The blog will serve as a medium for students from Temple University’s Education in the Global City to connect their classroom activities with their Philadelphia volunteer site experiences. The course is geared to develop your understanding of the history, society, culture and political systems of the U.S. In addition to teaching them how to interpret historical & cultural materials and articulate their point of view about the role globalization and education has played in American history.
Describe your interaction and/or collaboration with your supervisor at your placement site. Do you have the direction and support you need to be effective?
What do you think it would mean to be 'effective' in your placement?
We work very closely. She supports me with everything that I need to be successful in the course. I believe that the best way to be effective in the placement is by allowing myself to be the best resource to the students. I also think that it is important for me to lead by example to these students and to give them the best experience possible.
My supervisors name is Miss Hicks. She's a really great woman and teacher. She has a knack for balancing discipline and humor, which is something I was discussing in my first or second blog entry.
This week at our AVID tutoring sites we reviewed the steps that are taking during an AVID tutoring session. Though the tutors haven't taken on that much responsibility yet I am confident that Miss Hicks will be more than helpful if we need it.
Miss Hicks has asked us tutors if we would like to take full charge of the two Thursday classes that we tutor during public school's PSSA weeks. I think this is really creative and thoughtful of her as a teacher. Even though we are tutoring the kids through AVID, I feel like it would be a completely different experience directing a class on material and through an outline that we personally came up with. So, though I do not know what content/activity I'm going to present to the class, I look forward to those two weeks.
I feel that to be effective in my placement will come in two parts. First to be beneficial to the students, help them, teach them skills, etc. Secondly I think that I need to learn and grow from the experience too, in order to be effective. Hopefully I will gather some sort of enlightenment through tutoring.
@Elizabeth Schaeffer It is interesting that you have the opportunity to teach a class. You said that you haven't taken on much responsibility yet, which is sort of opposite what I've been experiencing. The first week my supervisor didn't give me much direction at all; as a result, the session didn't have much organization. This week she gave me a worksheet to do with the kids. She was in the room, but the tutors were running the groups independently.
The teacher in my classroom is very nice and willing to answer questions. The first week, she didn’t have anything specific she wanted the tutors to go over. She did give us a workbook of practice problems after I asked. This week she gave us a worksheet to do within our groups. It was a practice sheet for writing level 1 and 2 questions and reviewing the differences. My group consists of eight graders , who are very talkative and have trouble accomplishing the work. They are capable, but lack effort. It is also challenging for me to enforce order within the group. For the most part, they remain on subject , but within their own conversations and not collectively. They also talk over each other, and therefore if I try to speak, I also have to escalate my voice. The teacher did tell them to be more quiet and respectful of the other group, but she gives the tutors most of the control. Next time, I would like to ask her for tips on how to quiet them and convince them that it is important to try to fully complete the assignments. I don’t think I have as much respect from the students as I need to help them because I don’t have anything to hold over their heads; probably it’s because I am not grading them nor do I have the power to punish them. I don’t want this power, but it may be preventing them from working effectively.
My supervisor is very approachable. She us always ready to answer questions and help me out with any problems I’m having with one of the students. There are also more experienced tutors around me that aid in different situations. The overall setup for Tree House is to help the students complete their homework, have them read for 15 minutes, then the rest of their time there is considered free play. When I’m working with one or multiple students I feel extremely comfortable, but at times I can be overwhelmed. For example, yesterday I was working with two students one who didn’t have any home work and another who did. The student with homework was distracted by the student who didn’t. I think an effective strategy for Tree House would be to separate those students who do and don’t have homework. By separating these students it would make for a better learning atmosphere.
My supervisor is very nice and always ready to answer any question. In the beginning of each class she would explains the tasks of the day and then leave the rest to the tutors. She doesn't get involve in the discussion nor come to check on us. My group is consists of 7th graders who are talkative when the subject is not about school work. When it comes to answer a question they would look at me for the answer. I think to be effective at my placement site is for me to show my group that I'm there to help them with the process, not giving them the final answer. And to have my supervisor to get more involve in what we're doing.
@Elizabeth Malazita Your experience with Tree House is very interesting and very different from mine. You are surrounded with kids of different age and other tutors that you can discuss with if there is a situation where you needed help. My environment is a little different with the class divided into 2 group, mine is composed of 7th graders and the other is the 8th graders. The two group is completely isolate from each other. When there is a situation that i can not or do not know how to handle, my partner is not really available for me to ask question. We also have different strategy to approach the kids because of the two groups age difference. I think that if my environment were to change into a freer environment like Tree House, then maybe I and my partner would be able to discuss problems together.
@Linh Nguyen Hey Linh, Your tutoring seems like a handful, not saying that others aren’t. How many people do you have in your 7th grade group? For me, the most students I have ever had at once was three 3rd graders. They were constantly talking to each other, but they were also doing their work. I would listen and make sure they kept advancing in their homework, and then I would ask them to explain to me what they just did. They would then take me through their process of how they came to a certain answer, and if needed I would ask another question to point them on the right path if their answer was wrong, instead of giving them the answer. Another problem I have and you might have too is trying to keep an authoritative figure during the tutoring session. I don’t know how to go about doing that while having the students interested in working with me and completing their homework.
That is interesting that you're professor gives you more of the responsibility. In a way, I think that that is better for your learning experience. However, I would be frustrated if I felt neglected from the teacher. I think that an ideal situation is for their to be a balance between teacher and tutors. I hope he/she does not leave the classroom all together. I think that you will end up learning more strategies for dealing with the kids that I will be a good example for my own experiences.
Our supervisors are Jessica Hasko and Sarah Hill. They are very pleasant to work with and always have great feedback whenever we have questions During our jeopardy games, they often stick around and reinforce the rules because they know the kids can get carried away. They always have a response for the kids. For example, this week we worked with careless sophomores and Mrs. Harper, another member of the Student Success Center, laid down the ground rules and made a disrespectful student leave the room. It made it easier for us because we did not have to deal with interruptions or rudeness. So far, their firmness has been very "effective." Effective means standing firm but still being a friend, especially in a high school environment. No kid responds well to authority and their way of effective is "respect me and I'll respect you."
@ Jessica Wisloski I think it is very interesting that you point out that you do not have respect for the kids because you're not grading them or have the power to punish them. It seems like you don't want to be the bad guy in the situation and that's how I also feel. I think with a few more weeks of interaction with them, you should know how to manipulate (in a good way) them.
@Chansophea Ten It is very important that your have authority in the program and that you know who the authority is. I feel that you handled the situation appropiately.
The supervisors at Benjamin Franklin are extremely helpful. Sarah and Jessica are the main people who help us, but all of the people in the Student Success Center help us out. They helped create the jeopardy game with us at our training. Their help made the whole process less stressful and helped us to keep on track. Other than the supervisors in the Student Success Center there are 3 high school students that help us too. They helped us figure out what the sophomores and freshman needed to know to make the game as useful as possible. One student helper and one advisor are normally with us the entire time we are working with the classes. Their presence helps keep the class under control and the game run smoothly. The game has proved to be very successful for us in the past two weeks. Students are actually leaving the class room remembering some of the information in the game that will help them be better prepared for college.
@Ari I really like how you want to lead your students by example. I think this is one of the best ways to help kids. It's kind of like monkey see monkey do with kids in middle school. I really hope it works out well for you!
I have only been to my site once but so far my supervisors are really polite. There were two ladies there when I arrived at my site and they greeted me with open arms. They were also very helpful and supportive.
@everyone I am glad that you all have supervisors that are there for you when you need them. I can tell from reading your blog posts that without help it would be very difficult to work with the kids.
We work very closely. She supports me with everything that I need to be successful in the course. I believe that the best way to be effective in the placement is by allowing myself to be the best resource to the students. I also think that it is important for me to lead by example to these students and to give them the best experience possible.
ReplyDeleteMy supervisors name is Miss Hicks. She's a really great woman and teacher. She has a knack for balancing discipline and humor, which is something I was discussing in my first or second blog entry.
ReplyDeleteThis week at our AVID tutoring sites we reviewed the steps that are taking during an AVID tutoring session. Though the tutors haven't taken on that much responsibility yet I am confident that Miss Hicks will be more than helpful if we need it.
Miss Hicks has asked us tutors if we would like to take full charge of the two Thursday classes that we tutor during public school's PSSA weeks. I think this is really creative and thoughtful of her as a teacher. Even though we are tutoring the kids through AVID, I feel like it would be a completely different experience directing a class on material and through an outline that we personally came up with. So, though I do not know what content/activity I'm going to present to the class, I look forward to those two weeks.
I feel that to be effective in my placement will come in two parts. First to be beneficial to the students, help them, teach them skills, etc. Secondly I think that I need to learn and grow from the experience too, in order to be effective. Hopefully I will gather some sort of enlightenment through tutoring.
@Elizabeth Schaeffer
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting that you have the opportunity to teach a class. You said that you haven't taken on much responsibility yet, which is sort of opposite what I've been experiencing. The first week my supervisor didn't give me much direction at all; as a result, the session didn't have much organization. This week she gave me a worksheet to do with the kids. She was in the room, but the tutors were running the groups independently.
The teacher in my classroom is very nice and willing to answer questions. The first week, she didn’t have anything specific she wanted the tutors to go over. She did give us a workbook of practice problems after I asked. This week she gave us a worksheet to do within our groups. It was a practice sheet for writing level 1 and 2 questions and reviewing the differences. My group consists of eight graders , who are very talkative and have trouble accomplishing the work. They are capable, but lack effort. It is also challenging for me to enforce order within the group. For the most part, they remain on subject , but within their own conversations and not collectively. They also talk over each other, and therefore if I try to speak, I also have to escalate my voice. The teacher did tell them to be more quiet and respectful of the other group, but she gives the tutors most of the control. Next time, I would like to ask her for tips on how to quiet them and convince them that it is important to try to fully complete the assignments. I don’t think I have as much respect from the students as I need to help them because I don’t have anything to hold over their heads; probably it’s because I am not grading them nor do I have the power to punish them. I don’t want this power, but it may be preventing them from working effectively.
ReplyDeleteMy supervisor is very approachable. She us always ready to answer questions and help me out with any problems I’m having with one of the students. There are also more experienced tutors around me that aid in different situations. The overall setup for Tree House is to help the students complete their homework, have them read for 15 minutes, then the rest of their time there is considered free play. When I’m working with one or multiple students I feel extremely comfortable, but at times I can be overwhelmed. For example, yesterday I was working with two students one who didn’t have any home work and another who did. The student with homework was distracted by the student who didn’t. I think an effective strategy for Tree House would be to separate those students who do and don’t have homework. By separating these students it would make for a better learning atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteMy supervisor is very nice and always ready to answer any question. In the beginning of each class she would explains the tasks of the day and then leave the rest to the tutors. She doesn't get involve in the discussion nor come to check on us. My group is consists of 7th graders who are talkative when the subject is not about school work. When it comes to answer a question they would look at me for the answer. I think to be effective at my placement site is for me to show my group that I'm there to help them with the process, not giving them the final answer. And to have my supervisor to get more involve in what we're doing.
ReplyDelete@Elizabeth Malazita
ReplyDeleteYour experience with Tree House is very interesting and very different from mine. You are surrounded with kids of different age and other tutors that you can discuss with if there is a situation where you needed help. My environment is a little different with the class divided into 2 group, mine is composed of 7th graders and the other is the 8th graders. The two group is completely isolate from each other. When there is a situation that i can not or do not know how to handle, my partner is not really available for me to ask question. We also have different strategy to approach the kids because of the two groups age difference. I think that if my environment were to change into a freer environment like Tree House, then maybe I and my partner would be able to discuss problems together.
@Linh Nguyen
ReplyDeleteHey Linh,
Your tutoring seems like a handful, not saying that others aren’t. How many people do you have in your 7th grade group? For me, the most students I have ever had at once was three 3rd graders. They were constantly talking to each other, but they were also doing their work. I would listen and make sure they kept advancing in their homework, and then I would ask them to explain to me what they just did. They would then take me through their process of how they came to a certain answer, and if needed I would ask another question to point them on the right path if their answer was wrong, instead of giving them the answer. Another problem I have and you might have too is trying to keep an authoritative figure during the tutoring session. I don’t know how to go about doing that while having the students interested in working with me and completing their homework.
@Lihn Nguyen
ReplyDeleteThat is interesting that you're professor gives you more of the responsibility. In a way, I think that that is better for your learning experience. However, I would be frustrated if I felt neglected from the teacher. I think that an ideal situation is for their to be a balance between teacher and tutors. I hope he/she does not leave the classroom all together. I think that you will end up learning more strategies for dealing with the kids that I will be a good example for my own experiences.
Our supervisors are Jessica Hasko and Sarah Hill. They are very pleasant to work with and always have great feedback whenever we have questions During our jeopardy games, they often stick around and reinforce the rules because they know the kids can get carried away. They always have a response for the kids. For example, this week we worked with careless sophomores and Mrs. Harper, another member of the Student Success Center, laid down the ground rules and made a disrespectful student leave the room. It made it easier for us because we did not have to deal with interruptions or rudeness. So far, their firmness has been very "effective." Effective means standing firm but still being a friend, especially in a high school environment. No kid responds well to authority and their way of effective is "respect me and I'll respect you."
ReplyDelete@ Jessica Wisloski
ReplyDeleteI think it is very interesting that you point out that you do not have respect for the kids because you're not grading them or have the power to punish them. It seems like you don't want to be the bad guy in the situation and that's how I also feel. I think with a few more weeks of interaction with them, you should know how to manipulate (in a good way) them.
@Chansophea Ten
ReplyDeleteIt is very important that your have authority in the program and that you know who the authority is. I feel that you handled the situation appropiately.
The supervisors at Benjamin Franklin are extremely helpful. Sarah and Jessica are the main people who help us, but all of the people in the Student Success Center help us out. They helped create the jeopardy game with us at our training. Their help made the whole process less stressful and helped us to keep on track. Other than the supervisors in the Student Success Center there are 3 high school students that help us too. They helped us figure out what the sophomores and freshman needed to know to make the game as useful as possible. One student helper and one advisor are normally with us the entire time we are working with the classes. Their presence helps keep the class under control and the game run smoothly. The game has proved to be very successful for us in the past two weeks. Students are actually leaving the class room remembering some of the information in the game that will help them be better prepared for college.
ReplyDelete@Ari
ReplyDeleteI really like how you want to lead your students by example. I think this is one of the best ways to help kids. It's kind of like monkey see monkey do with kids in middle school. I really hope it works out well for you!
I have only been to my site once but so far my supervisors are really polite. There were two ladies there when I arrived at my site and they greeted me with open arms. They were also very helpful and supportive.
ReplyDelete@everyone I am glad that you all have supervisors that are there for you when you need them. I can tell from reading your blog posts that without help it would be very difficult to work with the kids.
ReplyDelete