As a second year AmeriCorps member at Forest Grove High School, there are many students who I’ve gotten to know pretty well. One of those students is Tony.
Last year, Tony was a freshman, and he was in my pull-out tutorial group in his Everyday Algebra class. We worked together quite a bit over the course of the school year, but he was one of my most challenging students. He was very adamant about his disdain for math. Any time I worked with him one-on-one (which was pretty rare), I could see some positive results: he would complete his assignments, ask questions, and display a baseline understanding of the material. However, when we would work in a group, or within the larger classroom setting, he would become more of a performer for his classmates, and brush his academic responsibilities to the side. He wanted to be cool and respected and make people laugh, which I could relate to; I was a 14-year-old boy at one point as well. So I spoke to him many times throughout the year about motivation and taking responsibility for his own academics. I knew he had the potential to pass his math classes, with a little hard work and dedication, but his unengaged and distracting behavior ultimately led to a failing grade in the class last year, and he was forced to repeat Everyday Algebra this year.
Coincidentally, I was assigned to tutor in his class again this fall. As a sophomore who had already taken the course, Tony was not included by the teacher in my original pull-out group, but I would try to check in on him before or after class to make sure he was doing alright and keeping up with the curriculum. Even within the first couple weeks of school, I could tell that Tony’s behavior and attitude had matured tremendously since last year.
About 6 weeks into the school year, when the first cycle of exams had begun for students, I was doing some paperwork during my prep period when I heard a knock at my door. I could barely believe it when I saw Tony walk in. I had encouraged him to seek my help countless times last year, and almost never saw him outside of our group tutorials during class.
Tony told me that his first math test was the next day, and that he was a little nervous for it. He said he had been working on a review sheet and studied the night before, but still had a few questions before he felt confident about the test. The surprises kept coming when he told me he had opted to skip his weight-training class that period so he could work with me on his math review. He brought out the review sheet and showed me all the work he had been doing, and how he was fully intent on passing math this year. I was incredibly proud of him. Last year, I would’ve never imagined Tony coming to me for help on his own, without any prompting from the teacher. We wound up going over the entire review together, and working for over an hour. Even when the lunch bell rang, he told me he would rather keep working so he could pass his test than go to lunch. So I gave him a granola bar and an orange and we worked through lunch as well, until he felt comfortable and confident in the material.
I checked back in with Tony’s teacher later in the week and he told me Tony had passed the test, and had a strong passing grade in the class. Tony has continued coming to my office for math help whenever he feels lost or behind, but has taken monumental steps in his own responsibilities and work ethic at school. I’m proud to have been able to witness and facilitate the growth that Tony has shown over the last year, and I hope he continues to grow and improve even more over the next few years.
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