#6 04/04/12 (3:33-5:15)
Our
tutoring routine was the same as usual: reading the text together, my rewording
the questions, and going over the questions that she missed at her first
try. What I remember the most, or what I
was surprised by today, was the change of Boo’s behavior. Because I come in to the PLC during the last
period, which is not a regular class period, there are usually Boo, me, and
sometimes one or two other students in the room. There are usually Boo and me in the classroom
during the last class period. However,
there were about seven girls and two boys in the classroom today. There were some times when it was a little
bit too hard for Ms. Scredan to get the students focused on their online work
because they kept talking to each other and laughing out loud.
For I
have only seen Boo as a quiet, hardworking, and dedicated student, it was quite
shocking for me to see the once hidden side, or the new side, of Boo
today. She was also being very loud and
laughing very loudly; she was so distracted that she kept going to the vending
machine back and forth; she kept spitting her popcorns out of her mouth just
anywhere in the classroom. She is
usually patient enough to read the text from the beginning to the end when she
sits down with me and reads. However,
today was different. She would
constantly sigh and show her dislike to read; she eventually ended up giving up
reading and wasting time, just sighing and moving around in her chair. I tried to read for her, but it was
distracted by other students talking to Boo.
After all, Boo didn’t get as much work done as other times.
If I were
the teacher of the class and had the right to tell the students all to quiet
down and get back to their work, I would have definitely done so. However, because I was just a tutor for a
single student there and Ms. Scredan was in the class, I didn’t or couldn’t
stand up to tell the students to stop talking about pregnancy or preferring
boys over girls and get back to work.
Ms. Scredan would join their conversation for a short period of time and
kindly tell them to get back to work, but it wasn’t that effective. All the students wanted to keep talking. What would I have done if I were Ms. Scredan?
I would’ve tried to quite them down at first, and if that didn’t work so well I
would’ve let them have conversations and even a free time for about 10-20
minutes so they can tell everything that’s in their mind. I wouldn’t allow that to happen continuously because
then the students will take advantage of it without a doubt. This is just my theoretic thinking of
possible solution for such situations.
Anyway, I realized again that teaching a group of students in a limited
space is a tough job. Also, I learned
that teachers should not only be prepared for the materials but also for the
spontaneous outbreaks of distraction.
-
Jin Kim, 04/04/12 10:00 pm
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