New student, new attitude! 3/21

Today, I went to the PLC and Tangela wanted me to come into her math class because she was doing a review session and packet for a test. When I went into the class, the teacher seemed to be frustrated and one student was sleeping on the table. It did not look like anyone was paying attention. Sadly, Tangela called my name and interrupted her teacher when I walked in. After sitting in the class with her for about 10 minutes, Mr. Piazza came in and asked if I would like to help a student who needed help writing an essay. I was very excited, because I haven't gotten to tutor English at all this semester! I walked in and Mr. Piazza introduced her as Kayla. I could tell right away that she had a good attitude and was ready to work. She told me that her essay was about technology and if it has helped the world. Then I read the prompt and we started pre-writing. She said that she liked to make outlines in the beginning to get her ideas together and I almost jumped for joy! How exciting that she has been taught how to make an outline, and even when it is not required, she likes to make one to organize her thoughts! We started making the draft and she would throw out some ideas to see what I thought and I would help her with a few ideas as well. After we finished the outline then we moved onto a rough draft. She said that she wanted help with the introduction, because it was hard for her to get started. I could relate to this a lot, because I often feel the same way. It has gotten much easier with practice, but I can see how that would be one of the toughest parts of an essay, and it was exciting for me to try and help her start. We started with me giving her a few examples of how I start off an essay. She liked the idea of using a quote (the quote that was mentioned in her writing prompt) and then giving her own interpretation of the quote. She then started to write a few more sentences and had me help her with the wording. She would say her idea and we would word together to choose words that sounded well and flowed nicely. We finished the rough draft and moved onto the final draft. We read through the entire essay in our head and then aloud. We changed a few sentences and corrected any mistakes. I thought the essay was very good and she got an 84% on it. I have a problem with how E2020 (the online school program they use) grades papers. Mr. Sigmund explained to me earlier this year that when the students submit their papers the computer compares them online with other papers on the same topics and forms a grade based on how they add up to those. I personally thought her paper was more of a high B or low A. She seemed fine with the grade and the class ended right after that. The thing that was so different with Kayla than with my usual student is that she had so much more energy! She seemed very motivated and was bursting with ideas! She was laughing and talking to me like we had been working together for a while. It was just so different from any of the other times I've worked with a student for the first time. It's days like today that confirm to me why I want to teach :) what a great day at my happy place!