I had Katherine's full attention for almost 45 minutes before she had to rush off. I found using the grammar codes we were given in class extremely helpful. I was concerned she was looking for a quick fix to her homework assignments, so with the use of these codes she is forced to learn as opposed to just giving her the answer. We went through only 1/4 of her paper in our time together. Every sentence had numerous corrections with structure, punctuation, pronouns, verb tenses, wrong words, you name the mistake and it was there. My hardest challenge was she kept asking "why"? I would explain "why" as best as I could, and she said she understood, but I am not sure if she really grasped it. It's easy to give someone the correct answer and point out what they are doing wrong, but the challenging part is explaining Why it is correct, especially when there are so many exceptions in the English language with every rule.
I noticed something interesting as we were working together. All of her notes where written in Mandarin. Here's a woman, who although has lived in the US for over twenty years, has still not fully adopted the English language. I'm sure she still dreams and thinks in Mandarin and I know it's all she speaks with family and friends. I find this very interesting.
Overall, I really enjoyed our time together. When she had to leave early I was so bummed, I wanted to sit with her longer. I had brought some fun exercises on pronouns and articles I wanted to work on with her. (Uhm, so weird for me to think that's fun, but I am really enjoying re-learning all of this grammar. I haven't gone over this since highschool.) I also gave her some hand outs on pronouns and articles because that was something she consistently made errors with. She is going to re-write her paper and email me the revised. I am looking forward to seeing the progression.
Great Linda! Remember that you can tell students that even if you can't answer their grammar questions with a clear explanation at that moment, you will write it down and prepare a clear and simple explanation to them next time you meet. Also, focusing on use is the most important use of class time.
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