TP #4 Dana

       For most of our tutoring sessions, Takuya and I have been focusing on speaking. This particular meeting was actually the first time I’ve introduced reading into our learning repertoire. It was also the filmed tutoring session.

        I thought he did very well, considering the level of reading that I chose for him. Since his level of speaking and listening is actually quite good, it’s difficult for me to pin point reading material that is not too hard or overly simple. After watching the session again, I think the material was too advanced for him. However, after asking questions and working through the context clues he was able to understand the main gist of the reading passage. This is what I was hoping for, an understanding of the main idea as opposed to pulling apart the reading in order to figure out every word’s meaning.

      There were a few instances where I had trouble finding a way to hint towards the meaning of a word or phrase without just straight up telling him. In those cases I think I need to give myself some time to work up an accurate answer instead of telling him immediately.

       I was however, wondering if I’m asking too many questions while going over the reading. For example, asking questions such as “Why? How did that happen? Who is this character?” and so on. I feel as though the questioning helps him decipher the reading and reminds him to think of these items as he reads.

        Yet, perhaps I should give him the questions before he reads? Or maybe a list of questions should be given to him to answer as he reads? What if I incorporated a mixture of both? It’s something I need to analyze.