Tutoring Reflection 5, 3-17
Greetings
Today, in Mrs. Smith’s class, I was allowed to roam free among the students, as it was material they had already covered, and no student was seriously behind. Although the students had a few questions, one student, Freddie*, was an interesting episode.
Freddie did absolutely no work during the time that Mrs. Smith had allowed for the class to do so, despite prompts from myself and others. He spent the time socializing with friends and avoiding the teacher’s attention. In the last 5 minutes before the class ends, he hurriedly opened his book and called me over to explain how to do the problems.
At first he claimed not to understand how to do it, but after some prompting, Freddie remembered and completed his first problem with considerable ease. I would like to focus on possible reasons why he would need my assistance even though it is evident that he did not.
The first answer is that actually needed my assistance in figuring out the question, and his reason for asking me questions is legitimate. Assuming this, it would not explain why he figured out the answer so quickly. It does, however, answer why he asked me the question to begin with.
The second answer is that he didn’t need the assistance, but could have figured it out entirely on his own. This explains how he figured out what the answers were so quickly. But it does not answer why he asked me. One reason why he asked me was due to the prompting that I gave him that caused his memory of the lessons.
The third reason, I believe answers both of the questions, and is actually a synthesis of the two. He wanted assistance finishing one of the problems because then he would know how to answer the others. He needed my assistance because he couldn’t remember how to do the questions in their entirety. This would insinuate that he was lazy however, as he did not accomplish any of the work during the assigned times. From my personal analysis, I would garner that he isn’t lazy at all. In truth, I find Freddie to be incredibly smart but rather not motivated to do the work while surrounded by other students who might judge him by his otherwise studious nature.
Regardless, I find this to be an incredibly puzzling issue. If school is a place to learn, why would some students waste their time socializing rather than learning as much as they have the ability to. I am not sure at this time, but welcome any possible answer to this puzzling question.
*Pseudonym used
