B-day: Session 1

Affect:

During this session, Destiny was absent.  In her absence I had the opportunity to tutor Aldo Rojas. Having delivered a similar lesson last week with Andrew, I felt confident in assisting Aldo with his understanding of mean, median, mode, and range.  After we introduced ourselves and discussed our likes and dislike both in and out of the academic environment, Aldo in turn, appeared to be comfortable with me. 

Behavior:

We began the lesson by reviewing the definitions of mean, median, mode, and range and creating flashcards.  From the start it was clear that Aldo knew the definitions of the terms, however he would confuse which term belonged to the definition.  Therefore, I made him write tell me the definitions of each orally, write it on the index card, tell me an example, and also transfer that to the index card.  By the end of this review, Aldo was able to correctly match each term to its definition.  Furthermore, throughout the entire, lesson I would randomly ask him to orally tell me the definitions of each.

When we began working problems, Aldo’s only mistakes lied in his simple addition and division skills.  At first when I attempted to correct one of his mistakes, Aldo became defensive stating, “But my teacher says to solve it this way,” and “I don’t even know why I’m here… I’m good at math.”  Therefore, rather than overlook these statements I took the opportunity to speak with him about these assertions.  In regards to the methods of solving the problem I told Aldo that he was working the problems correctly as his teacher instructed, however showing his work would help him to check for mistakes. Although resistant at first, I made his take the time to work through each step and even count orally to check his answers.  By the end of our session, Aldo admitted to me that these steps were helpful in getting the correct answer.  In response to his confusion towards being placed in intensive math I explained to him the importance of utilizing test taking skills to be successful, just as I had with Andrew.  I also emphasized that students tend to rush when taking exams and that taking your time and checking your work is a valuable tool to a student.  Aldo appeared to listen and understand what I told him and it was evident in his work throughout the session. 

Content:

Although the topic was reviewed just before my tutoring session with Aldo, I believe the content discussed in class in regards to improving problem solving skills was extremely helpful and applicable in my lesson today.  Three concepts which were extremely helpful in aiding understanding for Aldo included making time for discussing different problem solving strategies, modeling strategies, and building time for communication. By taking the time to include these concepts I gained insight into Aldo’s preferred learning style and what motivates him.  By taking the time to address issues he had in both his arithmetic and his values towards education and math, we were able to make progress in his understanding of mean, median, mode and range.  At the close of our session, Aldo could identify each mathematical term and its definition and create an example for all.