EDU 345 SFA Tutoring Final Exam

Fall 2017
Kalyn McLaughlin
 Introduction of Tutee

Jack is a very enthusiastic student who is very smart. This shows by the way he
is able to confidently walk through these SFA categories and succeed with near perfect
scores. He also takes great pride in helping his peer when she is struggling. He types
confidently with the keyboard making sure to sound words out carefully. He also reads
confidently aloud correcting himself majority of the time he makes mistakes. He is fast
and diligent while working, ensuring that we are done on time.

​Pre-assessment and Formative Results

Pre-assessment and Formative Report #1

I would like to improve Jim’s basic letter blends and sounding out skills. These are basic
and necessary skills for students to be able to read and comprehend text. He should be more
confident to handle complex words that are unfamiliar to him. Behaviorally, I would like to bring
something for him to fidget with, to keep his hands occupied. I hope that this also improves his
focus and performance while working. His behavior has become the largest distraction to his
work. If his behavior is resolved, his work will improve dramatically. I have noticed that when he
takes his time and focuses on the work he is doing, he performs well.
I am concerned that he is still not grasping basic letter blends, and struggles to sound
unfamiliar words out even after the practice and repetition I gave him. I believe his behavior
plays a great role by negatively affecting his academic performance. Hopefully, if I can help him
to focus by giving him a fidget, his reading will increase.

Re-assessment and Formative Report #2

I would like to continue to work with Jim on reading fluently and with confidence. I have
noticed through tutoring that he often second guesses himself and stops on basic sight words
he knows. He also struggles to find a common rhythm with which to read. I believe that practice
will make him a more confident reader. This will greatly impact his reading comprehension
because I feel that so spends so much time sounding things out that he forgets what he has just
read. I hope to make the reading process a more fluid and natural occurrence for him.
I am concerned that he is spending too much time sounding things out when he should
have confidence in basic sight words. I do believe being placed in a crowded hall where his
focus is often diverted plays a significant role in his reading ability. I spend most of our tutoring
time regaining his attention and focus.

​Summative Assessment Results

I had begun this tutoring in the hopes of increasing Jim’s word identification and fluency
when reading. After a semester of tutoring, I believe he has improved in both areas. To increase
his word identification, there are activities such as Word Blender and Word Quest that help the
students to improve their word fluency. In these activities, students have to recall, spell, and
define vocabulary words from the story they have read. It helped Jack a lot to return to the
information again after seeing it once in the story. I noticed how his accuracy improved the more
we recalled the information. In the future, Jack should continue to read daily and record words
that are unfamiliar to him. He should then take the time to find them in the dictionary and record
their meaning. He could also draw pictures or make associations to his own life to help improve
remembering vocabulary words later down the line.
Secondly, I wanted to improve his reading fluency. To do this, Story Quest is an activity
where students are given a story to read, and they are timed. This allows the teacher to record
their words correct per minute (WCPM) or rate of reading. While Jack performed over the
reading goal consistently throughout tutoring, I felt that his reading was inconsistent and hard to
follow. I believe frequently using this activity as well as recreational reading at home will help
him to become an even stronger reader.

​Final Recommendation for Tutee

I believe Jack can reach grade level reading with persistence and practice. He is a
determined and hardworking student who will benefit from rehearsal. With the proper activities,
Jack can gain the necessary skills to build his reading fluency. SImply reading frequently can
help him foster an appreciation for reading. I would encourage his parents to get involved by
setting a reading routine within the house. They should have a specified time each day where
they have quiet time to read. He should also have a dictionary close by so he can research
words that are unfamiliar.

Two Significant Ideas That You Learned In This Experience

The most valuable lesson I learned while tutoring during this semester was that there is
always room for improvement. Everyone has some area in which they need improvement. There
are countless resources available to students who want to improve their reading ability. It is
even greater if the whole family is involved. Students who have parents who are greatly involved
at home helps students to generalize what they have learned in school to the outside world.
Secondly, I learned the value of working in pairs. Tutoring my two tutees has been a
wonderful experience for me. While one is a stronger reader than the other, they both
encourage each other to succeed. They are both competitive and worked really well together. It
was also nice to move back and forth from student to student to give each student a break. It
also helped them remain focused as they shifted. They were constantly eager and ready for
when it was their turn.