Rebecca_TP#6

Tutoring Session #6 (15.02.07)

18:00-18:30

This evening's session was the first full reading session I had with Jun. We started to read the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I found a pdf of the book online, so I used the screen share feature on Skype, so we could read it together. The convenient part is that I have two monitors for my computer, so the screen isn't crowded when I share it; however, since I share the second monitor, and the camera is on the first, if I'm reading, I can't look at the camera, and my body is turned. I can see Jun fine because a pop out screen appears, but any way I set up the windows, there is less "eye contact."

Overall, the reading went very well; Jun has a very well developed vocabulary. There was only one point at which we paused to discuss the word "tawny." There isn’t much context in the passage concerning the word, so I decided to ask about the subject to which the term was referring, an owl. I asked him what color an owl normally is, to which he responded “brown,” and told him that “tawny” did indeed refer to a type of brown, specifically a reddish brown color.

I asked more interpretation questions rather than general comprehension questions, because Jun’s reading skills are rather advanced for a third grader. His character interpretations were particularly involved. He had a pretty good rant about the cruelty of the Dursleys and that he would never invite people like them into his house.

Rebecca_TP#5

Tutoring Session #5 (15.02.01)

14:00-15:00

My Saturday tutoring session with Hector focused on using possessive and object pronouns. I had originally prepared reflexive pronouns as well, but realized both that we would not have time for them. Also, at that moment, they were not something he had covered in class yet, so I didn't prioritize them. 

I had prepared a multiple choice/fill in the blank worksheet for us to work on at the beginning of the lesson as an indirect assessment. There were a few points in which we had to go over the categorization of each pronoun, and I was glad I had brought a chart with me. 

It turned out that Hector was much more proficient at using pronouns in context by writing and speaking full sentences, rather than doing indirect assessments. I found this a little confusing, but decided that it would do well to make sure have the grammar knowledge for these points, so we made sure to explain the pronoun usages again.

Rebecca_TP#4

Tutoring Session #4 (15.01.23) 

16:00-16:30

For our second, non-internet-disastrous, session, Jun and I did mainly speaking exercises to focus on elaborating on topics. For this purpose, I we shared our favorite foods. Then I asked how to make it. I modeled by explaining how to make spaghetti with meatballs, then Jun responded with how to make chocolate cake. I would stop him to ask for clarification at points, since he tends to speak quickly (as nine-year-olds do). Were we reading, I would probably ask for him to slow down, but his speech is at a normal informal speaking speed. 

After our recipe activity, we moved on to comparing the weather conditions between the United States and Korea. At this point, it was snowing in Korea. From the vantage point of my webcam, the world as seen through my window is visible, so I opened to window to show Jun that is was pretty warm in Tallahassee. After, I told him that it was snowing really hard in the north, and screen shared some photos my sister sent me from New York. We compared the weather conditions in the three cities.

Rebecca_TP#3

Tutoring Session #3 (15.01.23)

14:00-15:00

Since a cooking class started at CIES at the time we had originally scheduled our sessions, Hector and I decided to meet on the weekends instead. We had our session in the College of Music lounge. It was unexpectedly crowded, since it was an audition weekend (I forgot, even after the dozen email reminders advisers send out). 

This week, we worked on using the simple past tense. We started with a short journaling assignment. I explained that the point of the exercise was to write as much as possible within the time limit and ignore any mistakes. I had a picture of a man trying to put out a kitchen fire with a prompt at the top: to write about what had happened to start the fire. I wrote a composition as well. 

At the end of the five minutes, we did error correction. There were some issues with subject verb agreement, and pronunciation of the ending “-ed” of verbs that we worked through. 

We moved on to a reading assignment. I used the composition I wrote during our journaling time as the reading assignment. Again we worked on pronunciation, and I asked Hector various comprehension questions as we went along. He always answered very quickly. 

To end the lesson, I wrote up some pronunciation guidelines to aid with the problems we talked about during the session, and reminded Hector to send me any topic he wants to go over for next time.

Rebecca_TP#2

Tutoring Session #2 (15.01.16)

18:00-18:30

On the same day as my first session with Hyeji and Hector, I had diagnostics with Jun over Skype. I was worried at first because of having only thirty minutes and how to schedule that time. I also wasn’t exactly sure what level he was on, because I do not really remember what it was like to be nine years old. 

However, I found out really quickly as we were introducing ourselves that Jun is one smart kid. He’s really talkative which is useful for how short our sessions will be. I asked him what subjects he liked the best; he said social studies and art, which I found particularly impressive. 

There was one issue with this tutoring session: my Internet has a horrible connection. Halfway through the session, my webcam and audio went out for almost ten minutes. I guess it counts as a writing diagnostic since we had to use the SMS for that time? 

The connection did come back in time for me to speak with Ms. Ryu at the end of the session. I apologized for the internet connection and said I would call my provider (thank you Comcast). I said I would have the issue fixed for next week. 

Update: I called Comcast, complained to Comcast about the amount I pay for "high speed internet" without delivery, got a free upgrade to business class internet.