience I have had previously. Student K kept falling asleep, Student S was silent the entire time, and Student C was distracted by the new student -- Student F. Student F is a hispanic male who completely zones out when he is not flirting with Student C. Getting them to do any work was quite the struggle. In our Monday night classes we have been talking about our experiences at the high school and up until now I have been shocked by my peers negative experiences. Up until now I have been able to keep my students engaged. I am having an issue relating to my students' lack of interest in school. Although high school was definitely stressful, I always knew that I was working towards college and ultimately my future career. I was always able to find motivation in that. Anyone have any suggestions for motivating students that I only see once a week for an hour?

The Struggle of Keeping the Students Engaged

Today was the first day that I have been able to go to the school in a while, and I am happy to report that the three girls I have been working with are doing really well! Student K seemed very happy to see me and was much more willing to do her work and pay attention with my help. As per the norm, Student S needed no help, and Student C needed a considerable about of help. However, after I gave Student C some one-on-one attention, she grasped the concept. Today we were working on identifying dependent and independent clauses. All three of the girls are second language learners, so grammatical lessons can be a little more difficult for them, especially when they find the lesson to be boring. I have to actively keep them engaged or they lose focus. Talking about their social lives between assignments keeps them off their phones and focused on engaging with me. This helps when it is time to flip the switch back to academic conversation. The teacher uses differentiated learning to try to keep the students engaged, but sometimes I feel like that can backfire. For example, today only about half of the students were in attendance, so they fell asleep during the instructional videos and therefore were unprepared for the assignments that came afterwards. Overall though, I think the teacher is phenomenal and is incredibly invested in the success of her students. As a future educator, I think that experience that I am getting in this classroom is extremely valuable. All of the students I have worked with thus far are extremely intelligent and are capable of being extraordinary students. They just need a little but of TLC and attention to get them motivated. I would love to work in a school like this one someday.