New Student Routine

You Got it! Yay! That new parent you have been talking to over the last couple days has decided to hire you as their child's new tutor.

pic courtesy of http://i1015.photobucket.com/albums/af271/yayita_04/selena/th_congrats2.jpg

Now what?

How do you go about setting up your new student? Do you create a file for each student? Do you have an assessment system for getting the student on track? Do you have a system in place to keep track of each student's goals and progress? How about the financial side of things?

What works for one doesn't always work for another. But here's what I do.

1.Set up a new folder. I always use regular office folders (used to be the manilla ones, but I kept getting them confused so I went to the dollar store and picked up the bright colored ones. SO much easier!)

• I staple an index card to the top inside cover with pertinent information about the student. Including phone number, address, and email. The student's grade level and area of difficulty, and the school they attend. I also include brief notes from the parent on what skills need to be our focus; such as are we just completing homework, are we trying to get ahead, are we stepping back to gain more understanding, etc..).  

• I staple a small stack of lined filler paper to the inside of the front cover. Three staples along the left side make a nice little notebook for session notes that all stay in place and in order!  

• I also include some essentials: A print out of the student's school standards for their grade level (sometimes the grade before and after as well), my goal tracking sheets (see this post for more info on these), a learning style questionnaire for the parent to complete with the student,  and some math jokes or something to break the ice with the student.

2. Gather manipulatives. Most of my students are math students, and they typically range from 3rd to 5th grade. But once in a while I get a reading student, or a high school math students. In this case, I need to make sure I have what I need at my fingertips to help each student. What are some that I always have on hand?

• Place value manipulatives are a must! I use the old fashioned ones that don't break apart.

• I have a little jar with change in it. The real stuff, not plastic or paper. Tactile learners love to see these and I think it helps to have a blend of older coins and neer ones so the student can see the different faces, backs, and what-not. 

• My cards! I have several set I keep on hand. UNO cards are an absolute must for me (see a post about ways I use them). I also made a set so I could have numbers 10 and higher, gave them a quite Rock Star theme special for one of my students. And then an integer pack a friend of mine made (a post is coming soon about these). 

• Dice! I have several dice, the regular dot type, ones with number, and I'm working on locating some ten sided and fraction dice too (have any great buys you'd like to share? Please leave a comment!).

• My wipe off boards (dry erase boards). These are an ABSOLUTE must for me, and sometimes I make an extra one for each student to keep at their home. I will grab some re-usable worksheets/printables that I think will work nicely for the new student, and then adjust a our time continues together. 

3. Add the student's information to my database. I just set up an excel workbook, and I keep important info in there. If I don't set this up BEFORE I start the first session, it might take me a week or more to get it in there, so I have to get it done right away. I include extra phone numbers, and special needs information, anything that helps me keep track of the student, their needs, and our lessons together. Sometimes my new students come from a referral service (check out the WyzAnt System). In this case, all that goes into the database is contact info, since WyzAnt keeps track of lesson details, financials, and even mileage!).

4. Add the student to my calendar. I just put the info into my smart phone and set the reminder that will give me time to get there on time. I always like to arrive at least 5 minutes early for the first session, so we can get the introductions out of the way without charging for that time. When putting a session into my calendar, I always extend the time at least 15 minutes in each direction (depending on drive time to the next session). That way if the student isn't ready when I get there we can wait a couple minutes, or if we are right in the middle of a thought when the hour is up we don't have to rush past it. Sometimes this works out well, and I end up with 20 minutes in between a long stretch of students. Nice so I can stop and use the restroom or fill up the gas tank, swing through Arby's for a Jamocha Shake (mmm).

pic courtesy of  http://www.glassdoor.com/Photos/Arby-s-Office-Photos-E41477.htm

And that's about it. How about you? I'd love to read about your routine!

Sean Inspired {Place Value}

A few months ago I wrote a post about a student I worked with, Becky. I shared a strategy I used to help her develop place value awareness and build confidence in using larger numbers. Today I'd like to talk about another student, Sean. I've been working with Sean for a little over a year now, and it's been an amazing journey, for both of us!

When Sean and I started, he was a 4th grade special needs student (I won't get into the specifics) who had ZERO numeracy skills. He couldn't add simple numbers, had no concept of what multiplication was, no place value awareness...You get the picture. I had never encountered such a deficiency, so I almost didn't take the job. Almost.

After playing some games and breaking the ice I realized this kid had serious potential, but no one had ever really taken the time to help him, so we started our journey. One small step at a time. It began with counting and and connecting the number symbols to the amounts they represent. This may seem redundant for an 11 year old, but it was necessary. I used dots to help him see the value for each number, and gave him practice to count the dots on each number and say its name 5 minutes every day. Within a few sessions he was ready to start working with these numbers.

I LOVE Uno cards for math practice with kids, because they see that deck, they are familiar with it, it puts them at ease, because they know they are about to play a game, not work on "school stuff". As Sean was building his ability to represent amounts with numbers, I started bringing out the Uno deck. Here are a couple of the ways we played. (I take all of the "special" cards out of the deck before playing all of the games)

1. Count On

    With only the number 0-9, we flip a card over and the student tells you the next number. After a few sessions, I add to the game, by having them tell me the next two numbers, or three. That helps us bridge into skip counting where I have the student tell me two numbers more or three numbers more.

   After a lot of practice counting on, we turn it around and count back. Tell me the number before, one less, two less, three less. This is usually a greater challenge, but its well worth it in the long run!

  Count On can the be adapted to larger numbers by playing two cards at once; and then counting on from the 2-digit number. The skip counting can build from there by counting on by tens.

I couldn't find a writing program to couple with this game, and I always make sure to incorporate as many senses as possible for my students. So I designed Blast Off Mental Math. I had many other younger students who were using Rocket Math in their schools, so I used the idea behind it, introducing a new set of numbers, a small group at a time. 

2. Place Value Battle

    I really can't take credit for this, but I don't remember where I saw it, probably on Pinterest ;) You start with separating the deck into two piles, one for each player (this can be a multiplayer game, just make more piles). Each player turns over one card, they have to decide whether its value will be their tens place or ones place. (We had to use my Place Value Cards for this in the beginning) Each player now turns over a second card, placing it in the other spot. Whoever has the larger number wins!

   After some time playing with three place value positions, you can use three places, even four. The key is that once a player chooses the position for his card, he CANNOT move it! If your student isn't ready for Place Value Battle, you can just use one card and compare values. This is EXACTLY the same thing we all played growing up, only we likely called it War.

   I've noticed that some kids are a little too competitive for this game, or they get really bummed out if they aren't winning. In that case I don't use the collection strategy, I have the student identify the larger number, if they are correct I place all of the cards in one pile, if they are incorrect I place them in another pile. At the end of the game, if the correct pile is larger I tell them they win, if the incorrect pile is larger I say, we have some work to do, and we focus some time on place value concepts.

There are a lot more games I could list, but I'll save those for specific content posts. What about you? Do you have a game you play with UNO cards, or similar playing cards (Skip-Bo works well to)? Share your game in the comments below!

Little Successes = Big Rewards!

Don't you just love it when one of your students makes a big step forward? Its like watching your favorite underdog team win the big game ;) Tonight that happened for me, so I had to get on here and share with you.

foxsports.com

I just started working with a new 5th grader about a month ago. Her family had moved to our area only a few months before, and the school change caused a little snag for her. She's a bright girl and has a lot of mental math capacity. So I was extremely excited to be working with her.

Here's the catch. The kid is adding, subtracting, and even simplifying fractions in her head, yet she's still counting simple numbers on her fingers! Something was missing a few years ago. Parents tell me her teachers hadn't focused on memorizing facts, she had no automaticity at all. :(

Note to all elementary teachers reading this right now, sorry to call you out, I don't mean to...

Please, let me say that again, PLEASE spend some quality time developing automaticity with your students! I know it takes time and resources that you really don't have, BUT it catches up to them later if they don't get this early on. I have 9th graders who still count 43+2 on their fingers!! 5-10 minutes a day, that's all a little fluency program like Rocket Math will take, and it will mean SO much to your students later!!

Well, needless to say, I didn't start this student out where she was in class. This isn't a homework helping situation. (Although I do offer to help her there as well, its just not our focus). Instead we went back to adding. Yes you read that right, I told a 10 year old student that we are going to focus on adding SIMPLE numbers. If you are familiar with the Rocket Math series, it starts out with numbers 1-9 plus 1, and only works through 9+9. That's pretty simple for a student who can simplify fractions in her head!

So we set some goals, and filled out the goal sheet I use with all of my students. She seemed excited and it looked like she had a good system of support to keep her on track with extra practicing between sessions. 

Goal Setting and Monitoring

I thought she'd move ahead rather quickly. I was wrong! Not only was she NOT practicing in between our sessions, she wasn't getting the support I thought she would. But that's really typical, as sad as that is. We moved forward at snail speed. 

Until today. When I mentioned the date and that I knew we were approaching her halfway goal, I asked her what we have to do to make sure she's completing her practices. She immediately went to the fridge and grabbed her goal chart. She handed it to me and told me we hadn't written any updates on it yet, she needed to see where she was at! AMAZING kid I tell ya! So we looked it over and marked off where she was (not even a quarter way to her goal), then we looked over what she had been working on, and I said, let's get busy!

I let her warm up her mind playing the Match Up Puzzles I made to correspond with the Levels, then we hit the speed drills.

Rock Star Addition Match Up Puzzles

I said her fingers must have been on fire she was writing and answering CORRECTLY so fast! She beat every record she'd previously set and started new levels at a faster rate than some of her more recent attempts. She was actually answering the facts FASTER than what her writing speed assessment said she could do! All the while, she was SMILING! When a kid just starts to do what they know they should be able to do, it feels good, for THEM and the one who helped them accomplish. Just one of the little rewards of being a tutor :)

What are some little victories you've experienced lately?

New Book Review: Ziggie Tales

This past week I have had the opportunity to review a new book by Kathleen M Wainwright. The book will be released on April 19th, so watch for it!

The story line is cute and you can read what my 9 year old daughter thought about it here. We decided to use this opportunity to launch her book review page on this blog. She's excited, and really connected with the main character, Marley.

Marley is a typical, eccentric 7 year old girl who has 2 best friends, her cat Ziggie and the rational Layla. When Marley cooks up a scheme, Layla is there to keep her in line. Everyone needs a friend like that!

Through a hard situation, Marley learns some valuable lessons about life and responsibility. A young reader will enjoy the adventure, mystery, and drama as it unfolds.

The author has put together a packet of companion activities for this book, and you get a sneak peek at that for FREE today, just for stopping by to read about this new book! Here's the link to a few activities to get your young readers acquainted with autobiographical poems. I know my little reviewer is excited to some of these going. I'll post here finished poetry after she uploads her next review ;).

FREEBIE: Autobiographical Poem Companion Packet

Here's a chance to win this book for your young reader! You can come back and enter the drawing everyday of the book tour, so stop back and enter as many times as you can. The same drawing will be on all the blogs on the tour, so you can enter on any of blogs you visit.

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Watch this post over the next few days as more of the details of the virtual book tour are released. I hear there will be some companion activities for this book, several other bloggers will be sharing other perspectives of the book, and a giveaway! So stay tuned ;)

So you don't miss any of the fun, here's a link-up of all the other blogs hosting this tour!

An InLinkz Link-up