Developing Independent Problem- Solving and Descriptive Writing Skills
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Today, I observed Demetria working with her primary student, Nicholas, during a productive tutoring session. The lesson was structured to develop both his numeracy and literacy skills, with a strong focus on building his confidence and developing his independent learning. Throughout the session, I observed how Demetria adjusted her explanations according to Nichola's understanding and used questioning and guidance to keep him actively involved in his learning. Her approach encouraged Nicholas to attempt challenging questions independently before seeking assistance, while still prroviding him with appropriate support when required.
The first part of the lesson focused on Mathematics, beginning with mixed worded problems. Demetria encouraged Nicholas to carefully read each problem, identify the important information and determine what the question was asking before attmepting a solution. Rather than immediately correcting him when he was unsure, she used prompting questions to guide his thinking and allowed him time to work through them independently. Nicholas then completed a mini quiz with Demetria covering worded problems involving all four operations, fractions and measurement. This quiz promoted his critical thinking and problem solving skills, as they were multistep questions and therefore required breaking down each piece of information given. This provided Demetria with an efffective opportunity to assess his understanding across several mathematical areas and identify concepts that required further reinforcement.
Towards the end of the session, Demetria and Nicholas brifely transitioned to English, where they reviewed character description. Metria encouraged Nicholas to consider how specific descriptive detials can communicate a character's personality and qualities to the reader, rather than relying on simple descriptions. The main focus was applying 'show dont tell' to characters, as they did previously for setting description. This includes body language, facial reactions, dialogue and actions. This encouraged Nicholas to make more deliberate language choices and develop greater detail within his descriptions.
Overall, the session was well structured and enagaging, providing Nicholas with opportunities that strengthen both his mathematical reasoning descriptive writing skills.
