Concluding a semester at the Learning Zone……… The learning Zone has been an amazing experience that has really made an impact in what I need to improve and what to keep doing. As I was looking through the blogs from week one to week ten, I saw growth, change in perspective, and definitely a lot learned. Join me as I reflect in my experience.

Meet Mahmud and Dina:

Week 1-3: My first three weeks were like a box filled with surprises because I knew there was something great in stored for me but I didn’t quite know who or in what form it would come.. as I looked back at the first weeks I noticed that I was still hoping that our class would be able to start an afterschool program. “ However I remain very optimistic that we as a class can get something great started if not continue in the mission to serve the Arlington community thru the Learning Zone program.” Now looking back at my first impressions I realize that even though we didn’t quite make our own program, we made some memorable experiences at the Learning Zone!

Read to achieve!

Week 4-6: By these three weeks all the tutors had been placed to work with a permanent student and the Learning Zone had grown enough that everyone had a student to work with every week. I started working permanently with a brilliant student. Dina as I had mentioned is “a brilliant and outstanding second grader.” She is somewhat shy but very easy to get along with. One thing that we worked on these weeks was in reading comprehension, and vocabulary.

What an awesome story!!!

Week 7-8: Weeks seven and eight Dina’s homework started to get a bit more geared towards TAKS. During these weeks Dina had to start reading a book every day for at least ten minutes followed by reading comprehension questions. In week eight Dina had to write two paragraphs about ways that she could help her mom around the house. But not all is work in the Learning Zone; we all had plenty of time to play constructive games. “The most memorable time that the tutors and the students had that day was getting to play MATH BINGO together. The students had some time to practice their math skills and the tutors had a great time competing against them. ”

BINGO!!!! BINGO!!!

Weeks 9-10: For the last couple of weeks including week nine and ten, I and co-tutor Diane have been working with Dina and her sibling Mahmud. Dina and Mahmud are sister and brother and they are a treat to work with. Mahmud is a bit older than Dina, but he had to work a bit harder in his pronunciation of words and interpreting word problems. I am really glad that I got a chance to work with both students because they have very distinct learning needs. This provided a challenge for me to figure out a good method to apply when working with each of them. I really liked working with both of them because they epitomize the fact that not because you are siblings you are just as smart. “Mahmud has trouble reading and in many cases I’ve noticed that he feels easily discouraged with big words.” For the last couple of weeks including week nine and ten, I and co-tutor Diane have been working with Dina and her sibling Mahmud. Dina and Mahmud are sister and brother and they are a treat to work with. Mahmud is a bit older than Dina, but he had to work a bit harder in his pronunciation of words and interpreting word problems. I am really glad that I got a chance to work with both students because they have very distinct learning needs. This provided a challenge for me to figure out a good method to apply when working with each of them. I really liked working with both of them because they epitomize the fact that not because you are siblings you are just as smart. “Mahmud has trouble reading and in many cases I’ve noticed that he feels easily discouraged with big words.”

Learning is better when its hands-on

My Overall experience: Civically I am trying to render my services to the community and in return I am doing a service to myself because this hands-on experience will help me become a better teacher. I hope that I can accomplish putting into practice what I learn so that I can enrich my wealth of knowledge and experience in teaching. Civically I am trying to render my services to the community and in return I am doing a service to myself because this hands-on experience will help me become a better teacher. I hope that I can accomplish putting into practice what I learn so that I can enrich my wealth of knowledge and experience in teaching.

A picture with Mahmud and Dina, we are raising the bar!

Special Thanks to the Learning Zone Tutors and Mihn.