Today I had to ask Divino to write a short paragraph for
the Literacy Volunteers of Leon County. My supervisor there told me that for one of their funding proposals they
would “like to highlight the direct benefits” the students receive by working
with their tutors. Even if my tutee doesn’t have as much time as a few months
ago for thinking about topics and writing essays, he is always excited to start
a new writing project, especially if it has a direct impact on anything related
to the Literacy Volunteers. For two of his essays in the past year he was
awarded, and with this upcoming paragraph, if he can help me or the Literacy
Volunteers, he works hard for it. We have already done some brainstorming
together but he will write the paragraph at home, probably send it to me the
day before we get together again and then go over it. He has become really good
at correcting his own errors. I usually just give him a hint.
It's incredible to see the students naturally detect errors in their second language. I am always impressed by this. I think there may be a balance between pushing them to define their errors and offering my explicit corrections. I like to stay on the side of pushing them until it seems that they have hit a wall--which I think I detect best from a certain look in the eyes!
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