Glass Half Full

I blogged the other day about my experiences working with "Mike," a ninth grade student at my current "dyad" placement. At the time I felt pessimistic about his chance to achieve any real success in ninth grade math - or beyond.

Today I was back in that classroom, and "Mike," after being absent a few days, was as well. I used the excuse that he had been out of school to sit down with him during group work time, and coach him through the lesson, essentially more of the same work with slope, equations, and points. He was receptive, and, after some more explicit instruction, was able to experience some success. I received a heart-felt thank you.

I wish helping kids like "Mike" were as simple as spending some focused one-on-one time together. Obviously, it is not. Even with improved understanding, there are so many little things that can go wrong when solving a multi-step math problem. One time, the student switches up Xs and Ys. Another time, he/she makes a computational error. The next time, a step is accidentally omitted. Despite these setbacks, the student has to maintain their belief that they CAN be successful and that another try is worthwhile. They have to endure the frustrated looks of group members who "got it" the first time around. They have to stick it out despite demoralizing grades.

These are the kids I love to work with, though I still haven't figured out how to make it work with a class full of kids who need this extra dose of caring and individualized instruction.