Anyone who has read my blog more than once knows I'm a tutor at an elementary school. I work with third, fourth and fifth graders in math and reading, hoping to somehow get some at-risk-of-not-passing students over the hump so they can pass the TAKS test give in the spring of the year. All of these students have been identified by their previous test and teacher observation. My Thursday Thirteen is things I said today MORE THAN ONCE.
1. Those in my group quietly line to go to my cubby hole. (I don't really have a room. We work in a small area closed off from a larger room. No one came up with a good name like Achieve Lab or Mastery Lab, which were already taken so ...)
2. Please, put your pencils under your chairs.
3. Sit up, you don't need your head on your desk.
4. We are going to be practicing borrowing across zeros today. I need everyone's eyes ups here, please. (I demonstrate with a problem such as 708 - 345 =.)
5. Anytime there is a zero in the number you are subtracting from you will have to borrow.
6. Yes, we are going to write on the slates.
7. Ok, look at what you just did. Can you take 8 (or whatever number) from 0? Think.
8. Good job lining your numbers up. Doesn't that make it easier?
9. You guys are doing better, here's a hard one. (at this point I give a problem just like all the others we have been working on)
10. Now let's try this one. (give a subtraction problem with no zeros in it -- you'd be surprised -- suddenly this is hard)
11. Now let's try this one. Two thousand eight minus one thousand nine hundred forty-nine. (2008 - 1949 =)
12. Way to go, you now know how old I am. (this always gets a laugh and a discussion of how old their parents and grandparents are)
13. We're late. Get your pencils off the floor and line up. Good job today.
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9 comments:
Under the chair instead of on the desk? That's new to me.
Patsy - first, thanks for stopping by my Thursday Thirteen - Thirteen Reasons Not to Use a Chair to Reach Things, I'm glad you and your husband had a good laugh!
Seriously, I sometimes question my sanity, especially after doing something so dumb - you know it's really dumb when you are telling yourself it's dumb while you're doing it! Have you ever done that?
In the meantime, I'm having a chuckle at your blog while thinking that you are the most patient woman! I would most likely have bonked one of the little buggers on the head saying, "don't you listen???" - now, you know why I'm not a teacher!
Wow more than I said. Mine could be a simple thirteen, "Keep your hands off your friends." or some variation of that.
Glad you had a good day. Mine was better than yesterday, so that is something.
Happy TT and I admire what you do...I have a hard enough time dealing with adults every day moreorless kids. ;)
I think I can guess the significance of #11, though the photo at the top right of your blog would seem to contradict this.
Cool TT--have a great Friday!
I admire you! My daughter's middle school is always looking for parent volunteers to tutor kids, and there's just no way I can do it. I don't have the patience, nor do I think I could explain things correctly (especially math!).
You sound like a fun but bossy tutor. Ha!
Thanks for stopping by mine :)
I hear you here! I work with at-risk middle schoolers. It's big to get some of them to actually sit up. It's enormous when they have their own pencils, etc. Sometimes I wake up saying, "You have to come to class prepared." Crazy. We have a no hoods/no hats policy. The other day, I almost rolled my window down to tell a guy on the street to take his hoodie off. Crazy!
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