Siddiqui 1

Arshi Siddiqui
Dale Thomas
Detroit Fellows Tutoring Project
8 December 2015
Final Paper
This semester, the experience I had with the Detroit Fellows Tutoring Project was
absolutely rewarding. I have witnessed firsthand the importance of reading and writing,
and that not every child comes from a place of privilege and may be struggling without it
being known. The beauty of taking part in this project was the mere fact that we were
able to sit down 1-on-1 with our students and be able to discover the root of the problem
more easily and efficiently. This connection within itself was something extremely
beneficial because students usually have a hard time opening up to teachers in a group
setting. Sitting down with them 1-on-1 and conversing with them and getting to know
them made it easier to tackle problem areas within Project Read.
I believe that getting to know my students on a personal level actually impacted
their performance in reading at an exponential rate. The results were prominent, and
there was a clear improvement. Because I had fourth graders though, my students had
already been exposed to reading and (for the most part) could implement those
concepts for me when I had asked. There had been instances where certain concepts
where difficult to grasp, which is inevitable, but we worked together to combat any
difficulties. Overall, I would like to confidently say that I have impacted my students
lives for the better and allowed them to develop a gratitude and appreciation for reading.

Siddiqui 2
Thanks to Detroit Fellows Tutoring Project, I can fully appreciate the position that had
been given to me and how important it is to continue doing this work.
For me personally, the smallest things held the greatest impact to me. Whenever
I met with my students, they would greet me with a smile, and would be genuinely
happy to begin learning. I felt like I was a vessel that unlocked their already existing
passion for reading. They just needed a reminder, a little push, and I served as that
reminder. I feel like this is mainly because these students have always seen reading as
a subject, a chore, or an assignment, to the point where it became habit for them to
react as if it were something boring and repetitive. They never really had a chance to
explore the realms of reading through a leisurely lens, and by encouraging them to do
their best and read chapter books that interested them for a little portion of time every
two days, it was clear that they began to understand the importance of reading. The
reason why my role was so crucial was because without me there, they would not
receive that push as I had mentioned previously and would remain stagnant about
reading.
On the flipside, there were days where students were not always as passionate
about doing lessons and reading sections from the Fast Start book and they just had an
overall lack of motivation. These days were especially challenging, but I learned that
there were ways to combat this and overcome their feelings of procrastination. By
incorporating a more hands-on approach towards the lessons of Project Read and
spontaneously switching up the usual agenda, there was a slight improvement in their
attention and performance. Strategically, I also learned that changing lessons and not
falling into the same pattern was important for them to regain that spark for reading.

Siddiqui 3
Some strategies that were more successful when lessons were difficult for
students were repetition, use of the whiteboard, and creatively incorporating vocabulary
words into real-life situations. When concepts that were introduced were difficult for
students they were highly unmotivated to learn, but rewriting words onto the whiteboard
made it more tangible and real for them. By asking them to figure out a solution instead
of me telling them the correct answer, they were able to work their way through it on
their own, which is ultimately essential to their problem-solving skills. It was almost as if
they actually grasped the concept after rewriting words themselves on the board,
multiple times. For me this was important because I could see firsthand the effects of
hands-on learning rather than basic instruction, and it would work.
The reason why the previous strategy would work was because it was more of a
hands-on learning experience for the students. When I would ask them about concepts
we had learned in the previous lesson, they would be able to reiterate them for me and
there was evidently much retention. For this reason, I am thankful that the whiteboards
were provided for us, because if not, this strategy would never be implemented.
I believe that the Fast Start for Early Readers book was not as effective for
students of my age group only because many of the concepts were redundant and they
had already mastered them in the past. Testing rhyming skills is important, but doing
that every other day when I would meet with my students seemed like a waste of time
for them. Also, some of the poems they had known by heart, so instead of testing
comprehension I was testing memorization. This is why I had insisted on beginning with
reading a chapter from one of the Magic Tree House books and I found that students
were more interested in picking up where they had left off in terms of the chapter books.

Siddiqui 4
As a student, this experience taught me a thing or two about patience and
perseverance. I had quickly learned that not all students learn the same way, and that
even though a concept was simple, it was evidently ten times harder for them to grasp,
and that it was important to continue pushing them to succeed regardless of how many
times it took. In the beginning, I found myself stuck at the same word for 10 minutes
with the same student and internally I would be extremely impatient and close to giving
them the answer, but there is no growth in that. As a student in particular, this
experience allowed to view the tutor-student relationship through a new lens. Whenever
I feel stuck and overwhelmed, and I ask the professor for help although they already
know the answer, they made me work through it myself first because there are no
shortcuts. I found myself implementing these concepts with the children that I tutor.
As a person, I have learned to check myself when it comes to entitlement and
privilege. Many students are struggling with reading and new concepts due to the place
that they have grown up around, and not every child is able to retain information as
quickly as I had at that age. Demographics are important, and although they are a major
factor in the way a child learns, it should not be a limiting factor. As I developed a closer
relationship with my students, I had gotten to know about their family lives and began to
understood why there would be a lack of interest in the area of reading. Just being
exposed to their family situations alone caused me to broaden my horizons and check
my privilege, and for that I have learned to humble myself. This experience has allowed
me to grow as a person and as a student, and for that I am eternally grateful. I will take
pieces of what I have learned from this project and carry them with me wherever I go.