Justin Tomann, a member at Hermantown, shared a story that all of us youth workers can probably agree are some of the best moments: those “aha” moments, or as Justin describes it when something “clicks.” A lot of youths’ confidence is determined by their success in school, and Justin’s tutoring brought this kid from saying “I can’t” to “I can.” Thanks for the positive impact you are making with you math students, Justin! You are really changing their educational experiences for the better!
Throughout my time as a math tutor at an Elementary School, my favorite moments continue to be when I’m working with students on a concept, and things finally click for the student, and it makes sense to them, and they no longer need my direction or help. This has happened a couple of times so far.
A specific instance of this is that I was working with a 2nd-grade student with subtraction problems that required borrowing in the process to get the answer. When I initially showed the student the problem, they said, “There is no way I can do that!” I assured them that yes, they could do it, and I would help show them how. I went through a few problems with them that got progressively harder, but they also progressively kept getting better and better. Half-way through the session, they were already taking steps I was going to direct them to before I could say anything, such as writing the ‘lanes’ in the math problem to easier differentiate the ones, tens, and hundreds section.
The session ended with me leaving them a problem without any of my help, and just using and practicing the methods I showed them. They ended up doing awesome, and I didn’t ask, but I could see it in their eyes that they were so proud of their accomplishment. This situation is so rewarding to me, I love it when it happens. Having concepts ‘click’ when kids thought they were originally impossible will never get tiring to me.
–Justin Tomann, True North Americorps Member at Hermantown