Blog #1: Michelle :)

Hey Guys! My names Michelle and I'm currently in grade 11, peer-tutoring Ms. Carrier's grade 9 dance class. I really enjoy how different the perspective of grade 9's is compared to the senior grades. I love stepping into a classroom with an environment filled with enthusiasm, excitement and the best of all, passion. We have a class of about 13 students, which is pretty small but it's good because it gives me a chance to pay a fair amount of attention on each student and their abilities as well as their knowledge. As a dance peer-tutor, I take on the role of being the warm-up leader, taking the attendance, taking over the class when the teacher is absent, marking tests, helping students catch up with their choreography and being the support team. Supporting and helping others plays a big role in the career path that I have chosen, so I think that this will help me in the future. A task that I would like to initiate in the class is having to choreograph my own dance piece, although that has already been granted. I'm looking very forward to express myself while choreographing my own piece and at the same time showing the students different techniques and style. I am also very excited to design their costumes, hair and make-up! My passion for dance and aesthetics are fulfilled throughout this semester! Overall, I'm very glad that I have chosen this course because it gives me another chance to be apart of the dance program in Woodroffe High School as I might not be returning in the following year. So, I would say that this was a great opportunity.

- MYan. :)

Hey Everyone! My name is Farhia Warsame and I am currently in grade 11. I peer-tutor Mrs.Newsome K-Science class. I really enjoy peer-tutoring Mrs.Newsomes class because it is a small sheltered class with 13 students. Although there are not many students there is many roles that should be done. The students do not speak english very well which makes it hard sometimes for me to communicate with them. My roles in the class are: writing in the lesson tracker before class starts, marking spelling tests, making new bullentin boards on new subjects, checking binders every friday, sitting one on one with students that the teacher feels needs help in certain areas and also going around the class to assist students with help. What I would like to initate in the class would be teaching the class a lesson alone, without the teachers help. Gathering my own information about the subject and making a overhead note.

Hey! My name is Geneva Forestell and I'm in grade eleven. I'm peer tutoring grade ten core french with Mme. Brun Del Re.
This is a very small class of only about 16 students, which is nice because it's very easy to identify each of their strengths as well as their weaknesses. Another advantage of the small class is that everyone knows each other and so they're all able to support one another through the more difficult assignments. The class has an overall very friendly environment, which I believe is very contructive for their learning.
In the class some of my roles are to help students with their assignments, check homework and create games as a fun way of learning. Because it is a core french class some students have difficulty with the language so it's pretty much my job to ensure they understand the instructions and to answer any questions they have. This class struggles mostly with vocabulary and initiative.
A weekly activity I would like to initiate is to have a memory game every couple weeks to improve vocabulary.
Let me know if you guys have any other ideas!...
G

Hi everyone,

My name is Nelly Yoseke. Iam grade eleven and just recently peer tutoring
Grade 10 Applied history class. I love peer tutoring that class mainly because Iam very passionate about history and its really amazing how you can learn different things from the
same stories just by the way a certain teacher tells it.

Anyhow, as peer tutor iam involved in taking attendence, which is hard at first because you don't know most of the students, but its easier as you move along. I mark tests, assignements, explains activities to some students and help students that have been away to catch up with the work she or he has missed. I also "tried" to help a student organize his binder, but as you can see its in quotation mark because it didnt work out, but i kind of anticipated it, so it wasn't a shock when i heard the statement "i can do it on my own". Overall its a beautiful class and my favourite of all the classes have this semester.

I would have loved to initiate an activity in the class because i have ideas of some fun activities we did in my history class last year but the thing is, iam peer tutoring the class of my last year's history teacher. so therefore, the class is already doing the same activities i did last year, but i help organize these activities so its really fun and interesting again. For instance we have this warm up activity that the class does every single day before anything else.
So that's it for my introduction and if you like my blog, then you can post some questions and i will answer as soon as possible.

Nelly Yoseke

Blog #1 Chelsey's Instructions

Hi! My name is Chelsey Lee, and I am peer tutoring ELD DO. I am in grade 11. The class is such a small class; however, I find it nice to take care of them individually since the students need extra help with their English skills. I understand their issues with English well because I’ve been through ESL courses as an international student.

When the class starts, I attempt to make casual conversation with everyone to make them feel comfortable using English and check their homework. I constantly display new vocabularies or expressions from novel or short stories on wall because it helps the students to learn visually. Currently, we are reading a novel called “Seedfolks,” and I am creating comics to help them understand better. On every Friday, I help them with writing journal. Sometimes, I meet each student outside of class and make corrections by reading it out loud.

I would like to initiate in class by creating more awesome activities to make everyone confident about themselves when they speak English even though it is not their mother tongue. Most of the students are very attempted to improve their English; therefore, I am looking forward to play more grammar games and making dialogues.

Blog # 1 Introduction

Hi! My name is Haidar Elbadry and i am in grade 11. I am currently peer tutoring grade 10 applied history (CHC2P). In the class i am in charge of taking attendance, gathering handouts, making sure absent students catch up on what they missed, and marking tests/assignments. Mostly every Friday i am in charge of preparing games for the class. I have already done two of them and the students really in joyed them. This week i am in charge of teaching a lesson to the class about Canada between The Wars. I am really excited/nervous because i am suppose to do this all alone but it is a great experience for me. I am hoping it will go well and educate students the same as a regular teacher.

Its amazing how people think that when an individual is in an applied class they are not as intelligent as an academic person. This class by far has lots of intelligence but only one quarter of the class displays it. Students in the class mostly show their smarts on days we play history based games which require study of the work they did before hand. The kids not only participate in questions asked by the teacher but also ask amazing questions. I am also thinking of a way that will allow all of the students to finish their homework on a daily basis. Ways i can accomplish this is by rewarding them somehow or even getting bonus marks. they are already smart individuals but finishing their homework daily will make them brilliant!

Blog#1-Introduction

Hi Everyone!!!
My name is Souna Arami and currently I’m in grade 11.I peer tutor gym for GLP/DSP with Mrs. Fraser and Mrs. Addison who are the main teachers of the class. There are also few other helpers as well who are responsible for helping students stay on task .Being in this class and helping kids with special needs is one of the best experiences I have ever had. This class is very unique since I get the opportunity to work with people that you may think are very different than you and I, but that’s not the case. Students in this class are very friendly and learn a new game very quickly. Since I peer tutor gym I have the responsibly to make sure that everyone is following the instructions and that they are all doing what they have been asked. In GLP gym there are some students that have a hard time understanding the rules or need help being motivated to push themselves to their fullest, so my responsibility is to work with them one on one and make sure that they are doing the best they can. I also have the responsibility to make a weekly PowerPoint of things that they should know that are associated with healthy living. An activity that I would like to initiate in is to be able to construct a workout that is simple and efficient that everyone can enjoy and also get a great workout.

-Souna

Tyler's Introduction

Hello, my name is Tyler. Im currently in grade 12 and I peer tutor Mr. Shephard's grade 10 gym class. Since the beginning of my high school career at Woodroffe I've always enjoyed being able to take part and succeed in the many gym courses that our school has offered. Now having started peer tutoring a grade 10 gym class it gives me a chance to look at the courses curriculum and experience from the teachers side of things. Having not known very many grade 10's its been interesting getting to know the guys and of course their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to certain sports or activities. It's easy to relate to many of their strengths and weaknesses as I have taken gym 4 years in a row and seen many different levels of athletic abilities. I've found that being able to do so is a crutial part of being able to tutor the gym class and really be able to offer help. Many of the tasks I have to complete on a daily basis consist of things such as taking attendance, getting the class into squads at the beginning of class, setting up equipment for games, doing warm up games and stretches and of course additional help during sports and activities. More recently the guys were in a health unit and I was given the opportunity to mark some tests and assignments and put their marks in for doing so. Sometime soon I would like to host a "games day" for the class where they can make teams, have a tournament and participate in many different sports and activities.

Yad's introduction

My name is Yadgar Karim and I am in Grade Eleven. I peer tutor Ms.Bech's Grade Nine Academic/Enriched English class, and so far it has been quite laid back! The class is humongous, however. I believe there was supposed to be 28 kids at the beginning, one never showed up, one dropped the course to an applied level, and so on. It took a while to learn the names, but now I know everyone, and most of their personalities. I had trouble distinguishing between some of the girls, though. It was hard to tell them apart!

As of now, I take care of the attendance, helping the students when they have questions, marking their vocabulary tests, creating some rubrics and tests/quizzes with aid, etc. Soon I will be doing some organizational tasks with Ms.Bech and I will set up a new bulletin board display at the back of the room for "To Kill a Mocking Bird".

Two things that I would like to initiate or create would be teaching a lesson myself one day when I am more prepared about a topic I am confident about and I would like to initiate an intellectual conversation with the class with intentions of getting them to think! I'd probably bring up a controversial question/topic and have them discuss/debate it among themselves then write a response about their feelings on it.

Also, with having a split class, it can be quite interesting! There's much to do, because the Academic do not do the same things as the Enriched do at times. I wouldn't say it's double the work, because it isn't, but it's great to be able to have a chance of interacting with the kids and not have to be discussing one topic all the time! This week, they finished up reading Shakespeare, one moment I was in The Tempest , the next I was in The Twelfth Night! It's good fun.

QUESTION: Does anyone else have a student teacher in their classroom? We just got one, it's getting quite crowded, but it's good that there's extra help for the kids! A bit strange though, now I somewhat feel like there's more or less somewhat of no point for me to be there, but I suppose I'm wrong, because I have my continuous duties regardless of an extra individual!

:)

Blog #1: Malaz's Introduction..

Hey, my name is Malaz. I'm in grade 11 and I am currently peer tutoring grade 9 academic math (MPM1D). Given this great chance to peer tutor such a class has, and will help me in many ways. I have already gained a lot of experience and I am looking forward to gaining more. In this class there are 4 crutial tasks that i must complete daily, these include: Taking attendance, Checking the handback folder, checking homework and updating the homework calender. However, there are many other tasks that I am responsible to complete when told by the teacher. Some include: Collecting quizes and totalling the marks, look for whoever has missed class and help him or her catch up with the missed work (this means I may have to explain a lesson), and go around during classwork time looking for students that are struggeling and help explain a possible way they could approach their problem. Sometimes I may get a one time task, this has happened during the grade 8 visit to our school, where I had to organize a game for our visitors to keep them entertained. One day, I hope to get the opportunity to write notes on the board while the teacher explains the lesson, or maybe even create a game that would get the class thinking.

Blog 1: Philip L's Introduction

Hello,

My name is Philip and in grade 12 and it's pretty sweet peer tutoring grade 10 academic math (MPM2D) with Mrs. Hill as well as grade 9 and 10 essentials math (MAT1L/2L) with Ms. Hunter. With the opportunity to peer tutor two classes I get double the experience compared to if I only peer tutored one. In the Grade 10 academic math I usually take attendance of the class at the beginning and take notes when Mrs. Hill is writing on the overhead for the students that might be away. After the notes are taken the homework is given and the students have an opportunity to do as much of as possible. I tend to get the opportunity to help them with their homework as the new concepts might not be soaked into their heads just yet. From the get go for the essentials math I have to hustle around the room if I want to get around to everyone that needs help as they are not needy for help than the other math class. I have marked stuff for both the classes that include in class assignments, tests, and quizzes. An activity or task that I would like to initiate in would be to plan a lesson and get an opportunity to create a quiz or test for both classes.

Blog #1: Angela's Intro

Hi everyone!

My name is Angela Larose and I'm in grade 11. I am peer tutoring in grade 9 academic core french (FSF1D) with Mme. Ducharme. So far, I've pretty much been taking care of everyday housekeeping like attendance, marking or getting kids caught up when they miss class... probably not too different from everyone else! I also created an activity for the class. I made sentences in french, printed them out and cut them up. All the sentences were put in their own plastic bag, and the challenge was for the class to put them back together correctly as fast as possible. The activity brought out the kids' competitive sides and I think it was a success. I've also really enjoyed helping students one-on-one while they're working, because, as lame as it sounds, it's feels good to be able to help someone understand. Two things I would really like to create or initiate in my class are more activities like the sentence jumble and a way to keep everyone on top of their homework, because I think some of the students never do their homework, which causes them to be very lost in class, all the time! Suggestions welcome! haha.

-Angela

Welcome to our Blog

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to our blog! I am looking forward to reading your ideas and reflections as well as gaining insights about your placement. The blog is intended as a vehicle to share your thoughts and experiences with other peer tutors. Since we only see each other once a week, it is difficult to establish a classroom feel. Hopefully, this gives a forum to exchange ideas, frustrations, and support. Have fun with this; feel free to post (appropriate) pictures and include any stylistic extras that the rest of us may enjoy.

J. Harris