Day 1 of Tutoring =]

Monday, September 21st was my first day of tutoring at an elementary school. I was very tense about the idea because I did not know what to expect. Once I pulled up in front of the school, I realized that my Aunt lives right across from the elementary school on the same street. This made me feel comfortable knowing that if I needed anything I could just cross the street and ring the doorbell. There were so many cars in the area and parking seemed a little tight. Therefore, I parked in front of my aunts house and then proceeded walked up the steep stairs in the front of the enormous building. I felt intimidated as I entered the door to the right which was the entrance to the main hallway. The inside of the school was very dark and the hallways were empty. As I looked around, everything seemed gloomy, but I did not want this to ruin my experience. The office was straight ahead so I opened the door and put my information in the binder as told. The secretary was extremely pleasant and was willing to help me out with any questions I had.

I proceeded to enter my teachers office in which she explained to us what our tutoring experience was going to be like. During the hour and a half I was there, the teacher was explaining to myself and three other tutors what to expect. Our teacher handed out a school schedule to us which showed certain holidays and professional days that school was not session. She then gave us the basic rules of the school which was necessary to know. In addition, she showed us the different games that we were going to be playing with the students. Games such as rhyming, reading short stories, ABC's, matching, distinguishing the different letters from the alphabet from one another, sounding out words, spelling simple words, etc. After learning the basics of what I was expected to do, I was eager to get started tutoring and interacting with the students one on one.

We did not have time to go into our classrooms to see the students that we would be tutoring because my instructor was explaining what we were going to be teaching the students in the next few months. I did see students walking up and down the hallways. As I was watching them, I noticed that they were very respectful to other classmates. One little girl held the door for her friend and waited for her to come out of the office. They then began to walk down the hallway together going on their merrily way to class. On my first day, I felt as though friendship was valued in this school and also within the classroom. All of the students had a smile on their face which made me want to interact with them even more. The students looked happy to be in the school and were well behaved. I am eager to tutor and meet the students when I go back to the school this Wednesday, September 30th. I know I am definitely going to enjoy every minute of this experience and I am hoping the students benefit from this experience as well!