Stephanie+Atkinson

Journal of tutoring experiences...

Aug 28 As I spoke with Hassan, I couldn't understand his name very well. He could tell I was trying to get the pronunciation right, but I wasn't able to hear him clearly. I was surprised when he wrote his name on paper for me. Furthermore, I was surprised I didn't think of asking him to write his name. I learned that in any situation, I need to keep in mind all the different literacy strategies which will help me communicate better. From using his literacy skills, I was able to pronounce his name. Hassan is from Saudi Arabia and enjoys camping.

Sept 11 Today Tami and I worked with Taher and Salem. Both are from Saudi Arabia. Taher likes to watch hand ball which is a combination of soccer and basketball. Salem is from Dubi, which I'm not sure is on the outskirts of Saudi Arabia or within Saudi Arabia, I don't remember for sure. He likes to attend educational speeches in S.L.C. and American Football. I found while we were helping them with their assignment, it was very easy to venture of course to find out about their educational background and what their homeland is like. They both spoke very well. This was my first tutoring experience so I was very nervous that I wouldn't use correct strategies for ELLs or that I would give them wrong information pertaining to their homework. I liked having and even number of ELLs and Native English students in the group because it eased my tutoring anxiety and I felt we could draw on each others knowledge as we tutored. I found through their program here they have to be enrolled as a full-time student. They have to work really hard to learn our culture and keep good grades. I loved seeing the excitement in their faces and expressions to learn.

TC 9-25: Thank you so much for your volunteering spirit and great observations. The international students have told me they really enjoy having this chance to work with fellow American students and tutors.

Your welcome! This class has shown me how I will always be able to learn from my future students and their families. It's one thing to read about it, but being able to learn first hand is truly an amazing experience!

Sept 18 As we watched a film called Amreeka, Abdul and Jose spoke of how different their customs were from Saudi Arabia. They said in Saudi Arabia, women aren’t allowed to drive. I asked if American women can drive in their country and it surprised me when they said no. They both said that if an American girl has a license and works in a plant or somewhere within a company where driving is needed, they can only drive within the facility. I was very surprised, I had no idea that women couldn’t drive in Saudi Arabia, even with a driver’s license. When the kids were making snide remarks because of the boys ethnicity, I asked Abdul and Jose if they ever encountered situations like that since they arrived in the U.S. I don’t remember which one said, it takes me a long time to remember names, but one of them said they were playing pool and had nasty remarks just as the movie. I was impressed when he said that he didn’t let the remarks bother him, because I know that if I was in that situation I would have had a hard time. I love speaking with them, they are so anxious to learn! They had such confidence too, even though there was a couple times that I asked for them to repeat what they said or I repeated wrongly, they said it again or would explain it differently. They said they don’t have checkpoints where they live, but further away there is a checkpoint.

Oct 9 In our groups we read our own story, then named the topic, main idea, example we liked, and if the writer used any summarizing or paraphrasing. I was very impressed with the three ELLs in our group because each of them was able to complete the assignment and understood what to look for, even though they are currently learning themselves how English papers are structured. We discussed schools a little during our extra time, and even though the three of them were from Saudi Arabia, their school system varied in elementary from where their home was. This experience has helped me remember that even though they may be from the same country, they have many differences. It is so easy to assume that people from the same country are all the same, but they truly aren’t. I love being able to learn about another person’s culture first hand, rather than a textbook!

Oct 16 Before the movie started I asked Deniz, who is from Turkey, how he liked the U.S. He has been here for about a year and really misses home. He is struggling in one of his computer classes too. I asked what one of the differences was from his country and ours, and I didn’t expect his answer to be how we eat dinner. He said it is weird that we don’t eat dinner together as a family. I said that there are many who don’t eat as a family because parents are running kids back and forth from one practice to another, but that is one thing I felt was important in my own family. It is not very often that we don’t sit down together to eat dinner, even with dance, tumbling, and school schedules. As we talked, we both felt that dinner was a time to ask how everyone’s day was and enjoy each other’s company. I know that the international students must really miss home, but I never really thought about meal times being hard. A few that I spoke with said they all live together, with the grandparents on the bottom floor. Even if the whole immediate family moved to the U.S., mealtimes would always feel different, because extended family would be missing. I am so grateful for the opportunity to have conversations with the international students, because they are able to speak of the differences in our countries, whereas younger students may have a harder time locating the words to speak their emotions and cultural differences. There truly are so many factors to investigate and consider which will help me guide my future students and their families so they can feel accepted and succeed in school. As we discussed the movie, they felt he was making a plan or he was dreaming to escape. We both felt he was thinking positive to avoid the reality, because he knew he was going to be killed. I also felt he was dreaming or possibly was hallucinating from lack of air. We all agreed he wanted the last the thing he saw was his wife. They didn’t attribute the gates opening as though he was going to heaven. I thought of two things, the gates opening because he had died and seeing his wife was heaven also. I wish we would have had more time to discuss our interpretations of the movie. As I was writing the summary, I loved how they wanted to get an idea across and would specify how they wanted the sentence. I really enjoy working with these students and hearing their interpretations!

TC: You're doing just what I would hope: trying to stimulate their use of communicative English, especially in terms of critical thinking and academic discussion. It is frustrating that there never seems to be enough time, but I'm really encouraged by what you've been able to accomplish.

Nov 6 I really enjoyed reading and discussing chapter 23 and the pedagogical paper with Melissa Pittman. Whereas she teaches ESL students at Weber State University, she was able to give very helpful insights. The international students give looks to Professor Pittman when they are referred to as ESL students; they feel like they’ve passed these classes. I wasn’t aware the international students didn’t like being labeled as ESL. I also didn’t know that the international students had ESL classes they must pass before taking ENGL 1010. I’m not sure if the students are offended by ESL because they don’t understand what the letters mean, or because of their hard work to pass the ESL classes, especially whereas some of the students had to retake ESL levels classes. I asked Mrs. Day, an ESL teacher if her elementary students might not like the term ESL. She didn’t think the students minded. I am curious to find out how students feel about the term in general. Do students in elementary view the term as being lower than their native classmates? The elementary students speak highly of when they can graduate the ESL program; does that mean they view themselves as having a learning disability? I need to be conscious of the terms and phrases I use so that my students affective filters aren’t raised from language that offends them.

Nov 19 (TC): I'm glad you're sensitive to identity issues and terms. There are a variety of terms used for students and teachers learning languages. For example foreign language instruction is also called global language instruction. There are many, many terms for those learning English: EFL (English as a foreign language) is often used when students are learning English in their home countries. ESL (English as a second language) when learning English in a largely English speaking country, like the U.S. or Austrailia. ELL (English language learners) is often the term used for K-12 students. We will have a discussion about this in one of our last classes: it's a fascinating, important topic. I've always thought we have the right to choose for ourselves how we want people to call us or the group(s) we feel we belong to.

Nov 13 I was really nervous at the beginning tutoring one on one, especially since the last class I learned about grammatically correct English was almost twenty years ago in 9th grade. Throughout high school, I only wrote one short English paper. I was thankful when the different types of transitional words were discussed, because I didn’t remember what transitions were. I was amazed at Andre’s knowledge of English grammar. In Portugal, he said they start studying English in 5th grade. Because Andre spoke excellent English, I was astonished when I learned that he has only been here for six months. I loved his enthusiasm as we worked together completing sentences. Having time to get to know one another before combining sentences helped ease my tension, in addition it gave us ideas of what to write. It never crossed my mind that there was a difference between salt water fresh fish and fish from our rivers and lakes. Andre said fresh fish in Utah tastes very sweet. I remember having fresh tuna from the coast of Washington that was packed in a glass jar with oil, but that was a very long time ago. Whereas I love fish, I’m excited to try saltwater fish in the future, but I’ll have to wait until I can afford to travel. I felt that Andre had a very sound knowledge of English grammar. As we worked through the sentences and workbook we were able to build off each other’s ideas, it was a great experience.

Nov 19 (TC): Most classes are "multi-level," varied in so many ways in terms of abilities, interests, and past experiences. I'm constantly amazed by each different student and class I teach. Of course, it can also be challenging to try to meet those varying needs and kinds of interests.

Nov 20 As we talked about the essays, Nouff and Myad (I completely spelled these wrong), said that they kiss each other on the cheeks as a greeting. They also kiss their grandparents and parents on top of the head which shows a sign of respect. One of them said they kiss their mom every morning, if they don’t she knows something is wrong. They asked if I ever kiss mine, I told them I couldn’t remember the last time; it must have been in elementary school sometime. I said that we hug if we haven’t seen them for a long time, but that is usually at family gatherings. They thought it was weird that guys don’t hug here; they hug each other back home. The only reason I could really think of is it’s not seen as masculine by many people for guys to hug each other. I didn’t want to bring up how many might view guys hugging each other as they were gay. I didn’t think that would be appropriate to bring up in class, but I’m not sure. In order to learn aspects of our culture, it needs explained, but vaguely or somewhat in depth? One thing I found very interesting was girls were barely allowed to work in malls about a year ago. It was cute how they said that it makes them want to buy something from the pretty girls. I took a quick restroom break and they both took a long time to return. I was a little disappointed. They said they were taking a short break and would be right back right before we were to help them edit their papers. Since they didn’t come back for an extremely long time, I was very frustrated with them. While I was waiting, I asked another student if I could help him with one of his papers, but he was already finished with his. Half of the class had left, so I was getting ready to leave when Nouff and Myad came back. They asked where I was going and I told them since they had been gone for a long time and I wasn’t sure when they were coming back, that I needed to get home to my family. I asked if they wanted to go over their papers, and said they were already completed. They were surprised when they found out that I had three girls. They asked to see pictures and one of them had pictures of his nieces to show me. They wanted me to bring them to class; they explained how much they missed the children in their families. They also asked if I could come to thanksgiving dinner on campus. When I told them that I wouldn’t be able to come because I needed to get my house, last minute buys, and other preparations done since I was hosting Thanksgiving this year, they looked really sad. I felt bad that I wasn’t able to make time to introduce them to my girls. I must say after we talked about our families, my frustrations subsided. I believe I saw a writing center tag on their paper, which leads me to think they previously had their papers edited. I don’t know if they are overly punctual, or if they didn’t think we were writing experts. I also wondered if the difference in women's roles in their country played a factor too. Whereas I was really looking forward to reading and editing their essays, I was very disheartened as I left.