The second meeting went more or less the same as the first. I tried to build rapport by discussing some of the issues that were mentioned last meeting, but he was still rather shy. Questions such as, “How’s math class going?” and “Have you played with the soccer team yet?” were areas alluded to from our first meeting. After an intial get to re-know each other period we got to work. I was excited to teach instead of trying to have a conversation with someone not interested in talking.
During the script, he appeared as if he was putting forth a decent effort in attempting to answer the questions, which as a teacher seems to be all you can really ask. We read passages from Breaking through, and analyzed the material further by answering the questions provided. He’s able to speak and sound out English words well. I’m not so sure how well he is able to understand the words he is able to pronounce so effortlessly. He could answer some of the questions correctly very fast, but others took longer than expected. Words such as “grinned” and “motioned” gave him trouble, and it is understandable how the passage would be difficult to grasp without knowing these words. I am very bad at gauging the reading level of a student who is well below where they should be. Just talking he’s a smart kid who understands how to speak English, and there’s a good chance I assume he should be a better reader than is reasonable.
I tried to repeatedly check for understanding of the vocabulary, and we went over words such as “grinned” that he didn’t know. Also, I asked him to speak in Spanish or tell me what his initial thoughts were on questions that were giving him difficulty. But he was prone to giving the exact right answer or none at all. On the other hand, he did immediately know the word “curandero”, noting it was some sort of person who cures. You could tell he enjoys reading the Spanish words, so if I was trying to appeal to his interests a book rooted in Spanish would be the way to go.
Since he doesn’t like to point out words or concepts he doesn’t know; vocabulary strategies before, during, and after the lesson seem warranted. Minimizing jargon and using correct grammer are also important.
