Taft tutoring - Second Post

Mia McConnell

March 17, March 24, March 31, April 14 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Boys And Girls Club - Reading Is Freedom

Renee Infelise

Renee@bgcp.org

I have really enjoyed my experience tutoring Alexis through Reading Is Freedom. I think we have both become much more comfortable around each other, which definitely makes it a better experience for both of us. Every time I come to Taft he is ready to go and cheerfully welcomes me. I especially like that he always says "Hi Mia!" instead of just "Hi", because it lets me know that he remembers who I am among the many teachers and peers he encounters. But, working on his reading skills wasn't a complete breeze. Mastering the art of tutoring is much more difficult than one would think. It is no doubt important to tell the student when they make mistakes and more importantly inform them of how to improve upon their mistakes, but it is also hard to tell them how to improve without dampening their self-confidence or motivation to read. Especially because of Alexis's low self-esteem, I have struggled with how and how often to tell him how to improve his reading skills. I have learned that interrupting him every time he messes up a word to tell him how to say it is not the right approach. This would only lead to him getting frustrated with reading and messing up on the same word on the next page or in another book. Instead, I choose to focus on certain skills or certain words each tutoring session, like clearly informing him that we are working on how to say Mr. vs. Mrs. or how to enunciate the ends of words. I noticed that this approach led to much greater improvement and more importantly it often created lasting effects not just a nod and flip to the next page. I know that Alexis undoubtedly needs more help to raise his reading skills to where they should be and that the weeks we spent together might not make dramatic changes, but I do believe that I not only made some impact on his reading skills but also I think I helped establish a stable relationship in his life for half of the school year that he most likely doesn't have with many other people. Reading books to kids for an hour a week might not be life changing, but the little boost of skills and confidence it can give them is definitely worth something.