Truly Seeing a Student

I recently gained a new student on my roster. This student was an interesting challenge to work with. We will call him Joey.

Joey is a 9 year old boy in Canada who clearly loves to play video games. I looked over the records I had on Joey from the last few months and it was clear that no one seemed to be able to figure out what he was missing. They seemed to insist he was distracted during their sessions and that was it. I began working with Joey on some of the more basic phonics sounds. As he read the words, this poor 9 year old sounded defeated. Perhaps he did have a game on while he was in tutoring but it is no wonder he distracted himself. Reading has always been a struggle for him. I was firm with him but still made sure he learned how to read consonant blends that day and at the end of the session, he began to get more focused.

It is always important to remember that our learners who struggle the most are likely the ones most afraid to show how far behind they truly are. We as teachers must be warm and sympathetic if we want them to start making progress.