Jordan CO #3

Date/Time: May 10 2pm

Location: Hecht House

Teacher Presentation: Kyle Kaminski - Substitute

Classroom management: This was a small class in numbers yet the students were fairly spaced out throughout the room. The instructor did a good job and managing the class despite it not being her subject or specific group.

Materials: Audio recording, computer, whiteboard

Student participation: Students did the majority of the talking during the lesson with the instructor there to help promote the conversation.

Feedback provided: The instructor would ask questions to the students and help them focus in on the part of the recording that would help them gain a better understanding as a whole.

Lessons on teaching you learned: This lesson taught me that there isn’t any reason to fear students even with the substitute coming in and being nervous. The students are still there eager to learn and are likely just as nervous.

Jordan CP #6

Date/Time: 5/27/16, 12

Location: Hecht House

Topic discussed: Tests

Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: for this conversation we mostly just talked about the test that Mutaz had to take in order to continue his schooling. He had taken the test twice before and saw about a .5 point increase in his score on a 10 point scale. He gave me some of the questions and vocabulary that were on his last test and I told him that even I would have had problems with some of them. A lot of the examples that he gave were either highly academic or formal language while others were phrases more commonly found in European English, which I think is a little unfair for a test that was given in Tampa.

Jordan CP #5

Date/Time: 5/25/16, 12:00

Location: Hecht House

Topic discussed: New conversation partner

Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: I was unable to find any community service for Mutaz to help out with, however, I did ask around my org and found someone else who would be interested in talking to him. One of my brothers introduced to his friend Nadine who was very eager to work with Mutaz. I didn’t know this at the time I introduced the two but Mutaz later told me that Nadine was from Egypt, around the same area Mutaz is from. He said talking to her was extremely helpful as since he could still work on his English yet when he couldn’t find the words to express what he was trying to say, he could still switch over to Arabic and still be understood.

Jordan CP #4

Date/Time: 5/19/16, 12:00

Location: Papa Johns

Topic discussed: Genetically modified food

Cultural and/or linguistic topics you and your partner learned: For this conversation I met with Ali and we talked about an article I read earlier in that day regarding genetically modified food. We discussed whether we agreed with the practice of potentially harming consumers to reduce cost and potential losses. I had originally planned this as a tutoring topic for timed writing however the relaxed atmosphere made it much easier to sit down and hold a conversation.

cp 6

On Thursday June 2^nd 2016, I invited my conversation partner Abdullah to come watch Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors with my friends and me at the Palace saloon. Abdullah gladly accepted my invitation and came to the palace around ten o clock, an hour into the game. Along with Cameron who met Abdullah the first time he came to palace, Abdullah got to meet me friends Austin, Adam, Taylor, Joseph, and Steve. Happy to say that despite my friends being drunk for the NBA Finals and Abdullah being sober since the Islamic faith prevents drinking Alcohol, Abdullah and my friends got along very well and discussed  many different topics ranging from Abdullah’s life and culture back in Saudi Arabia to each friend giving Abdullah their own “secret” to flirting with American girls. Abdullah had so much fun at the bar with us that he even joined us when we left the bar and hung out with us at Austin’s house till two in the morning. Eventually Abdullah left but before he said that tonight was one of the most enjoyable nights of his life and that he was glad to call me his friend. We added each other on Facebook and hung out one other time after June 2^nd. Today Abdullah left to go back home but sent me a text saying that he was glad to meet me and that one day he hopes to see me again. I also look forward to the day I can see my friend Abdullah again.

cp 5

On Tuesday May 31^st 2016, I met my conversation partner Abdullah at the palace saloon for our third conversation session. I arrived early at nine o clock to secure a pool table and dart board for the evening waiting till nine thirty for Abdullah to arrive. Abdullah commented that I was not with my friends this time and I told him that none of my friends wanted to go out to a bar on a Tuesday night so it was just me and him. Although being one on one allows me to have more conversation with Abdullah, I could tell he was a little disappointed that he would not be socializing with other people. Needless to say, I played pool and darts with Abdullah till eleven thirty and despite it just being us, I could tell he had fun. I learned that night that Abdullah does not drink because his religion does not allow him to do so. I am glad that despite the palace being a bar that serves beer, Abdullah still went to an establishment unknown to him and socialized with people who drink.

cp 4

On Saturday May 28^th 2016, I was planning on watching game six of the NBA western conference finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors with my close friends at a bar called The Palace Salon on Jackson bluff road. Before the game, however, I received a text message from my conversation partner Abdullah who asked me if I would like to hang out tonight. I recalled that during our first conversation session, we said that one night maybe we would go out and have fun together. So I invited Abdullah to Palace to watch the game and meet my friends and he accepted. I got there at 10 and Abdullah arrived at 10:15. With my friends Cameron, Josh and Brent, Abdullah and I played pool and darts till midnight. Abdullah said at twelve that it was getting late for him but that he wanted to hang out with us next time my friends and I went to palace. 

cp 3

On Sunday May 22^nd 2016, I met Rashad at Starbucks on Tennessee Street. I recognized Rashad from Mr. Wilson’s beginner speaking class, a class that I observed on May 2^nd almost three weeks ago from our current meeting. After some small talk, I asked Rashad what he would like to review for our tutor session. Rashad clarified to me however that he was meeting me as a conversation partner and not as a tutee. So instead of going over grammar or vocabulary, Rashad and I talked about Tallahassee, his home country of Kuwait, and other things people talk about when getting to know each other. I learned from Rashad that he once played for the Kuwait national soccer team put had a knee injury at the age of eighteen that stopped him from playing soccer at the international level. I also learned that Rashad was one of seventeen siblings in his family and that one of his older brothers has long hair just like me.

cp 2

On Saturday May 14^th 2016, I met my second conversation partner Abdullah outside of Starbucks on Tennessee Street. I asked him how he was and he responded well before returning the favor and asking how I was. I complemented him on his brand consistency since he was wearing a polo shirt, shorts and sandals. Abdullah thanked me for the complement and mentioned that he purchased his outfit from Macy’s in the Governor Square Mall over on Blairstone. Abdullah asked me if I lived close to campus and I told him that I lived five minutes from the CIES building. When I asked Abdullah if he lived close to campus, he responded that he lived fifteen minutes from campus. Abdullah then added that although his drive is long, he thinks Tallahassee is nicer and more scenic further away from campus. After talking about his home country of Saudi Arabia and it’s culture, we agreed to meet again and perhaps even hangout one night.

CO 3

On May 19^th 2016, I observed an Intermediate speaking class for CIES students taught by Matthew. In the previous class, Matthew assigned his students to write a brief speech answering the question “Do you think that English is important? Why?” or “Do you think that everyone should go to school? Why?” Of the six students I got to see present, five of them chose to answer the question “Do you think that English is important? Why?” Some students said English was important because all countries and universities speak English; other students described English as the most relevant language in the world; another said that “If you want to travel to a new country, you need to communicate with somebody.” After each student would speak, Matthew would go over some errors in the student’s speech. For instance, when one student was describing why English was important and said “It is important of my life.” Matthew pointed out that the correct version of that sentence is “It is important to my life.” After the sixth speaker, Matthew ended the class and said that the rest of the speakers would go tomorrow. 

tutor 16

I met with my tutee Ahmad for the second time on Sunday May 22^nd 2016 at Starbucks on Tennessee Street. Ahmad asked me this time to help him with complex sentences. Just like clauses last week, I had to learn on the fly that complex sentences are one complete sentence from two standalone clauses.  I tried to explain to Ahmad that he just forms the two ideas into one sentence. Ahmad, however, explained that he understood what complex sentences were, but that he needed help forming them. So we opened up his text book and went to the practice problems. Problems for complex sentences involved having two ideas (for example: I ate leftover roast beef, the kids did not eat leftover roast beef) and asking students to form them into one complex sentence (fe: I ate leftover roast beef, but the kids didn’t.) So after I explained to Ahmad how to do the first two, I had him do the rest on his own while I corrected any errors.

tutor 15

On Sunday May 15^th 2016, I met my second tutee Ahmad at Starbucks on Tennessee Street for what I thought was a conversation session. After making small talk for five minutes, Ahmad mentioned that I was supposed to be his tutor and not his conversation partner. I was shocked but said that I would be glad to tutor him to the best of my abilities without any preparation. So when I asked Ahmad what he would like to go over, he mentioned that he was having a hard time understanding the differences between clauses. I had no idea what he meant by clauses when he first mentioned it but after five minutes on my iPhone, I was able to explain to Ahmad the differences between types of clauses and when to use a certain clause over another. After this explanation, Ahmad and I looked over some practice sentences and figured out which clause to use for that sentence. Ahmad said that he liked my explanation and that he wanted to work again in the future. 

tutor 14

On June 16^th I met my tutee Matthew at Leroy Collins public library to go over his writing and grammar. To start off the session I let Matthew watch an episode of Regular Show and write about it. One thing I pointed out to Mathew was that he often begins sentences with the word “he”. I explained to him that although I knew who “he” was, it is proper grammar to address someone by their name or as a pronoun before referring to them as “he” or “she”. After going over Matthew’s analysis of the episode, I asked Matthew to write down what he learned from our tutor sessions.  Matthew wrote down that “I learned new grammar and writing things.” After Matthew finished writing about our sessions, I asked him what he thought he could improve on for the sixth grade next school year. Matthew wrote that he wanted to improve his vocabulary for next school year.

tutor 13

On June 15^th I met with my tutee Matthew’s twin brother David at Leroy Collins public library to go over his writing and grammar while Matthew tutored with someone else. Since I had never worked with David before, I could have him do activities for the first time that I previously gave to Matthew. So I pulled out my cell phone and let David watch Star Trek (2009). Just like his brother on May 27^th, I asked David to write about each scene that he watched and together we would go over his writings for errors. One thing I noticed about David is that his handwriting is easier to read compared to Matthew’s. Also David will go over the amount of lines requested compared to Matthew who will write the bare minimum. Besides one error in word choice (“his wife got a baby…” instead of “his wife had a baby…”) and a run on sentence, David’s writing and grammar were good for his level.

tutor 12

On June 14^th I met my tutee Matthew at Leroy Collins public library to go over his writing and grammar. During our very first tutor session, I foolishly bet Matthew a deck of uno cards that he could not define all of his vocabulary cards. Needless to say, he got every word right and ever since then I always am asked if I brought his coveted prize every time we begin a tutor session. Today I finally was able to buy a deck of uno cards and gave them to Matthew. After playing three games of uno, I asked Matthew to write about his favorite game and why he liked it so much. In twelve lines, Matthew told me about a board game called the game of life and its various rules and objectives. Besides one error (“You get to go different places…” instead of “You get to go to different places…) Matthew’s sentences were written correctly and grammar free. 

tutor 11

On June 9^th I met my tutee Matthew at Leroy Collins public library to go over his writing and grammar. Since the film analysis seemed like a good way to get Matthew to write and pay attention to the corrections in his writing, I decided to have Matthew do an analysis on various episodes of a Cartoon Network show called Regular Show. The reason I picked this show is because I did not have another movie saved to my phone and episodes of this cartoon are easy to find on YouTube.  Just like after movie scenes in Star Trek (2009), Matthew would watch an episode and then write ten lines on notebook paper about what he watched. Matthew’s writing and grammar today was good for the most part, but the first episode analysis featured a long run on sentence in the first sentence. I pointed this out to Matthew and told him that usually he writes sentences that are too short but now he is doing the opposite and writing sentences that are too long or need better punctuation. Matthew said he understood but used a run on sentence in the next analysis. I told Matthew we would work on this problem during our next session.

tutor 10

On June 8^th I met my tutee Matthew at Leroy Collins public library to go over his writing and grammar. Before the lesson began, Matthew’s mother Sara gave me a packet to go over The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons (1835) and the history behind the painting. Unlike the last Civil War packet (three full pages, seven questions); this handout about the 19^th century painting only contained three paragraphs and ten questions. I reminded Matthew that last time he did not fully comprehend the reading (Matthew thought the south beat the north in the civil war) and that he should be able to read the much shorter packet with more attention. After learning about the fire that burned down the House of Lords and Commons and the painting of the inferno, Matthew answered the seven multiple choice questions correctly along with the three short answer questions. Such questions asked “how could the mood of the painting best could be described?” “What is this text mostly about?” And “Based on the sentence above, how do the people in the painting most likely feel?”

tutor 9

On June 7^th I met my tutee Matthew at Leroy Collins public library to go over his writing and grammar. Just like the two previous sessions, I had Matthew watch the 2009 film Star Trek in five minute portions and then write about the scene after. Also, just like last session June 3^rd, Matthew used a fragment sentence in his first scene analysis. I pointed this out to Matthew and mentioned that we went over this in our last session; Matthew recalled talking about it and did not write another fragment sentence for the rest of the day. This exchange made me realize that as an instructor, I am responsible to go over what was discussed or learned in the previous session and that Matthew’s error about the fragment sentence is just as much mine as it is his. Besides this fragment sentence and one verb tense error (“kill him” instead of the past “killed him”), Matthew’s writing and grammar were spot on.

tutor 8

On June 3^rd, I met my tutee Matthew to go over his writing and grammar. This lesson started were the previous lesson ended, twenty nine minutes and thirty seconds into Star Trek (2009). After watching the movie for a small portion of time, Matthew would then write about what he saw in the film. This week I learned from Matthew’s writing that he has an understanding for grammar rules that I myself did not know till later in school. For instance, Matthew already knows the difference between “too” and “to” and “an” and “a”. Although Matthew excels in this area, Matthew still has his fair share of faults. One thing Matthew could work on is fragment sentences. Often in Matthew’s writing I will read a sentence that is only five or six words in length. One such sentence goes “His father died too.” I pointed this problem out to Matthew and told him we would work on it for next session.

tutor 7

On Friday May 27^th 2016, I met my tutee Matthew at LeRoy Collins library in Tallahassee FL to go over writing and comprehension. After last session when Matthew incorrectly stated that the southern confederate states beat the northern union in the civil war, I knew that I had to find different material to keep Matthew interested enough to write sentences that we could go over for grammar, vocabulary, and sentence errors. I then recalled that I had the 2009 film Star Trek on my phone so I pulled out the iPhone 6 plus and told Matthew to watch 5 minutes and then write about what he saw. I told him he could talk about the action, the characters, the dialogue, or the narrative as long as he at least wrote 10 lines worth of analysis. Matthew’s observations of the movie only contained one punctuation error (a period in place of a coma) and wrote a side and a half worth of film analysis that we could go over.

tutor 6

On May 25^th of 2016, I visited Matthew my 5^th grade tutee for the sixth time at LeRoy Collins public library. Today before my lesson with Matthew began, his mother Sara handed me a packet about the Civil War. It contained 3 pages and 7 questions at the end. Since this was too many pages for Matthew’s attention, I created my own questions for each individual page and had Matthew answer them after reading the page. Questions for the first page included How long did the Civil War last? What were the large farms with slaves called? What was the most popular crop on the plantation? And True or False, Slaves only worked on the plantation fields. The questions for the second page included what state prohibited slavery in its constitution in 1777? What is gradual emancipation? Refugees from European economic and political conditions settled in which states? And what was abolitionism? For these questions, Matthew only got 2 out of 4 correct for both pages one and two. After going over both pages again to ensure Matthew got 4 out of 4, I decided to change things for the last page. I instructed Matthew to read the last page and then write about it. Matthew read it and started writing but asked to see the page again. I told Matthew this activity was to see how well he comprehended what he read and that giving him the packet would defeat the purpose. Although Matthew did well with the beginning of his 10 line paragraph, he wrote that the union lost to the confederacy in the civil war. After explaining how to find main ideas and facts we ended our lesson.

tutor 5

On May 20^th, I once again met with my tutee Matthew to go over writing and vocabulary. I started the session by going over Matthew’s vocabulary cards that he always keeps in his bag. Although he was not very enthusiastic about going over the vocabulary words, he correctly defined all the vocabulary flash cards with the exception of disdain and flurry. I was going to go over the language arts worksheet that is in his bag, but Matthew insisted that we do a new activity besides the ones we have done in past lessons. Recalling that today was Friday, I asked Matthew what he was doing this weekend and if it was anything fun. With a sigh, Matthew said he was doing nothing and that it likely would not be fun. I then asked Matthew to write about his idea of the coolest day ever; Matthew then wrote a whole page about how his fun day would include watching movies like Star Wars, eating meals like burritos with meat and rice only, and playing video games such as Call of Duty or Halo with his friends. Besides one spelling error (vegitables instead of the correct vegetables), Matthews grammar was correct and good for his level.

tutor 4

On May 18^th, I went back to LeRoy Collins library to tutor Matthew about writing and reading comprehension. After the success of my drawing activity from last lesson (have Matthew draw pictures and then create a narrative around the sketches), I thought that I would try it again. Matthew, however, was not excited about the activity this week; when I instructed him to doodle and write a story, he quickly drew a stick figure shooting another stick figure with a bow and arrow and wrote “He is dead the end”. Sensing that Matthew was uninterested in the same activity from last lesson, I told him that he could pick a book and write about that instead. Matthew chose a book about Lamborghini cars and after reading wrote down some facts about Lamborghini’s. Matthews’s description about the logo and history of the Lamborghini was grammatically correct, but when he was talking about the speed of a car, he wrote “Some lambos have 213 mph.” I asked him how to fix this sentence and he quickly changed the “have” to “go”. 

CO 1

On May 2^nd, I observed an entry level speaking class taught by Mr. Wilson for CIES students. At the start of the class, Mr. Wilson went over the activities for the class so the students had a clear idea of what to expect. The first thing Mr. Wilson discussed with his students was regular and irregular verbs. To demonstrate this difference, Mr. Wilson asked students what they did this weekend and used the student’s answers to demonstrate irregular and regular verbs. For example, “I watched the new episode of Game of Thrones” has a regular verb because “watched” uses –ed. An example of a sentence with an irregular verb would be “I went to the gym” since the verb “went” does not have an –ed at the end. Mr. Wilson then handed out a worksheet to go over opposites in the English language like “hot” and “cold”. The other part of the worksheet had students find antonyms for certain words like straight (curly) or short (long).

Jesse TS#16

Date/Time: 6/14; 5:30

Location: Apartment  

Topic/Skill: Voiced/Voiceless pronunciation

Feedback provided to tutee: My tutee was eager to practice pronunciation with me because I am a native speaker. She got frustrated a few times with pronouncing challenging words but quickly reminded herself that these skills come with practice and time. I admire her positivity and determination. My tutee quickly improved after practicing minimal pairs. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: With some research, I learned that voiceless pronunciation is hard for native-French speakers, and I saw the benefit of using minimal pairs to practice. I taught my tutee the trick we learned in TEFL, where the speaker puts their hand against their vocal chords to tell if the letter is voiced or not. It was extremely helpful when practicing and entertaining! 

Jesse TS#15

Date/Time: 6/13; 6:00

Location: Apartment  

Topic/Skill: English Expressions

Feedback provided to tutee: Because my tutee was exhausted from studying so much, we took time to chat casually. We watched an episode of Friends and talked about odd English expressions, phrases, and idioms. It was really enjoyable!  

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: My tutee is able to guess the meaning of odd English expressions very quickly because she knows how to use context clues. She told me that watching movies in English helps her practice this ability to guess meaning from the context. She also said that she listens very closely in every English interaction and sees every interaction as a learning opportunity. We also talked about recognizing clues in facial expressions, body language, and French-English cognates. 

Jesse TS#14

Date/Time: 6/12; 5:00

Location: Apartment  

Topic/Skill: Minimal Pairs

Feedback provided to tutee: My tutee has very strong communication skills and I like how aware she is of areas that she would like to improve upon. We made a list of words and letters that are challenging for her during the last tutoring session and then practiced minimal pairs related to those specific words/letters during this tutoring session.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: When I prepared the minimal pairs list, I intentionally focused on challenging words for native French-speakers. This was very beneficial during the tutoring session. 

Jesse TS#13

Date/Time: 6/9; 5:00

Location: Apartment  

Topic/Skill: Pronunciation

Feedback provided to tutee: My tutee and I discussed speaking rates and pronunciation, and the importance of not sacrificing clarity for speed. She picked out passages from the GRE book and read them out loud, while I provided error correction. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Pronunciation will vary greatly depending on the learner's first language. We discussed common patterns for French speakers, but it is also important to consider other languages she speaks in addition to French in Burkina Faso. 

Jesse TS#12

Date/Time: 5/28; 5:00

Location: Echale 

Topic/Skill: Article summary

Feedback provided to tutee: I gave feedback on my tutee's written article summary. Her sentences were often more wordy and complex than typical English sentences, so we primary discussed ways to put complex concepts into concise sentences in English. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: I practiced the composition feedback process that we discussed in TEFL class. I first gave feedback on structure and general flow, then we discussed the clarity of the ideas, and then used the editing marks for grammar and spelling errors. We also took the time to discuss the most common errors. It was a long process, but beneficial!  

Jesse TS#11

Date/Time: 5/19; 9:00

Location: Apartment 

Topic/Skill: Noun clauses; complex prepositions

Feedback provided to tutee: My tutee practiced for her oral exam in a CIES class and I provided feedback. The more and more we practiced, the more confident she became. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Repetition is extremely beneficial, even at the higher levels. I am also seeing the benefits of "nitpicking" for upper level students. 

Jesse TS#10

Date/Time: 5/13; 4:00

Location: Strozier

Topic/Skill: Academic writing; journal article summaries

Feedback provided to tutee: I was amazing by my tutee's ability to summarize complex academic journal article in English. She was patient, diligent, and pushed herself to learn new words and expressions. After reading through the entire article, she wrote down the main points and created an outline that she would use to write the summary later. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: I think my tutee was working above her level, but seemed to want to push herself. Her end goal of graduate school keeps her motivated. She found it really helpful when I explained how my professors discuss journal articles in my classes and what they expect from students. 

Jesse TS#9

Date/Time: 5/7; 12:00

Location: Strozier

Topic/Skill: Phrasal verbs

Feedback provided to tutee: I am incredibly impressed by my tutee's dedication to her studies. She is studying for CIES, TOFL, and the GRE all at one time with the ultimate goal of graduate school in the U.S. through the Fulbright program. We took plenty of time to establish a relationship during this first meeting and bonded over the Fulbright program. My tutee was very confident in asking questions and receiving feedback. 

I provided many examples for the phrasal verbs my tutee was studying in her CIES class. Funny examples seemed to help her grasp the meaning. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: We made a very organized plan for our future tutoring sessions so that we could maximize our time together. With a very eager student, I need to be careful to find the balance between moving through material efficiently, but not so quickly that there are gaps in understanding. 

Jesse TS#8

Date/Time: 6/9

Location: Starbucks

Topic/Skill: University Life and Engagement

Feedback provided to tutee: I have learned so much from Juyoon because she was willing to share her experiences and opinions with me openly. Her eagerness to learn and experience a new culture is inspiring! I hope to be as brave and open to new experiences as she is when I move abroad in August. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: These sessions helped me realize parts of my communication style that I would like to improve upon. I also am reminded of the value in taking the time to really reflect on my own culture and speech patters so that I am better able to communicate cross-culturally. 

Marissa TS #15 and 16

#15

Date/Time: June 9 12:30pm-1:30pm

 

Location: Stand alone starbucks on campus

 

Topic/Skill: Research, Universities, Speaking.

 

Lessons: Discussed Jin's research, How Chinese universities are compared to American Universities, and the weather.

 

#16

 

Date/Time: Jun 10 12:15pm-1:15pm 

Location: Stand alone starbucks on campus

Topic/Skill: Listening/speaking, America in the 1980's

Feedback provided to tutee: practice more minimal pairs.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: The forensic files episode mentioned that Dungeons and Dragons caused these kids to impede a murder investigation. So, I taught Jin the cultural context of this and discussed how similar games were viewed in America in the 80's.

Jesse TS#7

Date/Time: 6/8; 10:30

Location: Strozier library

Topic/Skill: Classroom culture

Feedback provided to tutee: Juyoon spoke confidently and openly about her experiences in university. She shared her opinions of English classes in Korea, sharing both positive and negative aspects. 

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: I am a very out going person, but need to practice stepping back and allowing English language learners guide the conversations more. Pauses in the conversation are actually beneficial to allow the learner (and listener) to collect their thoughts. Understanding my own cultural background and tendencies will help me address this. 

Marissa TS#14

Date/Time: Jun 6 1pm-2pm

Location: Stand alone Starbucks on campus

Topic/skill: Listening, speaking, movies

Lessons about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Jin. We discussed favorite movies and gave eachother suggestions. She told me the politics around China's film industry and the restrictions that puts on China's media.

Jesse TS#6

Date/Time: 6/3; 4:00 

Location: Starbucks

Topic/Skill: Polite speech patterns in English/Korean

Feedback provided to tutee: To brainstorm for our final lesson plan, Juyoon and I discussed polite speech patterns in Korea and the U.S.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: When I learn about cross-cultural communication in my social science classes, the focus is often on cultural differences and communication between two English speakers, rather than the role of linguistic patterns and the language learning process for a non-native speaker. Learning speech patterns that aid in cross-cultural communication is a key part of the language learning process. 

Marissa TS #13

Date/Time: Jun 2 1pm-2pm 

Location: Stand alone starbucks on campus

Topic/Skill: Listening/speaking

Feedback provided to tutee: practice more minimal pairs.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned: Jin. The forensic files episode mentioned that Dungeons and Dragons caused these kids to impede a murder investigation. So, I taught Jin the cultural context of this and discussed how similar games were viewed in America in the 80's.

Juyoon TS #16

Date/Time: 16^th June, 2016

Location: Skype

Topic/Skill: Teaching Korean

Feedback provided to tutee: It was my last session with Emily. I got to teach her Korean language a little. I could understand what it’s like to teach my own language to a second language learner.

Lesson(s) about tutoring and/or the tutee you learned:  I learned that in order to teach a language, you need to know about it not just be able to speak it.