Planning for a Nervous Learner

One of the great things about being a tutor is when you get to begin working with a new student. I recently began working with a child I will call Andy. Andy is an American rising 6th grader who has always struggled in school. His mother wants him to begin catching up. This makes him a particular challenge for any teacher or tutor. However, I would not let that deter me.

For our first session, I knew I had to keep things simple. I needed to learn about what kind of reader he was and ensure that we were having fun during the session. To do this, I took a look at the kind of things that Andy like. His mother described him as a very happy country boy who admired his dad, who was a firefighter. So, I picked out articles about farming and fires. Even though I was told Andy was a relcutant reader, he was happy to read these texts. I was also impressed by how well he understood them, despite the fact that he was clearly mixing letters up. It is also important for a teacher to find a student’s strengths.

I also used Blooket to learn more about his math abilities. My pre-assessments showed he was pretty good with place value so we started with that. After that, I wanted him to practice multiplication, which he did well with. With this, I ensured we had a fun first session that he won’t avoid next time. I also made sure I talked about things we might be able to relate to each other about, like fishing with our dads and growing up in rural parts of the US. Now I can start putting together plans to help him be ready for 6th grade!