Erfaan Mahmoodi TS #4

My fourth tutoring session was my first with Salem. I took him to Calvin’s, which was closed (this was the day after the 4th), then to Dunkin’s - also closed - and settled with Starbucks. Leading up to our tutoring session was a conversation where I was asked hot-button questions on my thoughts on Israel, and of the tenets of the religion my family raised me under. I was nervous in giving my answers, but Salem was accepting and intrigued by my unexpected answers. In our session, I sought to figure out the focus Salem wanted (in an earlier conversation at the 4th of July barbecue, he said he wanted to focus on writing, but I wanted to double-check). I learned that, three to four weeks within his CIES class, Salem was moved into a level he felt was more suitable to his knowledge of English. The problem he encountered was adjusting to a curriculum that had covered much material which he needed to learn quickly. He expressed to me his feelings of frustration and overwhelming at not being switched earlier, and feeling like he had to learn everything on his own. Our primary topic for this session was distinguishing gerunds and infinitives, a session I was learning as I was going about teaching it. In comparison to Yan’s lessons, there was less emphasis on writing example sentences, as Salem’s proficiency allowed for more conversation as a means to get a concept across. Given Salem’s situation, we agreed to have two lessons a week instead of one.