Lara Bazzi

HON 4930
December 8, 2015
Final Paper: Reflecting on Tutoring
The Detroit Fellows Tutoring Project has provided me with an experience of a lifetime in
my four months of tutoring. For twelve weeks, I have been tutoring at Roberto Clemente
Elementary School every Monday and Tuesday. I spend approximately five hours a week
working with five students individually in Ms. Naglers class. In my time there, I have been
affected just as much as the students I have been tutoring, if not more. It is a wonder to see the
mind of a five year old and how it comes to distinguish different letters and sounds. Using
different learning strategies for each student was essential seeing as they do not all learn in the
same way. Tutoring these children helped me to develop as both a student as well as a person.
In a classroom with thirty students, teachers may not be able to give each individual
student the attention that they need. It is difficult to adjust to the needs and strategies of one
student when teaching them as a whole. I was glad to step in as a tutor and help five of the
students in this classroom and to work with them individually. By working with the student oneon-one, I was able to see just how much students appreciate this time and how it helps them
advance with their learning. When I first met my students, they were all shy and preserved seeing
as they had not seen me before. However, as time passed, I have seen how their personality
evolved and the unique characteristics they each showed. My five students, Justin, Fabian,
Melissa, Adrian, and Alex, have all been impacted by my tutoring.
Justin, whom I recently wrote the student profile on, was probably one of the shyest kids
I had ever met. It was difficult to understand what he was saying at the beginning that is, if he
said anything. Therefore, it took a lot of time and effort for me to have him open up and discover

Lara Bazzi
HON 4930
December 8, 2015
his preferred method of learning. Justin was stuck on Unit 1 of Project Read until about midOctober. Making a change in Justins progress was hard because of his shy behavior. After he
was more comfortable with us working together, he broke into the units after about a week of
learning them. It made me realize that Justins progress was hindered by his personality. It is not
the fact that he did not know his material, but it was more of being reserved and shy to show off
his skills. However, I noticed that Justin was a very bright child and immediately grasped the
concepts after Unit 1. As a result, I focused more on affection with Justin just so that he would
feel comfortable with me and let his skills shine. I am proud to say that Justin now knows all the
letters of the alphabets and what sounds are associated with each individual letter. He raced
through the units after Unit 1 and as of today, is all done with Unit 5. It is truly a great feeling
knowing that I impacted his learning abilities and was able to help him advance this early in his
life. Fabian, one of my five students, is a very intelligent young boy with an outgoing, playful
personality. He was not as shy as Justin was and I believe this is what helped him to grasp the
concepts so quickly. The only problem Fabian had was that he was in some sort of competition
with himself and would try to show me that he knew the words on his own. For example, when I
would write down a word, he would shout it out immediately and would sometimes get it wrong
because he would not take his time in looking at it thoroughly. This is where I believe I had the
most impact on Fabian because I taught him how to slow down and take his time when reading
the words. By the end of our time together, Fabian would look at the first letter of every word up
until the last letter. After he learned to do this, he advanced through the units much quicker than
when he would simply hurry to give me an answer. Fabian was one of my most advanced
students and reached Unit 8. As for Melissa, it was less of a breeze than it was with Justin and

Lara Bazzi
HON 4930
December 8, 2015
Fabian. Melissa was sometimes too hyper and would not be focused during our tutoring session.
She always insisted that she did not know her letters and really set out a hopeless outlook for
herself. At first, I thought she would never advance past Unit 1 simply because she was too
stubborn. It took me a few weeks to realize that Melissa was not in fact stubborn, but just needed
that extra push. I am so moved that I was able to change this about Melissa. The biggest impact I
had on this little girl was giving her the motivation and words of encouragement. It was critical
for me to not show her my frustration or that I gave up on her learning progress. Despite the
contrary, little kids really do pay attention to the actions of elders and are able to see when they
do not care anymore. Once I realized this, I would show Melissa that it was okay if she did not
give me the right answer or could not associate the sounds with their letters. After being very
patient, I began to see progress with Melissa. I noticed it in her efforts at our sessions as she
would concentrate really hard rather than stare blankly at me and tell me, I dont know.
Although it took until the end of November to move on from Unit 1, I was not bothered at all by
Melissas slow progress. The fact that I showed her I believed in her made all the difference in
the world. Now, she may go into things feeling more confident rather than giving up and not
having that self-motivation at first. Another student of mine, Adrian, works at a much slower
pace than all my students combined. He is the most behind amongst all three but has made some
minor improvements. Adrians biggest struggle is remembering the letters and the sounds
associated with them. After trying several different methods, the ideology is just not sticking in
his head. For this reason, he is still on Unit 1 and has not advanced to forming words. Despite his
little progress, Adrian has come a long way from when I first sat with him months ago. Adrian,
like Justin, was very reserved and shy. Now, he is more comfortable with me and has opened up

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HON 4930
December 8, 2015
to me about a lot of other things. For example, he is always mentioning his older brothers and
what life is like at home with them. Ive also discovered that Adrian has a passion for drawing
throughout my time with him. Sometimes, he draws pictures on the whiteboard rather than
practicing his letters. I feel like this impacted him in a way and allowed him to form his character
at this young age. Who knows, maybe he could become a future illustrator or an engineer! At the
beginning of my tutoring time at Roberto Clemente, I had an intelligent, phenomenal student
named Ana Lydia. She would breeze through the units and showed the fastest progress amongst
all of my other students. Unfortunately, Ana Lydia moved away early November and I did not get
the chance to continue tutoring her. She was always happy and enthusiastic about learning, it
never failed to put a smile on my face. I knew that with or without tutoring, Ana Lydia would
have been fine but tutoring helped to further sharpen her skills. Working one-on-one seemed to
enlighten her and she got answers for questions she would not normally ask in class. After Ana
Lydia left, I began tutoring Alex a little too late in the semester. Due to this, I have not fully
gotten to know Alex but he has made great progress in the little time Ive worked with him. Alex
was and is still very quiet and keeps to himself. At the beginning, he was hesitant about coming
out of the classroom and joining me for our tutoring session. It took him about a week before he
warmed up to me and began coming out willingly. This is where I believe Ive made the biggest
impact. Now, Alex is not so in his shell and has learned to voice his opinions with me. Although
we have not gotten past Unit 1, I know that Alex is a bright student but just needs to open up
more. In more ways than one, he reminds me of Justin.
With all these different qualities in five different students, it is no secret that they all
needed different strategies to comprehend the material. Some methods worked well with students

Lara Bazzi
HON 4930
December 8, 2015
whereas other students needed a different approach. For example, Justin and Adrian are both
very quiet and reserved. It was critical that I handled them with care so that they can slowly
become comfortable around me. Although this took patience, it was worth it in the end because
their learning abilities truly showed. With Justin, however, repeating the material over and over
seemed to work for him. He would finally get it after a couple tries. Adrian, on the other hand,
could not stand to be given repeated material and I would have to change it up. For example,
instead of just drawing the letter s, I would have to draw a picture such as a snake to help him
remember the letter. For the letter, a, I would draw an apple and relate it to the appearance of
the letter. These kind of methods seemed to work for Adrian since he is more of a visual learner.
If I had used this same approach with Justin, it would not have worked since he learns at a faster
pace. When it came to Melissa, it took a lot of patience and words of encouragement to help her
progress in her learning. I could not show her any signs of frustration or else she would give up
and feel angry with herself. When she was not getting the material, I tried a new approach. For
every letter we learned, I made sure to copy it down on an index card and sent it home with
Melissa. On the back of the card, I explained to the parent that she needed to know both the
name of the letter and the sound it makes. This is where Melissa differentiated from the other
students. Her parents at home did a great job in helping her out and it went towards the progress
she made at tutoring. In comparison, I tried this same method with Adrian. However, he
informed me that no one at home could help him and they did not know how to go about helping
him. This is another strategy that could help students tremendously but could also set them apart
from their peers. Receiving help at home could have really aided Adrian but no one was able to
assist him so he was only learning the material at home. Whereas with Melissa, she immediately

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HON 4930
December 8, 2015
began advancing when she was getting help at home. Fabian did not go about any certain
strategy, it was mainly about teaching him to slow down rather than shout out words before
thinking. I believe what helped him the most was when I would split the word into each
individual letter and have him take a good look at the word. Once he did this, he would sound
out the word in his head and then speak it out loud. The way his mind worked was very
impressive when all the material was laid out for him. It is no surprise that each student learned a
different way. It is critical that we pay attention to the minds of each student so that they are
given the proper help they need.
Tutoring with the Detroit Fellows Tutoring Project at Roberto Clemente had an enormous
impact on me both as a student and as a person. As a student, I realized how important it is for
everyone to pay close attention to the way in which they learn. As a result, I have paid more
attention to my studying habits and looking at what works for me and what doesnt. For example,
in my chemistry class this semester, I have noticed that studying the same way I have been all
semester was not helping me. This is why I am changing my studying habits for my upcoming
final to better suit my brains way of thinking. Looking at all these little kids and their unique
thought process really helped bring attention to my own thought process. Also, Ive realized just
how much of a difference tutoring can make. It has me really looking into tutoring opportunities
for my classes and where I can get the help I need. By working one-on-one with someone else, it
could really help me be more successful in my classes. The tutoring experience had a big effect
on me as a person. It saddens me that so many kids are not getting the proper education or
attention whether it be at home or at school. Education is a privilege that was so often take for
granted when other children cannot even attend school in other countries due to war or poverty.

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HON 4930
December 8, 2015
Also, some kids do not have the proper resources at home or have problems at home that could
really hinder their learning progress. It made me more aware of the problems present in the
world and has given me a new outlook on the importance of education at a young age. Now, I
pay more attention to my nieces and nephews progress at school and what they are learning
about. In my free time, I try to help them out with their homework or pinpoint any areas they are
struggling with. Seeing the impacts of tutoring has helped me to become a better aunt to my
younger nieces and nephews. Also, I have grown to love teaching young children and will
continue to volunteer at other schools so that I may make a difference in other students lives. It
truly is a great experience that I believe everyone should go try at least once as a college student.