America Reads Tutoring
America Reads is a national literacy program. As a tutor, I worked one-on-one with a second grader at a local public school on reading and literacy skills. We had 2 sessions a week of an hour each, during which we worked on reading and writing skills. The link below describes the lesson plan that is typically used in each America Reads session. It introduces three key reading skills: literacy, memory/understanding, and ability to predict. This is done by dividing each lesson into three parts: re-reading a book, reading a new book, and previewing a new book. This lesson plan shows the importance of reviewing past assignments by re-reading books before building on to it and reading a new book. This lesson plan also shows the importance of reflecting on the work you do with a child during tutoring so that you have an idea of what you need to do in future sessions.
Study Buddies
Study Buddies is a weekly tutoring program for underpriveleged middle school and high school students from Utica, NY. This program brings students to Hamilton College every Saturday to have lunch and do homework with Hamilton students. The students from Utica receive help from college students while also interacting with positive role models and experiencing a college community. This experience makes the idea of college a more tangible concept and inspires the students to work harder in school and go to college. The students enrolled in the program lack motivation because they struggle with the expectations of school and because they see little connection between their lives and their school work. This is further exacerbated by the lack of positive influences in their lives. The following document is a list of activities that I have developed over four years of tutoring that help counteract this lack of motivation.These activities have helped me engage students who are tired of learning and of being taught at. These activities provide a way to tutor them while still maintaining a friendly, energetic atmosphere. The success I have experienced with these activities has shown me that teachers need to diversify in the techniques they use in classrooms if they intend to maintain student motivation.
