What does tutoring look like for me?
I have to tell you, that it is always a delight to meet with my clients. I get excited to see them on the other end of the camera. I welcome them and ask them how their day has been going. I also ask them what they want to work on.
In this blog, I will let you know about my most recent visit with a young lady who is in 5th grade. She lives in New Jersey, and I live in Nebraska. We are definitely a few miles away. But, we meet on Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 5 pm CST, 6 pm EST.
I typically try to show up a few minutes prior to the start of our online meeting. I make sure I have pencil and paper. I make sure I have some links to the things we have been working on, just in case we need something ready to go. I look back at my notes and my lesson plans, and make sure I am ready to roll.
In her case, I am working with her on 5th grade math. We have been working on measurement and geometry, so in my most recent visit, I have fired my computer up and had links ready to go. However, when I met with her, she was not in need of what I had opened up. She was requesting support on long division with decimals as well as a reteach on how to make conversions using in mass in the metric system.
We spent about 45 minutes making sure she understood the difference between dividing a decimal number by a whole number. Then we added the decimal in the divisor’s spot. I made sure she understood why we were moving the decimal, and suddenly things fell into place.
She was feeling very confident with that. She took some notes and said, let’s move on. Then we moved into working on understanding the place value system in the metric measurement system. She finally started to understand it as I retaught her about the fact that each one of the place values is either 10 times larger or smaller depending on the way you move through the place values. I showed her she could multiply by powers of 10, or we could simply determine how many place values we are moving and then just move the decimal. The light switch went on, and she was able to move within the system with little to no confusion. She did ask if we could practice that again on Thursday, and I agreed I would be ready to go.
At the end of our hour, she stated that she did very well on her most recent math test. She thought that she maybe only missed two. She felt very confident about her state math assessment as well. Her mother was very pleased about her progress and had added a second hour with me. She was very happy about her progress and wanted more time.
I am sharing this with you because I want you to know, that I take very good care of my clients. I am constantly looking for ideas that may work with each child. I use humor as we work together because I want them to enjoy our time together.
I also want you to know, that I do my best to work around the child’s schedule, while keeping our time together as consistent as possible.
I just finished some time up with one of my most recent clients, and I asked his mother if she would have time to give me a testimonial. I really didn’t know what she thought about how things were going, but I did know that her son, who was working with me on 3rd grade math, was doing very well. She sent me this testimonial, and I could see that I really was making a difference. Here is what she said, “Sheryl provided fantastic support to my son for a number of reasons. She was very flexible and understanding of his needs and kept the lessons engaging even when he was distracted or tired from a long day at school. She provided a positive energy and a genuine enthusiasm for learning. Sheryl is a fantastic teacher and resource!“
As I am moving into summer, my schedule is filling up. However, I do have some time slots available. If you have need of a tutor, be sure to reach out to me. I would be delighted to schedule time to meet with you and your child and do a free consultation/assessment. It typically takes about an hour, but sometimes it is just a little bit longer, especially if your child needs more processing time.
For you convenience, you can fill out the form at the bottom of this sheet if you are wanting the most direct link to reaching me. However, you can find out more information by going to midwesttutor.com.
Tutoring with Sheryl 