01/20/09

Today as well as yesterday I had a lot of students show up after school. Mostly juniors and freshmen showed up because both had a test on Wednesday. I always have a few students who show up but don't ask too many questions. It seems that they just want a place to show up at where it will be quiet and they can work on their homework. Lately I have had a couple students who are fairly consistent. One of them is Jean, a sophomore, who I often have to remind to keep working. He is doing well, he earned a B last quarter and currently has an A, but he likes to chat and joke around with the other students there. I like to keep a relaxed environment after school so the students feel welcome to show up and can have fun studying after school. On the other hand I want them to keep in mind that the main reason they are here is to work on their math and to improve their grades. I also don't want the students who are doing better to chat and disrupt the students who need a little extra focus to comprehend the new material.

The good news is that the the class average, for the freshmen, from the last test to this test went up by 10% so I am happy to see that they are making improvements.

Another student who shows up regularly is Martine, a freshman. At the beginning of school she seemed very quiet. I started noticing her showing up on a regular basis and her personality has turned around quite a bit. She'll come up to my desk and ask me to check her work. Whenever I point something out, she'll say, "Oh, Mr. Dooouug" and then laughs because it's usually a simple mistake. She is having some trouble with positive and negative signs (mostly the negatives). I have to remind her to slow down. It seems that she understands, but just rushes. It is always good to see a student work hard and be this persistent because eventually it will become easier and easier.