literacy classes five and six

[snugglekitty]

So, on Thursday and Friday I had my last two literacy classes.

I found it very draining, so I didn't write about them then. And then yesterday I was busy. So now, I write.

The last two classes were intense, possibly because we got our matches at the fourth class, so it all suddenly seemed a lot more real.



On Thursday we talked about learning styles and cultural differences, and someone who has been tutoring for a while came in and talked about her experiences. All of that was good. Information on learning styles is pretty fascinating. (What's your learning style? Find out here.) I'm a visual learner, and most of the other members of the class were as well. It made me curious - are most people visual learners? Or are there lots of auditory and tactile learners, but with most people who feel very confident about their reading and writing skills (as I imagine you would have to, to consider doing literacy tutoring) being visual learners? Or was it just a coincidence? The talk about cultural differences was a little nerve-wracking, because the text gave some great examples of ways that intercultural dialogues can get fucked up. For example, if your student comes from a culture where you are never supposed to disagree with your teacher, and there's a cultural understanding that if they don't learn something, it's their fault and not the teacher's, how do you find out if your student is having problems? I would be a little flummoxed, I think. I'm planning to get a book out of the library on my learner's country, and hopefully that will give me an idea of their customs and a few things to watch out for.

On Friday we were supposed to bring sample lesson plans. I got a little freaked out about that, mostly because I didn't know we weren't going to present them to the class. But the teacher had been very firm that we shouldn't spend more than an hour on our lesson plan, so I stuck to that. Which was good because I didn't really have the energy to put much work into it this week.

I did a lesson plan that was practical, about social interactions in the workplace, based on what I know about my learner's job. I don't think this would be something for a first lesson, but I wanted to do something that would give me hope for what the future might look like, even if our first lessons are on the level of, "Hi, how are you?"

We shared our lesson plans in small groups, which was good. My group members were supportive.

Then we talked a lot about what we might cover in the first meeting. That one will be somewhat shorter than usual, I think. I am going to give my learner a handout of what I'm planning to tell her, in the hopes that if she doesn't understand me very well, she can show it to her husband later and he can translate.

Then we gave feedback to the teacher - I gave very positive feedback because I thought the class was wonderful. Then we got certificates showing that we had completed the class.

I need to start framing my certificates. They're starting to pile up. I have two for reiki, and one for the class. I'm not sure if I'll get one after my doula training, or if it will wait until I'm fully licensed.

The doula training is next weekend. Even more intensive learning stuff! Hopefully that will go well too.

Comments

Learning styles...

[avivasedai.livejournal.com]

Many people, at least in American culture, are visual learners. I think it has a lot to do with how we're raised. You'll see a lot more tactile learners in engineering programs or other things that are materially interactive - culinary degrees, hard sciences (chem?) - this is my conjecture. There's a visual component, of course, but there's more there to actually do and watch interact. I'd bet in your doula training, you'll find people who might be more attuned to aural or tactile styles.