Every Sunday, for one hour, I tutor a Grade 1 French Immersion student by working with her, one-on-one, on reading and mathematics. Based on what she is covering in school and in connection with the related curriculum expectations, I designed a general plan of action that outlines what will be covered when. With regards to reading, the focus has been on sight words such as pronouns, conjunctions, and common present-tense verbs. In terms of mathematics, the focus has been on number sense and numeration and geometry. I often design cross-curricular sessions during which my student can make connections between the two subject areas. For example, after four weeks of sessions, she is able to verbally construct sentences in French to describe the properties of various two-dimensional shapes.

As a teacher, I understand that students are diverse in their strengths and learning needs and that it is important to determine to tailor lessons to meet those specific learning needs. In the case of my student, she is striving to improve her pronunciation while reading words, doing mental math, and describing two-dimensional shapes, all in French. However, over the course of tutoring her, I have noticed that she possesses strength in visual/spatial learning, so I do my best to design interactive lessons that allow her to demonstrate her understanding of curriculum concepts using manipulatives. Over the course of four weeks, her pronunciation has greatly improved, barely uses manipulatives for addition and subtraction, and can identify two-dimensional shapes of real-life objects and describe their properties with confidence. Her mother has informed me that this improvement is also being recognized by her Grade 1 teacher. The rewarding feeling that I experience from making an impact on my student’s learning experience reminds of my love for the teaching profession and why I decided to commit to it as a child.