summer school roundup

my five-week stint as a teacher (tutor, whatever...i made lesson plans everyday so that has to count for something) at summer school is over. Nayisha kicked butt and passed her final; Shatieya ended up moving to tennessee two days before summer school was over; and Corey improved by almost 30% on his math proficiency test. i'm really proud of them.

so last week was kind of crazy, balancing three jobs (Sojourn responsibilities are back in full force); this week has been nice, back to "normal" life, whatever that is. but, i really miss my kiddos. i wish i had a picture of them, but here's a pic of our tutoring team, The Bulls. we were an awesome team and had a lot of fun.

lots of new Sojourn news coming at you soon! (including, we are now officially an independent non-profit).

so i'm a teacher (kind of)

my tutoring job (with the MATCH Summer Academy) has been going for almost three weeks now. it's held at MIT, which is great because a) the MATCH school has a partnership with MIT, and the kids get a little taste of college life, and b) my apartment is conveniently situated equidistant between MIT and Harvard...and i have jobs at both places.

anyway, for the first two weeks, i tutored two students in algebra 2 and one in geometry. my algebra students, Shatieya and Nayisha, are hilarious and, for the most part, really focused. Marcus was my geometry student, but since he was only at summer academy for failing a final (and not a class), the deal is two weeks of tutoring, re-take the final and pass...and you're done. so Marcus took that bad boy last friday...and PASSED! i was pretty stoked.

so since i don't have Marcus anymore, this week i got a new student, Corey. he's an incoming freshman, and he's a great kid, but man...we have a lot of work to do. today we spent two hours on fractions and converting fractions to decimals. two hours. and Corey is a quick-learner, and worked really hard, but i think he has trouble with retention...so, we'll see. it was just killing me though, and honestly, making me really mad - not at him - at the system that has so dreadfully failed him. a ninth-grader, who stuggles at long division? the sad truth is, yes, and he is very much not alone.

this is why the MATCH school exists, and why i love tutoring these kids: because education and knowledge is freedom, and these kids have been imprisioned in a (nameless) school system(s) that has given them nothing of the sort. now they have four short years to turn around a lifetime of educational inadequacy, and let me tell you, they are fighters...and they inspire me every day. i'm so glad to be a small part of it.