Karen's Tutoring

The Small Things

When working with students who have learning challenges, it’s the small successes that matter. Passing the “3″ multiplication facts after weeks of practice is a cause for  “happy dance.” Finally understanding and actually using a specific phonics rule warrants a “high five” and extra stickers. We are continually celebrating the “small things.”

My stories of the small successes are many, but today I want to share a recent success that brings a smile to my face every time I talk or think about it.

Since I have several students who seldom read, I made the decision this summer that all my students, including Fred, would read and keep reading logs. Reward stickers and ultimately prizes hinged on reading and keeping the log.  Fred started a book that within a couple of days he decided he didn’t care for. He asked me to find him something he might enjoy. The next session I brought several books from which he could choose. Fred actually chose the best of the group…Hatchet by Gary Paulson. I was thrilled because I just knew that this was a book that would capture his imagination.  It was not to be.

The next session we started to discuss the book. Much to my chagrin, he couldn’t recall anything from the almost five chapters he had read. How was he going to love this book if he couldn’t remember or connect to anything? I had to come up with something that would spark his recall of details of what he read. Finally, after running a number of options through my mind, I decided to have him use Post-It notes and write or draw (this kid would rather draw than eat) a detail or two about what happened on that page. I then asked him to read two chapters using the Post-It method. And then waited to see what would happen our next session.

Two days later when I arrived at Fred’s I met one very excited and animated boy. He started recalling everything he had read in those two chapters. AND he kept telling me how much he liked that book! We used an online lesson plan for the book, did a few of the activities, and he took the quiz. He nailed the quiz…something he doesn’t do often. He just beamed when he finished the quiz. And I beamed at our success.