Emily_CIES Group Tutoring_6

Giulio, Arif, and Amanda came to tutoring on Monday. Andre had already left for the beach. We began talking about the upcoming holiday and what everyone was going to do. Next, I gave them options of what we could work on and let them choose. They all agreed that they wanted to work on listening skills by watching TED videos. Arif already had one in mind. She really wanted to watch one about a father and daughter who have made a tradition of taking a picture at the same spot in New York with the same pose every year, and they’ve kept it up for 15 years. Arif said that she loves the dynamic of a father daughter relationship. After the video, we discussed it. I felt a bit frustrated because Guilio was pretty negative about the video and seemed to only want to disagree with everyone. I could tell that Arif and Amanda were frustrated too. It was definitely not an angry atmosphere though; it was a light-hearted frustration. Guilio said things like the father was being “possessive” over his daughter and “obsessive” by doing this routine every year and that there wasn’t really a point in taking these photos every year. I tried to explain that this is their tradition, and the daughter willingly goes along with it because it’s their thing. I asked them if they remembered what reasons the dad gave for doing this. Arif remembered and refreshed Guilio’s memory: the photos are a way for them to look back on every year and see not only how they physically changed from year to year, but also how other things about themselves and the world have changed. For example, the picture from 2001 reminds him of having to explain to his daughter what happened in 9/11. Guilio listened but still seemed to disagree. Amanda was a bit more shy and just sat back and giggled. Next, we somehow began talking about reduced forms. One of them had a question about “ain’t.” I wrote many example sentences on the board and answered all of their questions. I made sure to emphasize that it’s improper to use these words in writing. When time was up, we talked a little more about the holiday. Amanda did not have specific plans and was planning to ask one of her teachers to take her to Atlanta with her, but it didn’t seem promising. She mentioned wanting to experience a real, American Thanksgiving dinner, so I invited her to my house. My family was already planning to host several other international students. Amanda ended up accepting my invitation, and we had 6 international students spend Thanksgiving with us, and it was so much fun. One of my conversation partners came too, so I guess I’ll write more about it in a CP blog post.