Interview

In order to please my constituency, I have decided to post again. :) This time I conducted an interview with myself concerning my current job, tutoring, using the 6 questions for writing an article: who, what, when, where, why, and how...I'm sorry it is so long!


Who do you tutor?
3 kids; I mostly tutor the 10th grader, "Kevin," though I also tutor his 6th grade cousin, "Hannah," and rarely "Seth," his 9th grade cousin. Kevin's cousins are from Korea and have only been in the country for about 10 months.

Who told you about the job?
Fellow credential student and friend, Small Michelle :)

What do you tutor?
To varying degrees, AP European History, English, Social Studies, Earth Science

What subject is your favorite to tutor?
Hmmmmmm, when he behaves, I like to tutor Kevin in AP Euro, though it is a close tie with Hannah in any subject.

What is your favorite way to explain hard concepts?
I really like to explain ideas verbally, but if that doesn't connect with the students, I draw pictures and diagrams and also use whatever happens to be in the general vicinity (more on this later).

What is the most difficult thing about your job?
Kevin is very resistent to working, so it is an almost constant struggle to get him to concentrate and perform his tasks. It is also very hard because he will not be reasoned with; I have to find some new ways to get him to behave.

What is the easiest thing about your job?
It pays well, his parents are pretty understanding of the situation, it is only a few days a week, and it gives me experience!

What are your goals in tutoring?
For Hannah, it is mainly to get her homework done and to help her understand English. I also am helping her build her English writing skills by constantly revisiting certain areas that need improvement.
For Kevin, my short-term goal is to get his homework done. Since this is time-consuming (he is very resistent to working most of the time), I have a hard time working on my long-term goal, which to make him an independent learner and self teacher.

When do you tutor?
2-3 days a week, for 1-2 hours at a time

Where do you tutor?
In the kids' home, in an affluent part of town with a high Korean population

Why do you tutor?
I need the money. :)

Why else do you tutor?
I like to work with kids. This gives me insight into the age groups that I will be working with as a teacher. It also gives me experience with teaching an English Language Learner, which can be very difficult. I like the challenge of finding many different ways to communicate concepts to Hannah.

How do you help Hannah understand the material?
I use anything we have at the table to get the point across to her. I have used a coaster and a cup to illustrate absorption during earthquakes, pencils to represent people and lasers, empty rice crispy packages to show different types of earthquakes, pistacio shells to illustrate the concepts of majority and national defense, etc. It is really fun! She laughs at her crazy tutor, so it is great. The dual use of verbal+visual is helpful as well. Of course, I also use the illustrations in the book and personal drawings to help her understand.

Team Sweetwater

Hey, this is an advertisement for Team Sweetwater! This is for a friend of mine, Garret's, and Kaydee's, Nick Coibion, a junior at California Baptist in Riverside, California. (I'm pretty sure I know Tim Wilkins, too, from my involvement with CEF.) Nick and two other guys from Cal Baptist are going to be hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Oregon in an effort to raise $100,000.00 for clean wells in India! Here is the description of the project from the facebook group called "TEAM SWEETWATER":

Team Sweetwater is about serving our persecuted brothers and sisters while simultaneously reaching the unreached.
Nick Coibion, Tim Wilkins, and Caleb Childers, three students from California Baptist University have committed four months of their lives to walk 1,724 miles from Mexico to Oregon in one grand effort to raise $100,000 for fresh water in India.

Here is their blog:

http://teamsweetwater.wordpress.com/

Aaaaand!! You can help spread the word about their efforts by buying a Team Sweetwater t-shirt for only $10.00!! Add them as a group on facebook or you could tell me if you want a t-shirt, get me the money, and I'll pass it on to them!
I hope this helps them out! Support these guys' efforts to impact the world in a practical way!

And He said to me,
“Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered,
“O Lord GOD,
You know.”

-Ezekiel 37:3, NKJV (biblegateway.com)

Home

I was very happy to go home this past weekend! I turned in my TPA on Friday at about 3:00pm and Amos and I were on the road by 3:20pm! Very nice. We got home around 10:00pm, and Mom and Dad were waiting with homemade brownies! Dad wanted to get Brenda out of bed to say hi, but I was sure that there would be an uproar with four tired kids under the age of 8 running around, so we decided to let her and the other kids sleep.
On Saturday Amos and I went to Bowman! It was fun, except for the fact that there was not enough oxygen (high elevation), it was cold and windy, and I left my camera in the car. :( So we made up for it by walking around Nevada City and talking to a local (who was also a druggie). There is never a dull moment, I guess. ;)

This is the Baptist church in Nevada City...awww, look at that sweet guy!

Brenda, me, Jayden; Lexie, Gio
Amos took a nap for a couple hours to get rid of a headache, so I hung out with my younger brothers and sisters! Garret took me for a ride in his new Subaru, which was fun (i.e., very fast). I then watched the youngest four ride their bikes on the sports court. Aren't they so cute! We are in the process of adopting Jayden, Lexie, and Gio. I had a good time chasing them around and taking pictures of them. I am so glad my parents are going to adopt them, even if it means that home is a little crazier. Okay, a LOT crazier!

And of course, NorCal has wildlife. Jayden and Brenda discovered a diamondback rattlesnake in the backyard. Mom and Dad pushed it out of a plastic pipe and killed it. I would have been a little more interested in killing it myself, but I have not had any experience yet with killing snakes, plus we really couldn't tell where it was at first. Oh well, there is always next time!

The rattlesnake, minus his head. My friend Kenny estimated that he was about 5 years old, judging from the rattles.

Amos, me, Audra, Ross, Ashley, Scott

After brushing the cockleburs off our jeans, Amos and I headed to Roseville to have lunch with my older brothers and their wives. Unfortunately Garret and his girlfriend Kaydee weren't able to join us; next time, I guess. I don't even remember everything we talked about, but we had a good time just hanging out.

Just a few of the things we did:

-Bowman

-Nevada City

-watched part of "The Cat from Outer Space" (a winner, I know ;) )

-watched Psych (so funny!)

-tried to look at the stars (the moon was little too bright)

-saw three shooting stars

-took pictures

-went by my old house

-walked on the Green Bridge (tallest bridge in California)

-bought a Nalgene and a screwgate carabiner (yes!)

-went to my home church and met my pastor (Crossroads is big)

-hung out with my family

-even more fun stuff!!

This is a shout-out...

to Pastor Todd Johnson of Crossroads Church in NorCal!
Hey Pastor Todd, it was good to meet you officially on Sunday! I really appreciated the message. Amos and I listened to part 1 on the way back to SoCal today. Thanks for answering God's call in your life to be head pastor at Crossroads.
Have a great time in Israel! I am happy for you (not envious, as I was clearly reproved when I listened to Love Revisted, part 1, today ;) ).

My family and I have been going to Crossroads for 6 1/2 years, starting back when it was called Calvary Chapel of Grass Valley. Crossroads is one of the reasons why I love to go home. I don't know many people at my church, partially because we moved churches in the middle of high school and partially because I have been in Southern California for the last four-ish years. However, what I love about Crossroads is the fact that Pastor Todd preaches the Word. He doesn't try to analyze the Bible to find out what exactly our culture needs to hear because he realizes that the culture needs it ALL. That the culture needs a clear presentation of the Bible with neither legalism nor license. That is what will truly change the hearts of people around us.
Thus Pastor Todd really has been given the gift and has cultivated the passion to preach with clarity and conviction. This is not at all to puff him up, but to express my appreciation for his private and public dedication to the Truth. I am excited to go back at Thanksgiving!

I'm giving myself...

10 minutes to complete this blog post. Then I must work on my Teacher Performance Assessment...oh, what a joy. This project is not great in length, but it is important and slightly time-consuming. I need to do well on it. If my score is not high enough, I will have to repeat the project until I get a high enough score. The scores are 1-4. 1 is unacceptable and requires a redo. 2 is okay, though you had better get a 4 on another section of the TPA if you don't want to have to redo this one. 3 is pretty good, and 4 is the best. This is section 1 of 4. I will complete section 2 in December and sections 3 and 4 next semester. Don't worry if this paragraph is confusing; I just have a big project that is mandated by the State of California and is due Friday, October 10th at 4:00pm in the Teacher Education Department. Fun fun. Any way, enough about that.
I am very excited about Friday! For one, my project will be done, and for two, I am going home and bringing a certain someone with me! I am also excited to see my little brothers and sisters again; I haven't seen them since August, and 3 of them I have only seen once! I don't forsee myself getting much rest (partially because we are going to Bowman!!) but it will still be good...
I have 2 minutes...uhhhhh, I really like youtube. It's like a radio station that you can get to play only your favorite songs, with no commercials! I'm a fan...
So that took 11 minutes...getting off now...

College graduate

Yes, all of us DID graduate in May. Just don't judge our education level based on these pictures. ;)
Yea for crazy friends, little sleep on Thursday, and Friday nights!!!!

Danielle and Luke enjoying rootbeer floats

"Sherrie in a bottle...HA! Sherry in a bottle!" (FYI, it was really rootbeer)

And my personal favorite.... :D

Yeaaaaaaah...don't even know. ;)