LAST NIGHT:
Something I have been doing since I was 11 years is tutor. My church, Anchor Church for those of you who are curious, has had a tutoring program for a long time now and I have been one of the tutors for over 8 years now. (That is crazy) Over the years I have tutored a wide variety of kids, boys and girls, from 1st grade to 8th grade, in every subject, and over the years I have been able to see great improvements in almost all of them that stuck with me and the program. This year I am tutoring two students, a 6th and 8th grade boy. Each presents their own challenges for me, the 8th grader is doing algebra, and I haven't done math since I took statistics in college when I was 16, if you want to do the math that was 3 years ago. Both of which have learning disabilities, the 8th grader has ADD and just seems to have a hard time focusing and is a little confused about some math concepts, so it is cool to watch him improve even over just the last 2 weeks, he was able to really grasp the concept of square root and cube root really well during our session. Now the 6th grader I tutor is different, I am not sure what disability he has, partly because I haven't been able to read his file, but I know he is in a special needs class with 7 other students, but he is amazing. He definitely struggles with even the simplest things, like reading and beginning math, but he is just so fun to work with. Last week when we were going over his math homework I discovered that he only knew his multiplication tables up to 5. So I made him flashcards for the multiplication tables. Now this is something I have done with many of my students in the past, but most of them had a vague understanding of them before and really were just solidifying the numbers, but not with him. He didn't know any of them, and I was wondered that he would A) Lose the cards or B) Not study them. I didn't think these things because I think he is lazy or unmotivated, I just didn't know what to expect. But. Last night he came into tutoring and at the time I didn't want to test him on it just yet since he had some homework we needed to work on, so I waited. We worked on his social studies homework and during it we went over basic phonics rules, writing neater, and remembering historical facts. Towards the end I asked if he had looked at the cards at all, and immediately his eyes lit up and he said, "I know them all!" (Getting a full sentence out of him was amazing, not because he is shy, but mostly just because he doesn't really talk.) I said, "Really?" And he shook his head. So I wrote all of the 6 multiplication problems on the board and asked for him to answer them all while I was gone, I went to get some notecards in order to make the 7 multiplication table flashcards, and when I got back, which was less than a minute later, he had finished them all and they were all right!!!! I was so excited I starting jumping up and down and telling him how proud of him I was, and he was just smiling from ear to ear! This was such an accomplishment for him, it may not seem like much to most people, but to him and to me, it was amazing! By the end of the session (1 hour) we had finished 4 of the 5 social studies problems and learned so much. I gave him an extra piece of candy for his accomplishments, and he chose to take 2 packs of smarties. Mrs. Donna (she helps run the tutoring ministry) asked if the candy made him smarter, and he said yes, still smiling. He was happy for his accomplishment, and he should be.
I know it doesn't seem like much, and most of you are probably wondering what is so exciting about a 6th grader who knows his 6 multiplication tables, but it means a lot to me, and I cannot wait to go back next week and see what all he can learn!!! It is amazing how something so small, can really make me have this much joy. God is so cool. He knew all along who I would be matched up with to tutor, and even though it has only been 2 weeks, both students have been such blessings to me, and they have really touched my heart already.
I am grateful that God has a plan for my life and I don't have to
figure it all out.
Fun Facts:
1. My favorite subject in school was Lunch and always will be.
2. I memorized all my multiplication tables to songs.
3. I love being really productive in a day, like I was today.