August’s Tutor Highlight: Kevin T. About His Time Working in the Sierramont Middle School Program
I started volunteering with BATA the summer of 2022. I was looking for tutoring opportunities around the Bay, I found BATA through VolunteerMatch and Google Search. The students have been very kind and supportive.
I remember the first day of the ELA session, the students were working on their ‘I Am’ poem. The creativity and their “voices” sort of speaking through the page was a great way to get the students to introduce themselves in a written manner. This creativity is why ELA is a powerful subject for me, in its ability to bring students’ inner voices out. I am passionate about English Language Arts and the subject’s ability to help contextualize expression, build critical thinking, and its ability to be broadly taught and introduced into multiple different topics.
I enjoy working with students and watching them grow in their learning. Seeing a student begin to understand how to multiply and divide fractions, or analyze a short story are all enjoyable aspects of tutoring. It is enjoyable to know students actually get something out of tutoring that can help them go far in their education. Trying to get the students engaged with their learning has certainly been the biggest challenge this summer. As I went around looking at each student’s work I noticed how much more they have improved in their understanding of math, and it is math activities like this that help encourage it. One time I was observing how the students really responded to the idea developing their own units of measurement. They went outside to try measure, I noticed they were having fun and very engaged with the activity.
BATA has a wonderful support staff that has made tutoring so enjoyable, and I learn so much about instruction and how to best support the needs of students through BATA. Do not be afraid to ask for help. BATA has wonderful supportive staff designed to assist tutors to best serve students. BATA has a great team, so getting help and working with other tutors will really make tutoring worthwhile. Most importantly, let your personality shine, being yourself is the greatest tool a tutor can give to students, because it the sum of all your learning and experiences that greatly impacts the students BATA serves.
No student should be left behind on their educational journey. Tutoring encourages students to seek help to better their learning and close the equity gap in education. When students have access to high quality education, they can do anything.
At BATA tutors are the foundation of the Association and our greatest asset. Thank you Kevin, for making a difference!
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