Jake's Blog # 3

My host teacher for my peer tutoring class this year was Mr. Schmidt. He has been a huge reason for my improvement in my own physical fitness this year and helped me develop great peer tutoring skills. With each day came a new challenge. He would instruct me on what needed to be done every day and gave me constructive critisism for areas that I could improve in. I found it challenging at first however to consistently keep up with preparing the equipment for the class because I guess I just got so caught up with the other students I just forgot that i was the peer tutor.

Jake's Blog # 2

The blog I am choosing to respond to is that of Tyler Smith's. I chose his blog because he is peer tutoring the same class as me, which means that our experiences are most likely very similar. We both had different teacher's, however. He had Mr. Shephard and I had Mr. Schmidt. Both of us were relied on for marking test's in health, readying equipment for each sport that was going to be played, and just basically helping everyone out.

Blog # 1

Hello. My name is Jake Skuce and I am currently in grade 12. I'm peer tutoring Mr. Schmidt's grade 10 Physed class. I have many roles in the class. The most important one is probably to just be a good role model for the younger students when interacting and playing different games with them. It was my job to get the equipment prepared for each sport we played and also to put it all away, as well as make teams for games we played. One activity that I would have liked to inititate in would have been track and field. We didn't end up doing it, though.

Blog #3

By: Laura Huber

As far as host teachers go, Ms Stanhope is probably the best. She teaches me lots, but she doesn't know it because it's a very indirect sort of teaching. I sort of learn by observing her, by using her as an example for how I should act and react towards students and other teachers. She plays a huge role in my development as a peer tutor, but more in my development towards becoming a teacher myself. Peer tutoring is just the first step!

During class, when she is not teaching, we are usually sitting around and talking about random things. We have a very informal way of interacting with each other - less teacher-to-student, more friend-to-friend. We talk about the students, about friends and family, about all sorts of stuff I wouldn't talk about with just any old teacher.

I honestly think all areas of working together are going well. She may think differently, but she seems pretty darn fine with everything to me. We work well as a team when marking the students' work, because we almost always have the same opinions and takes on the work. Even when she is teaching we work together, because she often spells things wrong or may accidentally forget to mention something, or even when something needs further explaining - at these times I can butt in and help out, and I'm always thanked for it, so it must not be a bad thing. Whenever she needs an example made, or anything to be done, I'm there to help. This way things get done more efficiently, and sometimes more accurate because there is more than one person making sure it's all good.

I really can't think of any challenges that I am experiencing. Maybe one downside - that I can't take peer tutoring again!

Supplementary Task 3

This is my grade nine art class working on their 'abstract sculpture' unit.


The assignment was to create a sculpture with no predefined form, out of pieces of cardboard in a random shape that got consecutively smaller. Each shape was separated and made into a level using 1sq inch pink foam blocks. The sculpture had to be a minimum of 20 cm high. When their armature was finished, they were told to completely cover it with plaster strips. Once the plaster had dried, they had to put a layer of Gesso over it, as a sort of primer, to fill all of the holes in the plaster and to make it easier to paint. After the layer of Gesso, the students had to paint the sculpture in a monochromatic colour scheme, using a logical application of gradation.


This is one of the students, trying very hard not to burst out laughing as I took her picture.


Worried that her sculpture would not be strong enough to take home, this student turned it upside down during the process of applying the plaster. It did not fall apart, but everyone, including Ms Stanhope, was laughing nervously when she threw it into the air.


Another wide shot of the class working on their sculptures.


Ms Stanhope, checking out some of the students' work.


Some of the guys, working diligently on their sculptures.


Art: It's a messy job, but someone's gotta do it! And these two did, very well.


Lastly, here's a closeup of the plaster application process. Some of the students hated the mess, but you could tell who the true artists were, because they were the ones who loved getting messy!

Supplementary Task 2

By: Laura Huber

Link: http://special-needs.families.com/blog/ten-tips-for-teen-peer-tutors


This article is focused on one-on-one peer tutoring with a student who may have a disability, but I think it also gives good advice to any type of peer tutor.

It shows you some of the most important actions a peer tutor should take to have the most effective bond with the student. It shows you how to be responsible, profession, and honest to any student in the class. It also gives you advice on how to be respectful, trusting, and trustworthy. Lastly, it tells you how not to abuse your power and how to make yourself a good example to others so they can all behave as well as you do.

This article is simple and straightforward with an appealing layout, so anyone can use it. It could help any type of peer tutor because its advice is general but specific enough to deal with the certain needs to any child or student. It easily taught me, and I think it could easily teach someone else in my position as well.

This site can't really influence my development as a peer tutor anymore, because it is the end of the year. But it CAN influence my potential future job as a teacher, by giving me good advice on how to deal with students who may have a disability.

Supplementary Task 1

By: Laura Huber

Two notable students I developed a positive relationship with are "Beth" and "Leah". My whole journal assignment was written about Leah, so that's just a bit of proof that I know her very well. Near the end of the semester I developed a positive relationship with "Joey", but we only interacted a few times to build this small but positive relationship - so I will be talking about Beth and Leah the most.

I knew Beth before I peer tutored this class, but not as well as I know her now. She is my best friends younger sister, so I always sort of thought she was annoying, but now I know different. She has become almost more of a friend to me than her older sister is!

I met Leah for the first time in this class. She rapidly became more of a friend than a student, because we related so much to each other and got along so well.

Both of these girls had a similar impact on me, but also different ones. They both made my semester a lot easier because I had someone to talk to in a way that did not have to be formal, teacher-to-student type conversation. This made me happy in many ways, but mainly just because I didn't have many other people in other classes to talk to, so it was nice to have a friend once in a while.

Beth had a positive impact on me because she helped me to connect to the rest of her family, who I don't get updated on very often. Every day I was able to hear news of how her sisters pregnancy was going, and after the baby was born, how the baby was doing and when I could find times to go over and visit.

Leah had a positive impact on me by being someone I could talk to about art-related things, who was interested in hearing what I had to say about art, and who was always willing to learn from me.

I knew for sure that I had a positive impact on both of these girls. They told me themselves, and I could also see it in how they developed throughout the semester. The end result made me extremely proud.

Beth told me that I had a positive impact on her because I was always giving her the best advice, unrelated to art. Without knowing it, I had been boosting her confidence and helping her get through her rough life at home and at school, by complimenting her and giving her advice based on my own experiences. I didn't know how much I had actually helped her until the end where she told me about something she was able to do that changed her life at home, all thanks to the confidence I gave her.

I could easily see the positive impact I had on Leah. All throughout the semester I was helping her to develop confidence in her work - letting her know that it was not inferior, that it was not the 'crap' she said it was. I told her that I saw great talent in her work, and I meant it. I could see that she really took it to heart, because nearing the end of the semester, she was finally starting to look at her art and tell me that she thought it wasn't that bad, and that she expected to her a fairly good mark on it. She got much, much better than a 'fairly good mark'.

Primary Task

By: Laura Huber

As a peer tutor, I probably learned more in this course than in any other course I have ever taken. This is not necessarily academic information type learning, but more learning about me and my future.

I have known for quite a few years now that I want to be a Visual Arts and Drama teacher, and have just been waiting to take this course, so that I can find out if I am really suited for the job. Now that I have taken it, I am positive that it's what I want to be.

I had many more positive experiences in this class than negative. There were only a few students who caused problems, and even then they were mostly cooperative. All of the students made me happy for different reasons, and each one of them gave me an experience to remember.

There was no single most satisfying experience that I had in this course. The best I can think of is an amalgamation of multiple things that were said and shown to me over the months I was there, and ended with a pretty awesome experience. It started with some students who decided that since I was the peer tutor, I was amazing at art and probably 'a hundred times better' than them. They looked at my work and thought they could never compare to it. In the first few weeks, I kept receiving these compliments. But as time passed and the students handed in more and more work, I started showing some of the individuals who had told me these things their work in comparison to my examples. At first they did not believe what I was saying - that their work was much better than mine. But the more I showed them, the more they came to understand. Finally, nearing the end of the semester, I had a student say to me" "You've shown me that I can be better than you if I try. Thank you."

For some people, hearing that from a grade nine, they would think it was an insult. But to me, it was one of the best things I've ever heard, because it made me feel like I had accomplished something, that I really had taught someone all I could. My success was standing right in front of me, only a foot shorter.

This class, save for one of two students, was generally unstressed about everything. Only a few students really worried about their work, and I thought it was sort of funny because they were the students who were doing the best, and who did not have to worry. Due to this, there were not many times that I might have had to reduce stress using humour. In fact, I can only think of one time with a specific student, where I helped her to remember the name of one of the members of the Group of Seven. She was very stressed that she could not remember his name, because it was going to be on an upcoming test, and on the final exam.

In this situation, I used a sort of inside/ongoing joke between me and my friend in Anthropology class. We were talking about Erik Erikson, and it went on to us making up as many people as we could think of who had similar first names to last names. For example: Jamie Jamieson, Rob Roberts, John Johnston, etc.

I told this to the student, because the member of the Group of Seven that she had trouble remembering was "Tom Thompson". This is a hard joke to tell, because you'd really have to be there to get the humour of it, or you'd have to be as immature as we are. But my student got it, and we laughed about it for some time. After the test she thanked me, and told me that she had a hard time keeping in her laughter as she was filling in that question.

To finish this off, I'll briefly list a few of my more memorable experiences during this course:

• At the beginning of the semester, I had to sit (squishing myself) between two of the computers on the desk in the computer lab, so be able to sufficiently block one boys attempts at bugging a girl. Then I was tickled by the boy, as he was trying to make me move.
• I told a bot that he could not use his cell phone in class. He then handed it to me, saying "okay, I know you have to take it then." I don't even know if I was allowed to take it or not, but I kept it in my pocket and gave it back to him at the end of class. I didn't even ask for it!
• I had to try to stop an aggressive discussion (not quite argument) between a few of the more easily distract-able boys, that continued for weeks. They were talking about the Creationist Theory versus the Big Bang Theory, and they kept asking as many students as they could which one was right, so that they could have more people on their side. If it hadn't made them completely stop working, I would have let them continue. They knew that if they could get me on one of their sides, that side would win, for some odd reason unknown to me. I knew that even if I answered them they would not stop, so I just told them that I wouldn't tell them my opinions, and that arguing over religions just cases war, and they should SHUSH and do their work!

All in all, this was probably the best and more informative course that I have ever taken. I had great experiences, learned lots about myself and others, made new friends, and just had a lot of fun. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to have a positive impact on other peoples' lives, and have a good time while they're doing it.

Supplementary Task II

"Peer tutoring is the process by which a pupil, with guidance from a teacher, helps one or more students at the same grade level learn a skill or concept." The following URL goes further into detail about just what exactly peer tutoring is. There is also a couple paragraphs, along with some clips, mentioning how creating student experts as tutors for other people to teach them new technology can be used. In the clips they show examples of younger students getting involved with peer tutoring. Peer tutoring is something that can be done at any age as long as there is a older student to be a mentor and a younger student to be taught.

http://newali.apple.com/ali_sites/ali/exhibits/1000328/Peer_Tutoring.html

Supplementary Task 1

For the most part I would believe that I have had a fairly shared development of positive relations with the entire class although having thought about who I spent the most time helping with skills and techniques I must say I spent the majority of my time focusing on the people who struggled or took longer to learn skills and techniques. These people have impacted in that they gave me the oportunity to see what things were like for gym classes from the teachers side of things. As apposed to the student bound view I always had before becoming a peer tutor. I would like to believe that I too have also had an impact on the students, hopefully not just as a teacher of skill and technique but also in any other way I possibly could have.

Primary Task II

Being done with all of the in class part of peer tutoring it's interesting trying to think of the most satisfying experience I had. Many stories come to mind when thinking about this but I would have to say I felt most satisfied during the last day of classes because it was the end of our summative week and through out the whole week we had tournaments awarding points to the winning teams and the team with the most points at the end of the week was to win a prize. Needless to say the boys in the class all put up a good fight for the prize and there was a serious level of sportsmanship and co-operation going on in the environment. An example of a time where humour was inducted in class to help reduce stress could be when one hockey team was extremely stacked we called bogus penalties to short side their team in order to give the other teams a chance to catch up.

Jake's Supplementary Task II

The following website provides helpful information on peer tutoring:
http://istudy.psu.edu/FirstYearModules/PeerTutoring/PeerTutorInfo.htm

This site is very helpful to someone who is looking towards being a peer tutor. It provides helpful tips and strategies about peer tutoring. One example is a list of strategies that are directed in proper body language. The list is as follows:

L: Lean in towards the tutee; approach the tutee
O: Offer hospitality (a handshake, a soft drink, to hang up coat).
O: Open posture, legs not crossed, arms not crossed.
S: Smile, nod.
E: Eye contact.
R: Relax.

This is only one example of the many helpful things on this link.

Jake's Supplementary Task I

There is no doubt that I developed many positive relationships with students during my peer tutoring class. One student in particular was Abdullah Jaber. Being the athlete of the year, he definitely has had a positive impact on me through sports. I learned how to better my athletic abilities by playing with him and watching him throughout the semester. I think that I have had a positive impact on him as well. I always joked around with him and the other students, which I think is important to keep things light and positive. I think that the semester was very positive overall.
Another individual who I developed a positive relationship with throughout the semester was Mr. Schmidt. He has helped me improve myself dramatically through athletics both from this class and personal fitness. I think that I have had a positive impact on him as well. I think that my improvement has made him feel like he has achieved something and that he has done good work. He was always helping me do my best and congradulating me when I did my job, which felt rewarding. He has taught me so much and I think that he was a great teacher to have for this peer tutoring class.

Jake's Primary Task

Being a peer tutor this semester has been great. There have been so many positive experiences. I would say that the most satisfying experience that I had as a peer tutor was helping out the kids who were having trouble in the course, and actually seeing them improve. It is a great feeling knowing that you have helped someone improve in something that they are not particularly strong in.

I can recall a specific time when humour was used to reduce stress, but it was not on purpose. We were in the middle of a tight game of "Schmidty's Borden Ball," and both teams were stressing for a point. One student caught the ball, and right as he went to run with it, he slipped in the mud and fell right on his back. Another student tripped over him right after it had happened, making it all that much funnier.

This is what the class brought for me on my birthday... They are so sweet! And so was this cake!

This is the entire class, and it's a picture that captures each of their personalities perfectly... just because they are all that crazy on a regular basis... it wasn't just for this picture. (and Murray was very proud for giving Cameron bunny ears on the far left)

This is at our crepe party the last week of school. Mme Brun del Re was super nice and brought us all this food! You can see our constant visitor Mr Froome in the background hoping he'll get some food as well.

Vanessa and the most decadent crepe in the world! But it seems to be delicious!

This is an example of a regular class day. With our very small class that day I guess!

Supplementary Task II

http://www.educ.uidaho.edu/bestpractices/peer_train_math.html

While this website is targeted specifically toward peer tutoring math and science, however I believe the concept is still there.
This is a great website because it tells you step by step how to go through things with the students. Toward the bottom of the page, you see "Five steps for peer tutors" and these steps are quite useful to apply to all concepts. They include tips like to guide the students, teach them concepts rather than answers, and encourage them to come to class. These are all very helpful tips and great ideas!

Supplementary Task I

During the months where I have been a peer tutor, I have developed relationships with many interesting and amazing people. I believe the most influential relationships I've had the privilege to maintain is that of the students in the class. At the start of the semester, we were all a little because we didn't really know each other or just weren't comfortable working together. This may be partially because I wasn't sure of my responsibilities as a peer tutor in the first couple of days, and they weren't sure if I could really help them. The bonds between classmates and myself and the students has vastly improved since then!
I help them whenever they need me, and I think they appreciate the help! French is not an easy subject but I really want them to do well and achieve the highest standard possible for themselves. They have really helped me improve as a peer tutor by simply not being afraid to tell me that what I'm saying makes no sense. I hope they continue saying hello to me in the halls and aren't too embarassed of me, because I'm really proud of them!

Jessica Du-Supplementary Task III

GLC2OS, Sheltered careers class, room 208 with Mr. Easey is where it all starts! I peer tutored two sets of students, both classed each very different. The first class had a good sense of humour, and the second class was more calm, settled and was eager to get to work and learn more.

Wah Htoo and Pole Pole listening to the music list the class made throughout the school year. This is how the class starts; 5 minutes of socializing and "chillaxing" as Mr. Easey would say.

Getting ready to start to start the class. Everything done in class is put into these duotangs(their portfolios), and stored in the cupboard. The students get their portfolios at the beginning of every class, and put it back in the cupboard at the end of every class.

Students doing some career research, looking ahead, and searching for possible schools and courses for the future. Mr. Easey with a big THUNBS UP!

Alan and Abdullah, pretending like they are interesting in what the given task is in class, and acting as if they are vert interested in what they are reading.

RCMP guest speakers came in to educate the class on how to look out for counterfit money. Pole Pole getting very frustrated trying to figure out the answer to his questions. Speaking back and forth to Mr. Easey trying to understand what is said...he almost started to get physical. :)

Very attentive and interested in what the RCMP guest speakers talked about. Asking many questions and hearing interesting stories, people, and things they have encountered.

Pierre, a guest speaker that has done and been through many things in his lifetime. From the "ghetto"and stealing cars, to classical music and being a pianist, to professional football and getting a PHD in psychology and now to owning a business.

The two classes in the computer lab altogether working on their summative. DJ Tamla constantly yelling my name for help.

Everyone working hard to finish their summative and get it over with. Pole Pole having some difficulties and getting my full attention for the WHOLE class.

• 
  Our class had the oppurtunity for a chef to come in and take about healthy cooking and ways to reduce energy exposure.

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Before class started Mrs.Newsome talks them about the lesson plan

The students write down the lesson plans on their lesson trackers to start out the day.

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  The students are getting ready for a quiz on chemistry.
  
• Instructing the class as usual. Adding in some little jokes here and there.
  
  
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  Quiet reading time with partners.
  
  
  
  
  

Supplementary task III

Summative time!

Students are hard at work trying to achieve their final projects towards the end of the year.

Not only are they classmates but sisters as well working hard to get the job done!

Work always seems better when your getting the job done and being able to talk to your classmates at the same time.

Not only are you getting work accomplished but also enjoying working with the people around you.

Student singing/rapping when suppose to be working on in class assignment.

Had to get over there and tell him to get his act together.

Student using their 30 minutes on the computer to search for information for their summative

Mariam

Mr.Hum's Computer Class

Here The students are working hard one their ISU , and sharring the classroom with a different class.

Here's Alex looking for some fast facts for his powerpoint, and gathering up pictures.

Working hard on their power point presentations, and gathering up information, its their second last day before the presentation day.

This is the class that i peertutor (Mr.Hum's Computer class). As you can see, they're hard workers, and trying to gather up information for their ISU.

Here is one of the students that i peertutor at Mr.Hum's computer class. She's done her ISU Power Point Presentation, and shes making sure she didn't forget anything else to add or fix.

supplemental III

this is one of my favourite piece of art in the class, it's designed by the students, it was one of their assignment to create a poster that will best represent the hippies ideology of peace and anti-war.
here the students were taking a little break from cutting and gluing papers together for the summative. they were laughing at this funny song in one of their classmate's ipod. and yes if they work really good, they are allowed to listen to their ipod.
the students here are working hard and using their time wisely to complete the summative thats due in two days.
here Ms. Chamber was explaining to the students how there scrap book should look like.
Here the students are helping each other with the history summative.

These picture demonstrate the overall impression of the semester.

this was one of the students doing her summative.

Step 5: Supplemental Task III

These pictures display an overall impression of the semester.










We often study all together around that table since it's such a small class. The way of sitting makes everyone to resolve their problems easily.

They are researching information from books for the project.

These two girls are learning difference between fiction and nonfiction.

Some students wanted to take picture of me helping students. They are one of the hardworkers in class.

The host teacher, Ms. Ritter, is helping them with their work. They are always curious to learn.