Third Meeting with Norma

Today's meeting with Norma was the most productive. After the second meeting I felt as though I was straying away from Norma's desire, which was to improve her english speaking skills. In response, I printed out a sheet online which had questions such as "Can you help me with..." and "I need more information about..." and "I would like to know..." I would do role playing excerises and have her ask me questions. This really helped her, and I saw that she appreciated my new take on our lessons. I am now going to stick with this theme and tie everything I teach her with everyday life.

Towards the end of our meeting she told me about her two daughters and how her eldest helps her with all the worksheets I give her. She told me that she is so proud that her daughter speaks perfect english but now she is loosing her ability to speak spanish. She mentioned to me how funny it is that her daughter helps her with her english while she helps her daughter with her spanish. Norma also asked me how I was doing and how school was going. I love that we have established a friendly relationship.

The Second Meeting

This time when I saw Norma, we greeted each other with a friendly hello and warm hug. She asked me how my fall break was and I briefly spoke about my road trip to Austin. With eyes wide open she listened carefully to all I had to say and after I filled her in on my eventful trip we began working. I learned from the last meeting that pictures really helped her most, so I came prepared with four pages of illustrations. I went along pointing at each image with my index finger, waiting for her to identify it in English. After she did I would right the word down and use it in a sentence. Norma learns quickly. I feel that she has already improved and we have only had one meeting! Maybe it’s just me being excited though; I am really rooting for her. After we finished our lesson, she told me a little about her eldest daughter and how she loves ballet. Norma really gets a kick out of the fact that I am a dance major; it’s really funny. She told me that she really wants to put her eldest into ballet classes and I highly encouraged this. I even told her to put her youngest in as well. She agrees.

First Meeting with Norma

I finally have met with a power plant worker for the first time! It took forever to schedule a meeting but it was definately worth the wait...

Norma was sitting on the couch in front of the cafe in the library when I first met her. I was a bit nervous confronting her but once I did everything ran smoothly. We sat on the couch and in spanish I introduced myself and asked her what she wanted to learn specifically. She said she wanted to work on her speaking skills and so I went through the whole "Hi, my name is so and so" spiel. I also printed out excersises I found online and went through them with her; pointing to pictures and asking her to identify them in english proved most helpful.

When I left the meeting that day, I felt moved by the entire experience. I couldn't help but think about how blessed I am to have an education. I couldn't help but think about the times when I would complain about small, insignificant things, and here was this middle aged woman struggling to say the word "impatient." I got so much out of this experience, and I am glad I am making a difference in someone's life.