Sabrina TS#2

I had my first tutoring session with my child tutee, PJ, on January 21. We met at his home and I made sure we got acquainted first because I wanted him to feel comfortable with me as a tutor. I talked to him a bit about school and his hobbies and what he liked doing in class. After our conversation (we spent maybe 7-8 minutes talking) it seemed he felt comfortable with me so we began with the tutoring! I used the materials Professor Kim sent me and accessed PJ's reading materials. The passage from PJ's textbook was a fantasy story about a boy who created his own civilization. We decided to read the pages alternatively and discuss the story after every few pages. PJ had trouble with a few words (such as 'tormentors') so I helped him with both the pronunciation and definitions (for 'tormentors' I told him it was similar to the word 'bully'). While reading PJ made a lot of connections between the story and his own experience (for example, the boy in the story was playing with a pogo stick and PJ told me about his own fun with pogo sticks). I liked that PJ was making connections to the story because that often helps students remember the content, but I also realized that he gets quite chatty when I don't reel him in and help him focus. For the next sessions I'm going to have to make an effort to keep him more focused so he doesn't get carried away. We finished the story with ample time left, so we reviewed the story and I had him answer some of the reflective/comprehension questions that were written in the book. He did well with the questions and I felt he really understood the story!