Private Tutor

Going into the weekend, I had nothing booked for Monday, so I was glad when something popped up Sunday evening. Then, Monday morning I got a call from the sub desk asking if I could switch from that assignment to the alternative education center. Sure, why not? 

I was told that I would have one seventh grade student. I'm used to going with the flow when it comes to that school, so I figured all would be explained when I got there. 

Basically, this seventh grade boy, Walter, was being isolated from the other students for reasons, so he had his very own teacher. But, that third teacher at the school had taken a new position at a new school, so they were getting various subs to watch Walter. I was sub number five. Although, I was the last sub as they were planning to move Walter back with the other students the next day.

With that kind of build up, you'd think that working with Walter would have been difficult. It wasn't. Of course, my bar is low as there was no throwing of chairs...

We started with science, and I managed to find a plate tectonic simulation, and Walter enjoyed playing with that. (That was where he was in the science textbook.) Then we switched over to math.

Walter knew how to do the math. He finished it very quickly. And then I checked his answers. Um, nope. 

So, I made him slow down, and we did it together. 

At some point, I pointed out that his arithmetic was off. We were adding together two odd numbers, so our answer should be even. 

And that's when I found out Walter didn't know the difference between odd and even. 

It's always interesting to find gaps in a student's knowledge. That was one I wasn't expecting. I took the time to explain. Did Walter grasp it? I have no idea. He rejected the idea that five wasn't an even number for a while. I hope this lesson comes up again to reinforce the concept, but I have no idea if it will. At least Walter accepted that I might know what I was talking about.

After lunch, we rounded out the day with art and reading. For art class, I found a how-to video. This one:

(It was Halloween week. I decided to go with the season.)

Walter wasn't having it. He wanted to trace something easy. I urged him to give it a try. Finally he found a step by step video of something else and did that. 

(It's a middle school thing. They want things perfect. I push for them to allow themselves to make mistakes.)

And then finally, we were at the last hour of the day. He'd been reading The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and was on the last three chapters. Knowing this was his last day solo, I pushed to finish the book. Walter said he was only reading one chapter a day. 

Eventually, we did get to the finish. I don't know if Walter appreciated this, but at least we finished something in his time in a class solo. 

That's the thing about subbing. Every day is different, and I never know what I may step into. This could have been such a difficult day, but it wasn't, really. I hope Walter is doing well with the other kiddos at the school. One of these days, I might even get a chance to see for myself.