Monday, April 11, 2011
6:30 – Matt Olson and I arrived at his service site, Sauk Centre Elementary School. Matt serves as a K-3 Literacy Tutor through the Minnesota Reading Corps (MRC). Sauk Centre is a town located in the West Central part of Minnesota. It is just off Interstate 94, about an hour and half west of the Twin Cities. It is a half-hour from Alexandria, MN which is where he lives.
7:00 – Since it was a Monday, Matt usually arrives at school a little. We prepared reading materials for the day’s tutoring sessions and sent a few emails to teachers about the changes in his tutoring schedule.
7:30 – Then it was off to a meeting of the Student Academic Team to discuss possible interventions for students who could use some extra support in the classroom. I had to wait outside for this one: these meetings aren’t open to the public.
7:55 – Matt checked in on one of his students’ reading logs. The student hadn’t been doing much reading at home, so they’ve set up an incentive system to reward him for reading outside of school. Matt says, “It’s been working better for him lately, but he forgot to read over the weekend. No incentive points for him today, we’ll try again tomorrow!”
8:00 – Matt and I pick up a student before school for some additional tutoring. “This isn’t part of my MRC tutoring, but both the student and I had some extra time before school to work together. We work on some phonics skills, and finish by reading a short passage together,” says Matt. The day is off to a good start!!
8:20 – Homework check-in. One of Matt’s former students stops by his reading area to show him his homework from the weekend. The student has been struggling to organize his homework and complete it all at home, so he checks in with Matt every morning and afternoon to make sure he’s on track. If he gets all his homework done all week, they’ll play a little basketball at the end of the day on Friday. Sounds like fun and a great reward system!!
8:25 – Matt and I are off to pick up his first student. This student is a second grader, one of 17 students that he will work with throughout the day. Each student works with Matt for 20 minutes in a one-on-one setting. They work together using a researched based intervention selected based on the student’s reading needs. “Each intervention is designed to increase reading fluency,” says Matt.
8:25-11:35 – Matt and I worked with nine students during this time, most of whom are 2nd and 3rd graders. We traveled from classroom to classroom to pick up the students, who are excused from class to work with Matt. “Some students are a little tired from the weekend while others are full of energy and have lots of stories to share,” Matt shares.
11:35-11:40 – At this point in the morning, we got a 5 minute break. Our lunch time isn’t until later in the day, so we grabbed a quick snack to keep our energy up for the morning. We’ll need it, next up are the 1st graders. Full of Energy!!!
11:40-1:00 – It’s time for our high-energy crowd. Matt and I work with four first grade students who are bursting with energy…all in a row! I quickly found out what he meant. They were like popcorn popping!! “Sometimes it takes quite a bit of work to channel this energy into reading; other days we can feed off the energy to accomplish a lot. They’ve got great attitudes and are willing to work hard, so this time flies by,” Matt adds.
1:00-1:30 – Our stomachs are rumbling, and it’s finally time to eat. Nothing fancy today, just turkey sandwiches, an apple, juice, some Doritos, and a few cookies. No bananas for me. L
1:30-2:50 – We finished up the school day with four more students: 2 in the first grade and 2 in the 2nd grade. These students get to read in the library because it’s open at the end of the day. “They love this opportunity, which is a good thing too, because I work in a shared room that can get a bit noisy sometimes,” adds Matt.
2:50 – Homework Check-Out. Matt’s former student comes by again to show him the homework he has for the evening. He writes down that he’s got some math and literacy homework and gives him a little pep talk to get everything done and handed in.
2:55-3:30 – The students are gone, so we have a little time to wrap up the day and get some things ready for tomorrow. We fill out a “Tutor Log,” which is a brief summary of each tutoring session from the day. Matt includes how long we read for, what passages we read, and whether or not we did progress monitoring (a one-minute fluency check done each week to see if improvement is occurring with the current intervention). Matt also serves on the InterCorps Council, a group composed of AmeriCorps members from different programs throughout Minnesota working to promote service, community building, education, and training. His committee, Education and Training, is putting on a “Life After AmeriCorps” event in a couple weeks, and he has a few emails to write during this time.
3:30-4:00 – Matt and I drive back home to Alexandria, but the day isn’t quite over yet….
4:00-5:30 – Now that the snow has finally melted, the high school boys tennis season has begun. As a former tennis player in high school and college, Matt enjoys volunteering at practices for the local high school. He has the students run some drills and do some practice matches to get them ready for an upcoming match. Matt says that I need to work on his game. It’s pretty weak!
5:30 – Time to head for home for dinner with Matt and his wife and go on a walk with their dog, Melvin. “It’s been long day, but it’s definitely worth it. I know that my service with the Minnesota Reading Corps is making a difference in the lives of these kids. By improving their reading skills at an early age, these students are obtaining the skills they will need to achieve success in the classroom. At the end of the day, that’s really what it’s all about. I love this job, and can’t wait for more of the same tomorrow. Sadly, it will be without the member, who will be moving on to a new location soon. Hopefully the member enjoyed Alexandria and Sauk Centre. I’ll look forward to hearing more stories soon,” Matt adds solemnly. I really enjoyed my time with Matt and with all of the kids. I sure hope my next stop on this journey is this educational!!
OOHHH OOOHHHH!!
~~Monkey
