成人快播

Originally published on .

This past semester, I had the privilege of tutoring with 成人快播, a nationally recognized educational nonprofit that empowers students to reach their full potential. Living in San Francisco, I鈥檝e often felt pressure to always be doing something big and amazing to change the world. To make a difference though, you don鈥檛 have to change the world鈥攜ou can start with the community you live in. I had a wonderful experience with 成人快播, and here are some of the lessons I learned while tutoring a kindergartener named Allan.

1. Make it fun. Learning is much easier when it鈥檚 fun and interactive. To review and learn letters of the alphabet, Allan and I would use the whiteboard to write letters and sound them out, and then we would practice making the letters with Play-Doh. To make it more fun and challenging, I used a sand timer as we made the letters together. This turned it into a game to see if we could both make our letters before the timer ran out. Allan really wanted to play tic-tac-toe, so I turned it into a learning opportunity. I let him draw the tic-tac-toe board, and then I鈥檇 write a letter in each box. Before placing an X or an O in a box, Allan would have to say the letter, sound it out, and tell me a word that started with the letter. This way, he was able to play one of his favorite games and also review the letters of the alphabet.

2. 聽Try a new approach. My dad used to tell me, 鈥淎ndrew, you don鈥檛 really know something until you can teach it to someone else and make it simple and easy to understand.鈥� Whether trying to explain words that rhyme, breaking down words into syllables, or teaching new letters of the alphabet鈥擨 found that in most cases when Allan didn鈥檛 understand a concept, it was because I wasn鈥檛 explaining it well enough. When I adjusted my teaching approach鈥攗sing games, drawing pictures, or just trying to make a concept simpler to understand, Allan usually caught right on.

3. 聽Exercise patience. 鈥淲ait, don鈥檛 tell me!鈥� I couldn鈥檛 help but smile and feel a sense of pride the first time Allan said this to me. We were reviewing the letter D, and I asked him to give me a word that started with the letter. After a few seconds without a response, I was ready to provide an answer for him. After asking me to wait, Allan sat there for another few seconds and proudly exclaimed, 鈥淒olphin!鈥� Initially, I would only wait a few seconds after asking Allan a question before I would jump in to give him a hint, or sometimes the answer. I found that exercising a little patience created space for him to succeed鈥攁nd he usually found the right answer on his own.

4. 聽Correct through example. You don鈥檛 always have to make direct corrections. When we would play tic-tac-toe to learn letters, Allan would always say to me, 鈥淚鈥檓 going to win you Andrew.鈥� Instead of immediately correcting him and telling him that he was wrong, I started responding with, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know Allan, I鈥檓 pretty good at this game. I don鈥檛 think you鈥檙e going to beat me.鈥� He鈥檇 always smile back at me and say, 鈥淵es, I鈥檓 going to beat you.鈥� After doing this for a few sessions, Allan eventually learned the proper way to say he was going to beat me. Which he did鈥攚hen I let him of course.

5. 聽Provide specific praise. Giving praise helps build confidence, and provides encouragement for continued learning. But I found that it鈥檚 important to be specific with your praise. Instead of simply saying, 鈥淕reat job today Allan,鈥� I started giving him specific praise. 鈥淕reat job today Allan, you did really well sounding out the letters C and D, and telling me a word that starts with each letter.鈥� After giving specific praise, Allan was able to remember the lesson better, and explain what he had learned for the day.

Andrew Hutchinson is an Army veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He currently works for , one of the fastest growing veteran support nonprofits in the country. He’s passionate about fitness and health, community, and empowering others.