My Field Experience at The Learning Zone

Maria (Lucy) DoggettBeep 4384

I tutored at the East Branch Library

“The Learning Zone”The Learning Zone’s room is bright and can accommodate up to ten children to be tutored at the same time. The room counts with ten tables, plenty of chairs, three file cabinets, shelves with books, and school supplies like markers, pencils, and dry eraser boards.

Behavior ChartThe Learning Zone has a behavior chart. Every child has clothes pins with their names on it. If children behave their clothes pin stays in green, and the child gets credit for three tickets that they can, later, exchange for prizes. If children misbehave and get a warning their name goes to yellow. And, if they get two warnings their name goes all the way up to red and the child lose a ticket for the day.

Behavior ChartAs I mentioned before, the boy I tutored is a very calm child, and he always behaved and followed directions. Of course, his name always stayed on the color green.

Book ShelvesI did not get parent’s permission to take pictures, but I am going to tell some of the things we did during the tutoring sessions. Usually, he choose a book either from the books shelves (written in English) or from the Spanish shelves in the library. Then, he read them to me at our designated table.

Reading When the boy read in Spanish he was more fluent and clear than English. His reading skills were not as advanced as his interactive social language. Connecting this observation with what I learned in class I can say that his ability in the English language was at the BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) level.

Math CabinetThis cabinet contains a variety of math supplies and educational games. During the last thirty minutes of each tutoring session, children had play time. Whenever he decided to play he always chose games from the math cabinet. I also observed that most children chose the math games during the playing time.

Reading TimeEvery time I went to tutor I took my kids with me. When children did not showed up and there were more tutors than children, mentors tutored my kids. This is my daughter Stephanie reading to Yolanda.

Board GameLast week, I took my board game to be played by the boy that I usually tutor. But he did not showed up, so I ask my daughter to play it. This experience helped me to see what worked well and what needed to be improved.

Learning was funOverall, I learned a lot during my field experience. Having the opportunity of be one on one with children who have different learning styles was a great experience. I believe that I will encounter in my classroom with children who would have similar learning styles. Now, I feel more confident to help children with diverse learning styles and academic levels.