Becca+Conneen

Life Skills Peer Tutor Journal Week of November 27 This week we worked on budgeting. We used a grocery receipt and the students had to copy down what was purchased. They had to write down the amount of the product that was purchased as well as the price. It took most of the student’s time to accomplish this task, but they eventually got everything written down. The following day the students had to add up the amount in order to get the total amount for all of the items on the groceries bill. Some of the student has a difficult time keeping track of what has been put into the calculator, and they may need more help than some of the other students. On the following long day I spent time playing coin Bingo with the students. They have some difficulty counting the money but after giving the students time they better understand the amount of coins.

Week of December 3rd This week the students made math rings. These are addition and multiplication flash cards. Fernando and Kyle created multiplication flash cards while Lea, Patrick, John, and Kathy made additon flash cards. I have realized while working with Patrick, Lea, and Kathy that even though they are all doing additon flash cards they each have different strengths and weaknesses.I believe that these flash cards are extremly helpful to the students. We have only worked on them twice but I have already noticed Patrick and Lea becoming more familiar with the additon problems. It takes time working with the students on these flash cards but it is very important to be patient with the students while helping them to understand these problems.

Week of December 10th This week the students continued working on the math addition and multiplication math rings. I have seen a great improvement in the students while doing the math rings. I spent more time working with Patrick this week. Although it takes Patrick time to figure the problems out ( which is something he needs to work on) nine times out of ten Patrick can get the correct answer. He needs more training with these addition cards, but I have noticed as time has gone by Patrick is getting better and better at figuing out the answers to these additioon problems at faster times. I also worked with Lea after working with Patrick for a few days and I noticed the Lea greatly improved as well form last week. Lea is very fast with figuring out the addition problems but sometimes because she is so fast she has a hard time getting the answer correct.

week of December 17th This week the students were anticipating the upcoming holiday. It was noticable that the students were beginning to unwind and become less interested in school work, but it is important to keep them on task. The students have continued to accel in math rings and have done a great job improving. I have mainly been working with Patrick this last week and, he is starting to get faster with his math rings but it stil takes him some time to count the number in his head. I try to have him become more familiar with the numbers rather then having to take the time to count the amount in his head. Towards the end of the week the students watched christmas movies and enjoyed other christmas related activities.

Week of January 7th The students are starting to get back into the classroom atmosphere now after the long vacation. I was glad to see that Patrick and Lea were still familiar with their math rings. This shows that they were actually remembering and understanding what they are learning. I worked more with Lea this week and i noticed that she has started to memorize the answers to most of the additon problems. The students also were tested with how well they work with coins. Most of them took a minute to warm back up to counting coins but in the end all the student did a great job and put good effort into finding the correct amount of change needed to make the desired amount.

Week of January 28th The studnets are still working on math rings and they have greatly improved on them as the practice continues. I have been working with Patrick more and more. He is getting better at concentrating on his work when I am helping him. Its interesting to see how he learns and understands things. Patrick is a very good student when he actually applies himself. The student also worked with counting money. It seemed as if the students were a little rusty on the coins because we hadnt worked with them for a while, but when Mrs. Powers got them warmed up they seemed to have a better grasp on what they were doing.

Week of February 4th This week the kids continued to improve on their math rings. I have been wokring a lot with Patrick and he has done a very good job finding the answers to his addition problems a lot faster. I have seen more excitment in Patrick about getting enough tally marks to get the day off. I have also spent time working with John and he seems to have gotten better with his math rings as well. He has started to memorize most of the answers to the addition problems, but he still get off track easily and it is important to continuously bring him back to his math rings. Lea has been very excited about this puppy she will be getting and i am looking forward to hearing all the stories that come along with it.

Week of February 11th This week i didnt see the kids all that much because they had work on the day we were supposed to have a double period. When I did get to see them i helped Patrick work on Star math. I noticed how difficult star math was for him but he did make an effort and try his best, i was very proud of him. He did get frustrated at times but he pulled through and did his best. We played money bingo and I noticed that most of the kids needed to be refreshed on identifying the coins and knowing how to count all of them up. It is important to have patience, and make sure all the students stay focused on the task at hand.

Week of February 18th This week I continued to watch the kids grow stronger and stronger with their math rings. I hadnt been working with Lea all that much so when I did start working with her on math rings agian i realized that she was doing very well with them. By this time she already had three cards pulled off. I helped John with his math packet, and John needed a lot of help but as he started to get more focused in his work he started to do better at solving the problems independently.

Week of February 25th We continued working on math rings and I continued working with Lea. I noticed she had been doing very well on them lately but some days she knows all of them off the top of her head, and other days she is one number off every single time. I am not sure if she just has bad days or it is difficult for her to focus, or maybe she just simply forgets. We started working with another checking activity, but did not get too far because the following week Patrick would be leaving for Florida and we didnt want anyone to get behind on any assignments.

Week of March 4th This week was some what of a slow paced easier week. Patrick was missing so we worked a lot in our math packets. I worked with Lea most of the time. She talked a lot about Rosebud and although I love to hear about the new puppy I try to keep her on task. I also worked with john a little. When I helped John with his math rings he seemed to be getting a lot better with them. He still could not get the answers right away. He has to start at the higher number and count all the way up to the following number. I think with a little more practice John will be able to get all of the answers right away.

Week of March 11th This week we had a lot of the studetns getting rid of flash cards on their math rings. We are very close to getting the period off. Lea barely has any cards left. I have noticed an astonishing improvment in the students skills in addition from thestart of using the math rings. We also started the checking activity this week. It seem as if Patrick and John need the most help. The two of them are very easily drawn off task but once you get them to work they do a very good job. Lea gets drawn off task as well but she gets her work done fast especially when she is copying down words and numbers. The students seemed to be very excited about St.Patricks day. Patrick ironically was not very excited about it. I think he was excited about it but he just doesnt like to show that he feels that way.

Week of March 18th This week the kids finally got the free math period they had been hoping for. It was decided on monday that the free period would be on friday. This was a good idea because it was something for the students to look forward to. We worked a lot with discovering coins, and how much of a jump there would be to take when counting, dimes, nickels, and quarters. The students know what the coins are but while they were doing this activity they seemed to show weakness while identifying the coins. The following days we worked on math packets. John has been doing a lot better and he has a good grasp on what he needs to do once he starts to get the hang of it. Lea is a lot different, it seems as if she needs more hel working through every problem but i try to encourage her to be more independent because I know she can do it if she trys hard enough. During the free period we played Uno the kids seemed to really enjoy having the math class off.

Week of March 25th This was a short week for the kids. We spent more time working on our math packets. We continued to work with the math rings/. Lea is almost out of cards! I am very proud of how well all the student have been doing with these math rings. Thinking back on to the first time doing these math rings it is really amazing how much improvment they have shown. Lea brought in a picture of her family at the titanic exhibition. It was interesting to see her family that I have heard so much about. On the last day before break the kids played uno and ate popcorn. It was a nice way to end the school week and start the short sping break.

Week of April 1st i was not in class much this week. When I was in class we practiced more matyh rings and did more work in the math packets. I have been working with lea a lot, and i also worked with john a little. It is defintely interesting to see the differences and similarities. Each student is unique and learns differently. They eacxh have their own special personalities (which is what alwasy keeps things interesting).

Week of April 8th We practiced a new math game. It was called money bags. It take the students some time to figure thnings out but with patience and a little assistance they get the work done. Patrick did not participate as much was is strange to me because you would think he would enjoy playing a math game instead of doing math packets. We also did some more work on our math rings and add another number to add to each of the math rings. Now everyones rings are a lot fuller and I have noticed a little more difficult for the students having to deal with more flash cards.

Week of April 15th This week we worked more with the games, but we also introduced the students to working with ipads. They seemed to really enjoy working with the ipads. I mostly worked with lea but I noticed patrick took to the ipad games pretty well. Lea had a very good time usuing the ipads and she was very focused on the ipad. I feel that when lea gets really focused on something she does a great job completing the task but when she gets distracted its hard for her.

Week of April 22nd I only had one day of working with the students. When I was with them they spent some time working in their math packets.I worked with Lea but she wasnt really talkitive, she was just very intersted in doing her work, she was very focused.

Week of April 29th This week the students worked on their star math tests. While the other students were waiting to take their tests we played money bingo with them. The following days we worked more with our math rings and also in math packets. The students are getting a lot better with their math rings i have noticed. I have also noticed that they have become even better when doing work inside their math packets. Lea usually gets the same addition problems in her packet as she did in her math rings. So when she sees the same problem again she realizes it and knows the answer right away. I have noticed John does the same thing as well. John is a little more difficult to keep focused but he is a really funny guy.

Week of May 6th This week due to the way the schedule was i didnt see the students too much. We did start (or try to start haha) the checking activity. We also worked in math packets, and played connect the dots. The game of connect the dots was pretty difficult but I noticed some of the students enjoyed the challange while others were not fans at all. Lea it first was trying very hard but when she thought it got to difficult she wanted to give up. While watching Patrick I noticed he seemed to be very intranced by the game of connect the dots. Friday was started working on making mothers day card and we were interupted by the fire alarm. This took up most of the period.

Reflection Paper: Working with this class, of brilliant, unique, kids, was definitely something I will never be able to foget. This was one of the funnest classes that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. There was never a dull moment in this class. Each and every single student in this class could make you smile with just a look. It was a pleasure to be a part of such an amazing group.

In the start of the year i was a little nervous but excited to get a hands on helping experience. These students were not what I expected them to be at all. They were just friendly from the start and all they wanted to do was talk. Which at first was a good thing, but this later turned into a little difficulty in getting the students to concentrate. It was slow at the start of the year. I dont feel that Mrs. Kromer taught the students much. She had them doing packets and work alone at their desks. When Mrs. Powers came back the class was a lot more interesting. The students were actually learning and interacting with one another as well as the peer tutors and teachers. We also had a bunch of laughs together as a class.

Each student is so different, in such a great way. I really enjoyed getting to know each student on a personal level. Patrick could always make you laugh. Although he was very negitive about school work, in the end he over came that and strived to accomplish his tasks. Patrick acts like a big tough guy be he is probably one of the most adorable, and sweetest young men I know. I loved getting to know him and having some good laughs with him.

John, always had a smile on his face. Even on some of his worst days he couldnt make it through the day without a smile. John would always sit down right next to me and ask me a million questions. I looked forward to hearing what kind of interesting things he could come up with. While working on math problems with John I noticed that he is very easily distracted but when he really starts to concentrate he is an amazing student and he really gets his work done.

I did not work with kathy one on one too much but she is so incredibly sweet. She would always smile when she saw me like I was her favorite person in the world. Kathy is always so thoughtful. She would always ask me how I was doing, or she would notice I was absent the day before and ask me if i was sick or if I was feeling better. Kathy is just a pleasure to simply be around and I will miss seeing her every day.

Fernando, is one of the most outgoing people I know. Fernando is just so funny. He could make me laugh so easily. He is always curious about what is going on in my life. He also would ask me a lot of questions about Taylor (haha). Fernando is just really fun to talk to. He always has something funny to say. I enjoyed getting to know him and working with him through the year.

Last but not least Miss. Leandra Hatch. I spent most of my time working one on one with Lea. She is an amazing person. We first met my freshman year in gym class, after that I never saw her much but when I began to peer tutor she smiled so big and said "Hi Becca!" like we hung out every day. Lea is such a kind person she always asks about my family and how I am feeling. If I was ever sick she would always say she hoped I felt better. I also enjoyed chatting with her about her family and her new puppy. I love to see her face light up when she talks about something that she finds to be very exciting. She is such a smart girl and I really hope we will keep in touch.

I have to mention the wonderful three ladies I shared this experience with. Mrs. Powers is probably one of the most lenient, fun, loveable teachers i've ever had. She always left the class interesting. She made time for work but she also made time for play. I really enjoyed just chatting with her about anything, it felt like talking to one of my good friends. Mrs. Adams is such a friendly woman. She has a beautiful heart and she is so down to earth. IF youre looking for a good laugh Mrs. Adams is definitely the person to talk to. Mrs. Brown, is HILARIOUS. She is the coolest teacher ever. She is a very unique teacher and I mean that in the best possible way. I loved talking to her and having good laughs.

Over all this was such an amazing experience. I loved working with each and every one this year from the students to the teachers. These kids are some of the most kind hearted, and wonderful people I have ever met. I really hope to visit this class as much as I can next year and continue to see these students grow in more ways than one.