1 step forward and 2 steps back :( 2/15

Today, I went into the PLC feeling excited to work with Tangela and hoping that she had her spirits high! The econ EOCT would be in a few weeks and we really needed to get working. Sadly, when I walked in Tangela was so tired she could not keep her eyes open. She said that work was really a burden because she was so tired when she got to school she couldn't focus. She said that the transportation situation was not any better, and that her grandfather had died over the weekend. I talked with her for a few minutes about this, but thought getting her mind off it would be good. So we started doing online flashcards and it was like pulling teeth! She kept laying her head down and said she couldn't do anymore. She said she was sooooo tired and needed coffee. Mr. Piazza walked over and offered her some kind and encouraging words. He gave her an apple he had brought to school and said that she could eat it and it would help her feel energized! She ate that and we got through a few more flashcards. She then said she wanted to go buy a coke and then she would be energized. So we walked to get a coke, but the machine was empty. I said we should take a few laps around the hall to wake her up and I had her do funny things like arm circles, and leg lifts and at the end flap her arms like a bird. :) She was laughing and seemed more awake so we went into the class and did some more flashcards. She was doing well and was reciting the definitions to many words that I did not even know. All was going well until the class moved to the center of the room for advisement. Mr. Piazza was really excited for what they were doing and started off the advisement by acting like a robot and did not stop until someone asked him if he was a robot. He said that yes and he asked why they were all laughing because many people act like that when their friends are all doing something they follow suit, like a robot. Next, he had some questions he asked and he wanted the class to be able to get up and move around. If you answered no to a question you should go to the left, maybe in the middle, and yes on the right. Only about 4 people initially followed his instructions. A few more stragglers began moving and Tangela never moved. This broke my heart. Mr. Piazza was trying so hard to have the class move around from the computers they are confined to all day and many were refusing this opportunity. Tangela walked back to where I was sitting after and said the assignment was stupid. I asked her why she did not move and said that when I teach one day I hope my students don't act like that because I would be upset! She mumbled a few things like "that's stupid" and "oh well". She shut down on me and I had no idea why. I think I may have embarrassed her, which was not my intention at all. I left my happy place today feeling a little less than happy... :(

Tutoring at the PLC minus the tutoring part...2/8

Today was an interesting day at the PLC. I walked in and was a few minutes late because parking was full in the lots next to the school. When I finally did walk into Mr. Piazza's class (keep in mind I was only about 3-4 minutes later than normal) Tangela turned around and said "Well, I guess you did decide to show up" and then turned back to her computer screen. I walked over and sat down next to her and said that if I was ever not going to be there I would text her so that she would be aware. This calmed her down and I asked her how she was doing and sadly she said that she was not doing well. She had gotten word that her grandfather was feeling very ill and was going to have to be put in hospice while he basically waited to die. She said they offered medications and had ideas to help "his condition" (she was not specific as to what this was) but that he refused them and said he was ready to die. He was tired and had lived long enough. I could tell this attitude really upset Tangela, but she said it didn't bother her too much. She then told me she was really tired and had started a job to make some money. She was working at a daycare on the other side of town from the school and from her home, and she does not have a car. She said that this has been very frustrating because if she takes a bus she will possibly be late, since the bus is not always on schedule. Her other option is having her brother or sister drive her, but this is bothersome to them since she needs to be at work at 7 and then they must pick her back up and have her to the PLC by 10. She said she offered and has been paying them gas money out of her small paycheck. Her siblings have not been being very reliable because a few times that she has woken them up to take her to work they say they have no gas when Tangela has given them gas money to last for a week and they have used up the gas gong to other places of their choosing. This just broke my HEART. I have never in my life even imagined going through a situation like this. I have had a car of my own since I was 15 (while it was old and used it worked). My parents decided and were able to pay for every necessity for me as long as I made A's and B's and stayed out of trouble with the school and the police. I did have a job and worked a few days a week for extras I wanted to buy. I wanted to break down and cry when Tangela told me all of this. I, like her, felt helpless in the situation. I talked to her about trying to catch one time slot earlier on the bus, and while she would have to get up earlier, she would not have to worry about being late. We also discussed her giving her siblings money only at the gas station so she can physically watch them put it in their car to make sure the money all together is not going to something else. She then said something that I will not soon forget, and it went something like this, "You know, Hannah, sometimes I just want to quit, quit school, quit my job, just lay around my apartment all day and do nothing, but I'm not going to do that. I have to keep telling myself that I'm going to do this. I will graduate and I will not quit. Will you be at my graduation Hannah?" Through misty eyes, I told her that of course I would be there and I was proud of her. We squeezed in about 15 minutes of flashcards online for her Economics class and hugged and I left for the day. What a day so crucial in developing my mind as a future teacher. I will be compassionate and loving to my students, because that's what they deserve. I got into my car today and was a little worried because we did not do much Econ, but this was the first time all year that I had asked Tangela if everything was okay and she said no. It was an amazing day at my happy place and I left feeling hopeful for Tangela and her situation.

New experiences at the PLC 2/1

I visited the PLC for my second tutoring session with Tangela this semester on Wednesday February 1st. It was sad when I first walked in because she told me that she had sprained her ankle over the weekend! She said she was not in much pain, just a little uncomfortable. When I sat down she said she was working on some EOCT practice for her Economics class. Her teacher had set up a sort of flashcard review online. It was a mixture of asking a question or listing a term and then Tangela would try to answer it aloud to me and then we would click to see the answer. We worked on this for the duration of our time together. I thought that the practice Mr. Piazza developed for the students was great. Tangela thought that it was very helpful to have it in a sort of flashcard form. She knew about half of the terms. When she did not know a term, I would help her break the question down word by word. I would try to define the words or explain things that I thought she may understand better. Sometimes, she was then able to understand the question. If she did not know the answer then I would have her repeat the question and answer to me two times each to sort of solidify it in her head. I asked her before I left if she thought she learned some new definitions and if she thought the program was good and she said yes that she wanted to do it again the next week! An exciting thing for me about being in the PLC from 12:45-1:45 is that I am in the classroom for advisement. At first, I was a little upset because I thought it would not be beneficial for me to sit in on the class's advisement, but I was wrong! It was really interesting to observe the lesson on brainstorming. The class played a little game that involved brainstorming and they all talked together about the benefits of brainstorming ideas in many facets of life. Almost all of the class participated in the discussion which was great! Mr. Piazza seems like a great teacher and a really nice guy. He is great with the kids and I think that it was such a blessing to be in his class. He is very patient and understanding which is sometimes hard to be with the students. I love seeing him interact with the students and will continue to learn from him. Overall, I think that this was a great day at the PLC and I look forward to tutoring next week at my happy place! :)

Let's do this... 1/25

I was so excited and anxious to start working with Tangela at the PLC again! I was a little bit nervous, because I was going to be working in a new room and with a new teacher. The teacher's name is Mr. Piazza and it is in the downstairs part of the building. When I walked in, Mr. Piazza and Tangela both seemed excited to see me. I was running a little bit late (by about 3 minutes) and when I walked in Tangela said, "I was just startin' to think you weren't comin'!" I laughed and walked toward her seat. Mr. Piazza got a chair for me and we started to work on the website "USA Test Prep". Tangela had forgotten her username and password, so it took us a little while to get set up. Mr. Piazza was very helpful and seemed very nice, which made me so happy! After we got logged in, we decided that beause the EOCT for Economics is coming up in about a month we would work on that first. There was an option to take a test first to help the program know which questions would help the student, and which questions the student already knows. Sadly, it did not seem like Tangela knew many questions on the practice test at all. I have no taken Economics since I was a junior in high school, so it was no walk in the park for me either! I started trying to explain some of the terms and concepts to Tangela. What usually works best is when I take the problem we are looking at and change it so that it is more simple or has more familiar words to get her started. Then I will talk her through eliminating me of the answers. Finally, I will ask her to choose what she thinks is the best answer and then explain to me why she is choosing that one. If there were any concepts I was unaware of at all, I wrote them down so that we can be sure to go over them next time. It was a good first day back overall! It was cut short though because of a fire drill. It was interesting and I was excited to see how procedures worked. There was no warning, but Mr. Piazza said we "would be interrupted" about 1:30 and to be prepared to stop working. It went pretty smoothly, and we excited the building pretty quickly. The fire drill lasted a little while because apparently a fire marshal was there to inspect something. After the drill, I was about to leave when I noticed another tutor leaving from the same class. It seemed like she may have just started so I introduced myself and started talking to her. She said that it was her first week, and was doing the tutoring for a CHFD class. She asked me a few questions, and I was thankful that I had experienced some of the same things the previous semester, so I was able to help her out! I walked to my car and felt so happy that I was tutoring again at the PLC, my happy place. :)

Back at the PLC!!!

My name is Hannah and this is my first time ever blogging! I am excited to blog about my time at the PLC! I was a tutor at Classic City High School last semester. I did not go with a class, but I heard about this unique environment and wanted to check it out. My experience was beyond amazing, and I am glad that I am able to continue tutoring there this semester. Maybe a short description of the experience I had last semester would be helpful... When I originally started tutoring I was assigned to a literature class and to a certain student, but he ended up being absent often and I started working with one girl almost every day named Tangela. At first, I think she was skeptical. She wondered why I wanted to come and tutor when I was not doing it for a class or anything. She was nice and polite, but I definitely felt shut out, and like she did not want much to do with me. After about 3 weeks of tutoring I felt lke we were making progress. She seemed to be doing much better in literature and began asking questions about my life and telling me some about hers. I could hardly contain my excitement! Our relationship continued to grow for the entire semester and we became so close. Tangela is an extremely hard worker, with an extremely positive attitude. She second guesses herself sometimes, but she is a very bright girl. Because I hope to teach high school English, I wanted to tutor this semester in a Literature class again. However, Mrs. Mimi (the graduation coach), encouraged me to instead help Tangela again in her Economics class, and during her advisement time we could work on EOCT and GHSGT practice. I knew this was an offer I could not refuse. :) I would be able to work with Tangela again and hopefully help her on her way to passing her big tests! This is sort of the background info you need to know to start off reading my blog about my experiences at the PLC this semester! Enjoy! :)