Good day, Sunny Day

It's half past four and it's still beautiful and sunny out. What a great day. The morning was spent tutoring in the detention center and it was the 2nd time I had two students. Boy is that a learning experience for me but it's worked out so far. My one student is a much better reader and when I was working with the newer student I was able to give my original one a reader to read. That was just perfect and while I expected him to read just the first story, he just went ahead and read the whole book. I think for the most part he can grasp the whole story even tho he might make a mistake on a couple of words. We all do that I think, and just skip over a word we might not really be sure of.

Student #1 finished the first reading book and tested out into book #2. While his original evaluation placed him on this very basic level but I know it really didn't please him. That's a hard thing to work with for me, when the student feels he knows more than he does. If they get bored, then not a lot happens, but if they are having too much of a struggle then they just don't want to come to these sessions.



I give these men a lot of credit because they get no 'time off' credit for these tutoring sessions. Once they get to GED or HS courses, time spent in those classes does count for time off their sentence. This is also a detention center, not a jail so the men are transient for the most part. Some however are 'frequent flyers', meaning that this time in the detention center is not their first. :-(

But on days like this I always count my blessings. The class ends and I leave and have a chance to be outside and experience this gorgeous sunny day. It's a good reminder to me about the consequences of choices.

One more Time

Well here it is Thursday and it's up to the Detention Center again today. I will be giving the same test to the same inmate that I gave on Tuesday. The results were not good on Tuesday.

I only hope he studied his spelling words because he wants to pass, I want him to pass, and yet I'm not sure that he really grasps the concept that study, and plain old memorization are the key. It's not a fun process, there's no instant gratification, but studying works. I hope he's getting a clue about that.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Mar 26 update- student got himself another infraction and lockdown, so no test, and no chance of class again till mid-April. Such a shame.

Still not In Synch

Was this just over a week ago? That seems so strange now, especially with the early change of Daylight Savings. I felt like I was getting back onto a US clock when the snow hit and that just makes for a sense of timelessness. I don't usually get much jet lag but the daylight savings seems to zonked me.



I also know that I'm not looking forward to tutoring tomorrow as well as a few other things I need to do. At least this student will not be mine for long, as the semester will be over March 27 - only 5 more classes. He may also test out next week, depending on the amount of studying he does. I know it can't be fun to try and memorize spelling words at his age, but that's English for you. Girl, burn, and fern all sound the same but are spelled different ways. Throw in the 'ar' sound to learn and it's all a bit much for a fairly unmotivated 25 yr old. His solution? A lot of giggling, and "I don't know!!!"s. For once, I am watching the clock for those two hours, and I don't like that. I get cranky.

original by jenah_smith

Anyhow, I just plan to sleep when I can and let my body and emotional state get back to equilibrium. A Twitter friend said the full moon this week was the 'worm moon' meaning the earth is softening. Yes, I forgot ..throw full moon into the mix. I just hope it's not my brain that's softening too!

Has the full moon affected you that you've noticed?

UPDATE - My student didn't balk at the review he needed for 2 hrs today, and my karmic reward was that there is no tutoring next week! "I'm" reviewing the test he gets on March 27 but I really don't want to 'teach to test' as so many full time teachers are forced to do. I really want him to learn and feel positive about this.