Trisha TS #4

Today I met with my new student tutee at Riley Elementary. I was moved from my other tutee, which was more convenient for me so I was pleased. I met with Simon and he is from Cameroon, Africa and his first language is French. He talks very quietly and has good comprehension skills. When he walked into the office, I introduced myself and let him know what I was there to do and asked him if he could take me to the Media Center where we could talk more (the secretary told me he would take me there). I explained everything somewhat slowly about who I am and what I am here to do and how many times a week I will be meeting with him at the same time. I told him about myself and then asked him the tutee guideline questions. The saddest thing was when he told me some of the other students make fun of him for having a French accent. I couldn't believe that kids would make fun of him for that because his accent is slight and it's impressive to be bilingual as an adult. He is very smart and sweet. He said he wants to learn English so he can get a good job and bring the rest of his family over to Tallahassee. I had him read out loud a book to me reaching the requirement of being readable with a couple of words he didn't know. I asked him comprehension questions. He did well. I was thankful that I was able to meet with his teacher afterwards. She was so helpful in letting me know Simon's needs and more about him from a teacher's perspective. She also said she would provide me with some material he needs to work on.