UNC Asheville student coaches share stories, advice, & reflections

Self Reflection 2

Image Source

Within these past few weeks, I have been able to work with a few students and was even given the opportunity to work in a classroom setting. This should come as no surprise, but I took notice of how different students are when it comes to their pieces. Sometimes you’ll get a student who doesn’t care so much for their project, a student who is extremely passionate, or one that just wants to get an assignment done. I have worked with students that were laid back and I have worked with others that were more scattered and rushed. Either way, it was always an adjustment to work with different students. If anything I learned a lot about teaching. When I was in the classroom I wasn’t able to do much but the class was very hyper and did not match my ‘ready for break’ attitude so I had to adjust like I usually do. One goal I have for the next few times that I tutor, I hope to actually take notes on what the students and I talk about. I forget every time I go to take notes and remember what is happening in our sessions. I also want to work on seeming friendly with the students, even if I am not in the right headspace. I was struggling the few weeks before our spring break to focus on their assignments. However, these past few weeks have changed my outlook on tutoring. I used to be very anxious when it came to tutoring students at all, but now I am extremely comfortable in that area. I find I still struggle with feeling like I’m actually helping a student. Sometimes I feel as if I’m basically just copying what they say and that’s it, but I’m getting better at it, slowly.

Previous

Service Learning Reflection: 2

Next

LGBT+ Content in the Western Literary Canon, a podcast by Audrey Johnson

1 Comment

  1. jpisano

    Thanks for your honesty, Makayla. It’s hard to always be in the “right” head space, especially when we all have things going on in our own lives. I think I hear you saying that you’d like to try to focus as much on the students and as on the assignments. I’d love to hear how that shift goes (if we ever get back to tutoring!). As a teacher, sometimes I get too caught up in everything I think we need to cover in class. It’s always good when I slow myself down and just check in with students, see how they’re doing as people. Thank you so much for taking this on even though it’s been a challenge!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén