Mallory TS #1
Wednesday, January 17
9:30am-10:30am
Today I was scheduled to meet with a student named Kevin at Apalachee Elementary. When I arrived at the school, there was some miscommunication about whether I was supposed to be there and what I was there for. I had to wait around for about 25 minutes until it all got sorted out, so it shortened my time with the student, but we were still able to meet. Kevin is a 3rd grade student from Guatemala, who doesn't really speak any english at all. When he was pulled out of class to meet with me, I could tell he was very scared and confused and didn't understand what I was there for. We went over to the school's library where we had a quiet place to sit, and I tried to introduce myself in english and tell him about why I was there. During this time he just looked at me in confusion, and that's when I realized that he really doesn't know any english at all. The teacher told me he speaks spanish, and I have studied some spanish, but I don't know it well enough to be able to fully communicate with him. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but eventually I turned to google translate, and this way I was able to ask some basic questions to get to know about him a little bit. He was still very shy and seemed uneasy even when speaking in spanish, and I think the whole situation was just a bit confusing to him. By the time I left he had warmed up to me a little bit, and I explained that next time we will start to focus on his english skills. I will definitely have to better prepare myself next week, and find a place to start from, since he doesn't even have a foundation, but I think it will be a great learning experience for us both.
9:30am-10:30am
Today I was scheduled to meet with a student named Kevin at Apalachee Elementary. When I arrived at the school, there was some miscommunication about whether I was supposed to be there and what I was there for. I had to wait around for about 25 minutes until it all got sorted out, so it shortened my time with the student, but we were still able to meet. Kevin is a 3rd grade student from Guatemala, who doesn't really speak any english at all. When he was pulled out of class to meet with me, I could tell he was very scared and confused and didn't understand what I was there for. We went over to the school's library where we had a quiet place to sit, and I tried to introduce myself in english and tell him about why I was there. During this time he just looked at me in confusion, and that's when I realized that he really doesn't know any english at all. The teacher told me he speaks spanish, and I have studied some spanish, but I don't know it well enough to be able to fully communicate with him. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but eventually I turned to google translate, and this way I was able to ask some basic questions to get to know about him a little bit. He was still very shy and seemed uneasy even when speaking in spanish, and I think the whole situation was just a bit confusing to him. By the time I left he had warmed up to me a little bit, and I explained that next time we will start to focus on his english skills. I will definitely have to better prepare myself next week, and find a place to start from, since he doesn't even have a foundation, but I think it will be a great learning experience for us both.
Reading this made me realize how unprepared I would be to meet with a student who speaks absolutely no English. I think I'll bring this up next class and ask Professor Kim how we should deal with situations like this.
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