Ninth Meeting 04-28

Today was my last day with Elodia. It was sad for me! I have really enjoyed talking with and teaching Elodia. She got to our lesson half an hour late, because of parking. We did, however, learn a lot. I showed Elodia the magic of Google! She knew about the internet and search engines from our first session. This session, she got on the computer, logged on, and immediately clicked the “e” icon for internet explorer. I was so happy to see her just hop right on and know exactly what she was doing. I then gave her the http://www.google.com/ address and she typed it into the URL bar at the top of the screen. I then taught her how she could type in anything into the Google search bar and find anything she wants. The first thing we typed in, though, was Northface, because I remembered from one of our previous conversations that she said she wanted to buy her daughter a Northface jacket for her birthday. So I suggested we type that in, she did, and the Northface homepage came up. We clicked around and looked at some of the jackets. She then asked how she would actually buy it, and so I said we could hypothetically shop right now! We clicked a jacket and selected the quantity, size, and color. I then showed her the “Add to Cart” button. We added the jacket to her hypothetical cart. She liked how it was like an online grocery store. I then told her she would have to “Proceed to Checkout.” The Northface website, however, requires you to have an account set up for you to buy items on their site. I was unaware of this, but it cropped up an interesting issue because an account for Elodia would require her e-mail address. So I asked, “Do you have an e-mail account?” She said no, but I had a nagging suspicion that she had a TCU e-mail. So I went to the mail.tcu.edu site and asked her to type in her normal username and password that we had used on my.tcu.edu. Well, Elodia DID have an e-mail and because she didn’t know about it, she had 360 e-mails!!! We both laughed and I explained that because she had never checked it, these were a lot of old, mass university e-mails. So I showed her what her exact e-mail address is so she could write it down and use it for future things that she wants to do, like the Northface account, and Wellsfargo online banking accounts.
I also showed her how to create a new e-mail, go to the TCU global address book and find people’s e-mail at TCU, and send them e-mails! We sent one to me and I showed her right then how when I log on, there’s her e-mail! Elodia was excited and thought that this was extremely resourceful. I hadn’t really thought about how amazing e-mail is, just because I have become so used to using it constantly without even thinking! I showed her around some more websites, but we did not have a lot of time to explore because of our late start. It was a great last session, though. I was pleased that we got to meddle with the computer one last time, so that Elodia can start using these wonderful online resources. So many people, including myself, forget what an incredible things the internet and e-mail are because we have such easy access to them and are so used to using them. Needless to say, it was a great last insight into the different cultural world Elodia lives in. Her grandbaby, Joseph, is doing well. Her daughter had to have a C-section so she is still in bed and sore. I live in Fort Worth, so I told Elodia if she wanted to continue her tutoring over the summer she could, or relax over the summer, either one! I know I would be completely fine continuing because I have really enjoyed talking to her. She told me to call her after finals and she would let me know whether she wants to take the summer off or do a few sessions. Either way, Elodia has learned so much and I'm very proud of her for all her hard work. My experiences with Elodia have definitely been life lessons and I am glad that I got to work with her.

Eighth Meeting 04-21

This past Tuesday I did not meet with Elodia because Elodia’s daughter had just had her baby!!!! Congratulations to Elodia! I spoke with her on the phone briefly and she was so excited. She was so incredibly thrilled about her new grandbaby, a baby boy. Her daughter and the baby are exhausted, but healthy and happy. It was a little sad, because I did not get to have a session with her and we normally have a good time, but Elodia is very proud of her family and this new addition has only made her happier.

Seventh Meeting 04-14

Today, it was nice to see Elodia again. She was late again, but that was fine because of taking care of her pregnant daughter. We did not have a long session. We spoke a little about how my trip to New York went. I told her a little bit about it, but I did not want to go on and on about it because I know she has not had opportunity to travel hardly at all. I felt like it would be rude to discuss a lot of the trip because of being able to go on that trip. Elodia would never say anything but sometimes I almost guilty about the opportunities that I have had. We also talked about her daughter, who is pregnant with a baby boy. She had the baby shower for her last week and said it went really well. She talked about all the presents her daughter got and how good the shower went. I know she was glad it went well, because I know Elodia did a lot of planning and preparation for it. Her daughter is actually going to be giving birth this upcoming weekend. She has a doctor’s appointment on Thursday. I told her how exciting that was! Elodia said her daughter is just tired, huge, and wants to have the baby. Still, I can only imagine how excited her whole family is.
We talked a little bit more about her family and her grandchildren and then we began to read an article from the Skiff. Elodia chose the Living Learning Communities article after I explained a little bit about what they are. I think this article was difficult for her because it was written in a way that referenced people speaking earlier in the article towards the end, and had a lot of difficult vocabulary. As we read, some of the quotes given by interviewees were clearly hard for Elodia to understand and I found myself explaining a lot. Even I had to read the quotes and statements over a couple of times, so that I could explain what they meant properly. The article gave both sides of the story. I basically gave the background about how the media had portrayed the LLC’s as a separation of certain groups from the rest of the student body and how the administration felt that, that was an intentional doing. We talked about the committee that Provost Nowell Donovan is heading up and how they are going to create guidelines for the new LLC’s. I told Elodia that this committee has been met with backlash from some students in the LLC’s because the committee will be forwarding their recommendations on to the board of trustees and students feel like the people making the “guidelines” have no interaction with the on-campus community, therefore are unhappy. I explained both sides. Elodia said she understood the rules needed to be in place but could also see both sides of the story as well.
We finished the article and then she talked a little bit about how her team got better cleaning equipment but the team has to haul this heavy machinery between buildings. She talked a little bit about the politics of the team and how they decided who would haul when. Elodia also said that people on the team were trying to take vacations on their week to haul the machine between the buildings. I think the politics of the student body and the administration regarding the LLC’s made her think of the politics in among her staff. It was very interesting to hear her perspective and her view of people’s perspectives.

Sixth Meeting 03-31

Today was a great conversational day with Elodia. She got there a little late so we did not cover a lot of English materials, but I could tell she has had a very busy week! Her oldest daughter is about to have her second child, a boy, so she talked about that a lot today. It was so sweet to hear about how much she loves her kids and grandchildren. I actually did not know Elodia was a grandmother so that was something so nice to learn! I knew she had four kids, but this will baby boy will be her third grandchild. She has been planning her daughter’s baby shower all week so she apologized profusely saying she did not have that much time to practice reading English. Then she told me that 75 people were invited to this baby shower and that she was cooking all the food, and I immediately assured her that she was incredible to do that and I definitely did not expect her to study when she has all that cooking to do this week!! We talked a lot about our families, which was nice. I grew up in El Paso so she asked me a lot about that, what Spanish I knew, and my friends. She thought it was hilarious that I will still answer to Pelona, which means bald in Spanish, because when I was a baby I had no hair and my baby-sitter gave me that permanent nickname. It was nice to laugh and talk about families and friends because in college you get so wrapped up in school and everything you’re doing that you forget to slow down and think about your family and even old memories.
She was very excited when I told her that there was a Spanish GED and I could tell she felt much knowing there was one. She seemed very confident that she could do well on a Spanish GED, and with her studying habits and work ethic I am confident she would do well. I did remind her, though, that it was good to have someone (like students) to ask questions for stuff she did not understand, to help her remember the stuff she learns, and to just be a resource. I said that because she has definitely been such an eye-opener for me, and I am hoping that she continues the program and works with others students too. We also talked about some ideas for her to work on a computer again next session we have, just because I feel as though she wants to brush up on what we learned our very first session, and also extend that into learning how to pay her bank bills online and buy certain things online. (Elodia was particularly interested in my North Face jacket because her 19-year old daughter wants one for her birthday and Elodia couldn’t find the store!) Again, it was a shorter session because Elodia got there a little late, but I think just talking, listening to her talk about her family, and talking about my family was a good thing. She was still hesitant at the end of last session so I felt that this was definitely a good session to be more laid back and let her talk more instead of just focusing on the tutoring part.

Fifth Meeting 03-24

Today’s meeting with Elodia was a little worrisome for me. She called me before our session and she expressed a lot of uncertainty about continuing the program. She talked about being overwhelmed and very stressed out about the whole thing. So I told her we could meet up like we normally do and talk about it. She came to our session and she just expressed a lot anxiety. She thought that she would have to be taking the GED at the end of the semester! She was saying there was no way she would be ready in six weeks. I told her that in no way, shape, or form did I think she should take the test in six weeks! I told her we were there to provide help for the small sections and lessons we could, but because there was so much information there was no way we could cover it all by then. Thus, I most certainly did not expect her to take the entire test at the end of the semester. She told me her daughter was saying she got her high school diploma after 12 years of learning the GED information in school and did not think her mom could take it in 6 weeks. I told Elodia that I completely agree with that! Taking the test in six weeks would not only be completely unfair (again students like her daughter and I had 12 years to learn the information), but she also would not be ready and that would kill Elodia’s small amounts of confidence in herself. She and I talked some more in a relaxed and stress-free conversation and I began to see some of her anxiety go away. So I asked her what she wanted now that we had talked some more. She told me she had signed up for this class about English that had videotapes and workbook assignments. I thought that was great, because it showed she does still care about learning, she just had a momentary panic. She took her own initiative and that was a good sign. I offered to help with anything in the workbook if the videotapes did not explain something, but I did not want to immediately shift our focus to that because I felt she would begin to feel pressured again and this was her own thing. By talking to her I knew she was still uncertain about reading and writing in English even though I, personally, thought that she reads and writes very well for the amount of schooling she has had. It showed me, though, that it is about how Elodia feels about her reading and writing and not what I say. As much as I feel that she is incredibly good for her level, if Elodia does not think she reads or write well then Elodia has to convince herself otherwise. I try to tell her how great she is, but I think she feels she has to meet her own standards. I found this to be so admirable! I can completely relate. Somebody can tell me a book they have read is wonderful, or that an essay I have written is well done, but until I have read the book and made my own judgment, or until I have written until I am pleased with the result, then as great as someone’s feedback is, I’m unsatisfied. That does not mean that the person giving the feedback is wrong. It just means that she wants this bad enough to do it right on her terms. She does know she needs the help, though; to meet her own expectations otherwise she would not have met with us in the first place. SO, I explained some questions she had about punctuation and then we decided that we would basically just practice reading and writing. I felt confident about her skills in those areas to start the GED lessons, but she didn’t. So I told her that the best way to build her confidence in those areas was to practice! Practice anywhere, anytime, anyplace! So I grabbed a few Skiffs from the library and I told her we would pick an article and just begin practice reading! At that point Spencer showed up for his session with her. I explained how Elodia was feeling and told him what she wanted and the plan. And they immediately began looking for an article in the Skiff that she might be interested in! So at this point we’re just going to focus on building her confidence with reading and writing and, hopefully, she will begin to get better and get more confident about her own abilities.

Fourth Meeting 03-10

Working with Elodia today was incredibly fun and inspiring. We started off by looking at the questions that were sent home with her about the social studies passage we read on colonialism, the founding of the United States, and its government. She had answered the questions at home and she got every single one of them right. She seemed so surprised that she got them all right because we had the GED book so she didn’t know the answers. I could tell it made her proud to see her hard working paying off. I have to admit I was surprised too. I thought she might get one or two wrong and we would have to review a little more. Her dedication, however, became very obvious. She told me she had to re-read the passage multiple times over several days to be able to answer five questions. It was inspiring because I do not think I would have the patience to re-read something over and over again until I was absolutely sure of my answers the way she did. Elodia can read better than she thought, but it is still difficult for her and I still have to help her with hard words so her dedication to read that passage until she had the correct answers was impressive. It showed me how much she really wants to get her GED and do well. It did, however, make me realize we have to consider the timed portion of this test as well. So to begin the second lesson, we looked at the questions first. I could tell, at first, that she was wondering why on earth we were doing this. During our slow reading of the passage, though, when we read something related to one of the questions I would bring it to her attention and she would react, “Oh yeah!” So then she understood why we did the reading of the questions at first, and thought it was a good idea.
Reading the second passage was really fun as well. It is strange for me to be reminded of all this history that you forget or don’t think about that often. For Elodia, though, it is brand new information. I thought that was really cool; to explain your nation’s history and have it be something that is so familiar to you, but it be totally new information for her. People forget how important things are when it is so familiar to them. Overall, it was a very good session. Elodia and I got through the entire passage on the Civil War in one hour so that was good. We even talked about her family a little more. She joked about how she truly had to do the homework on her own, because her daughters are so busy with their own school and studying and everything. It is very obvious that she loves her family. I have a much deeper appreciation for teaching, though, because it does require a lot of patience and care. I do not normally have a lot of patience, but Elodia makes it easy because she is very mature, and kind. She is very understanding and tries to help me find middle ground when I am having trouble describing a particular term or meaning to her. Each week there is something new to talk about and I enjoy listening to her and watching her get excited about new things that I am so accustomed to knowing.

Third Meeting 03-03

Meeting today with Elodia was a very interesting experience. We went over the first lesson of the social studies test. It covered a lot of American history from Christopher Columbus to the ratification of the U.S. Constitution. Today was particularly surprising for me. First, I was impressed with Elodia’s ability to read English. We went slowly but she only had difficulty with larger words. Once I explained those, she understood what she was reading very well. The most surprising thing, for me, though, was her lack of understanding of the geographical nature of the world. I realized how I take my understanding of the international community and geography for granted. She did not know what a continent was. She did not know about other countries and what a general outlined map of the world looked like. As an international relations major, I have gotten to the point where I almost assume people know what is going on in the world. I think also as a college-educated student I forget that there are people who do not even have even have the concept or ability to grasp what the world we live in looks like on a map. The lesson we studied talked about the Native Americans coming over from Asia by the Bering Strait and I had to draw a rough concept of that for her to understand the very beginning of the passage. She had never heard of the countries in Europe or the continents countries are a part of. It was very eye-opening. A person can try to be conscious and aware of the different people in this country and the different levels education, but sometimes you forget.
I love teaching Elodia, because when she learns something she gets so excited and thinks a simple history lesson is so interesting. Sometimes, however, I worry about offending her. She is one of the nicest women I have ever met, so sometimes I feel unsure because I don’t want to insult her by asking her if she already knows what this means or if she knows how to read something. I know she won’t get mad at me because she is sincerely kind. But I would not want to hurt her feelings and insult her intelligence. I sometimes feel guilt, as well. I was teaching her the lesson today and she exclaimed, “You already knew all this?” I’m so young comparatively and it does not seem fair that I have had the opportunities to have this great education, when this sweet and eager to learn woman has not. This has reminded me how many blessings there are and to appreciate the simple things. Normally people associate simple things such as food, water, a roof over your head, and clothes. I have never really considered a basic education a simple blessing. I rarely think of the diverse education levels here in the United States. It is easy to imagine poorly educated people in third world countries, such Haiti and Ghana. Here in the United States, though, I have never paid much attention. I am really glad that I met Elodia and am doing this. I was very concerned in the beginning. I’m still a little uncertain about my teaching skills, but I am less worried now that I have met Elodia and realize I enjoy watching her learn.

Second Meeting 02-24

The meeting with Elodia today went very well. I gave Elodia a binder with notebook paper for her to be able to put the things we learn in the binder. In our last session, I wrote down the process of logging in to my.tcu.edu to show Elodia her sick and vacation hours, but she did not have anywhere to put what I wrote her. This binder is her new reference to go over what we learn and to put homework, processes, and new information in. I also brought the GED book that was given to me. We began to go over the very beginning of the book, the table of contents. It talks about what is necessary to pass the GED. We talked about each of the five “tests” that are necessary and the scores required. I then tell her we’re going to focus on one test within the overall test. We choose social studies, because that’s what I feel most confident in teaching her. Spencer might teach her math, if there is time, because he is confident with that section. We then discuss the 5 sections within the social studies test subject. She didn’t really know what social studies was so we discussed how it was the study of history, government, economics, civics, and geography. I even had to elaborate on what some of those descriptions were. I explained that she would need to know U.S. and world history, such as the study of particulars wars and such. I explained geography was the study of land, oceans, and other natural resources and that there would be explanation of those. Spencer and I both explained economics as the study of taxes, businesses, and how those businesses work together to either make a country’s economy strong or weak. I tried to go slow and be very thorough in her explanation. She asked a few questions about how things would be taught. She was a little overwhelmed and nervous about the material. She said she only had an elementary school education. I reassured her and told her that we would be going extremely slow and just take things one day at a time. I encouraged her to ask questions and really tell me if she is starting to be overwhelmed with the information. I told her that I would rather only get through one section but be extremely solid and confident in the information, than rush through and confuse her with a lot of information from more sections and have her be nervous and not do well on those sections on the test. Reassuring her was good because it definitely relieved a lot of worry that she would not learn the information and got her excited and ready to learn. I told her that we had been through this too and we had to ask our teachers lots of questions and tell them when we felt overwhelmed. I really just wanted to know that she could express when she was uncertain, overwhelmed, or unsure of anything, because I really don’t know what I’m doing and I want her to be comfortable enough to tell me when she doesn’t understand the way I am explaining something. This definitely eased some of her anxieties. She opened up about how excited she was and talked about her daughters and grandchildren. She is ready to learn and even encouraged homework! I could tell she really wants this so I only hope I do her justice and teach her well she can at least begin to be ready to get her GED.

First Meeting 02-17

The first time meeting with Elodia Avelar was wonderful. She was a sweet and eager woman, who was very excited to learn. She has a daughter. She was in classes to learn general education for her GED, but a lot of the class stopped coming so the class stopped being taught. Spencer joined us. She wanted to learn how to check her employee information, particularly her sick hours and her vacation hours. I brought my laptop so we began immediately. Spencer joined us. I began by showing her how to click the "e" to access the internet. My Yahoo! homepage came up. I explained that Yahoo! was my homepage and explained that Yahoo! was a search engine that you could type questions into and the page would take you to another website with an answer. I showed her an example of searching by typing in a question about what the weather might be and showed her how the internet and Yahoo! found the answer. I then showed her to click the very top "box"/"blank, click it until the words are highlighted in blue, delete the "address," and type in the new address that would take her to her employee information. I explained as I typed in my.tcu.edu and hit enter. I asked her if she had an account where she knew her account's username and password. She recalled her information and I showed her how to enter it and hit enter. There was a bit of clicking around to find the information she wanted and once we found it I showed her. Spencer explained how the maximum amount of hours and how her hours were adding up worked. I had been writing down each step as we went on a separate piece of paper. We then exited out and had her try doing each step on her own. She went through each step, if she got stuck she referenced the process paper, and got to her information on her own! Spencer and I then met her at the library and showed her how to Ctrl+Alt+Delete and gain access to the public computers, because she thought there was a computer lab she could use (she doesn't have her own computer) and wanted to know how to access a campus computer. We showed her the log-on and log-off process. The session was then ending. She was excited. She said excited that she learned so much in such a short session. She said the whole process was a lot easier than she thought it was going to be. We are planning on going over the bills online information on her my.tcu.edu, but mostly plan on coaching her for the GED because she seems to really want to get that, which is very admirable. I absolutely loved meeting with her and talking with her. It was so humbling to be reminded of this simple knowledge of knowing how to do these simple things on the computer, and the awareness of what a blessing it is to even own my own computer. I could not ask for a more wonderful mentee.