Day 350 of 366 (of 2024): Just Working on a Way Out of Tutoring
I had a relatively short session at Center F. yesterday. And I saw the Director there, as well. I thought it was going to be a good day until I received a message regarding the incident on Thursday evening. The message was nice and well-intentioned and wanted a debriefing from me. I must admit, I was floored. Regrettably, I did not answer it but I did write a nice e-mail in response to it. I hope it makes things better for all parties involved.
I feel like this situation has turned into one, hot sticky mess for me. The worst part of it is how much mental space it occupies. Then again, it pushes out other negative things from my mind and I am glad for those benefits. Among other things, it makes me forget how much I dislike working at Center F.
Speaking of my session at Center F. yesterday, I had at least one kid in both sessions whose behavior rubbed me the wrong way, though they did not intend for it to be. In the first session, there was one kid who kept talking, almost non-stop, as he prepared for an upcoming math test. He felt confident about the math test but talked so incessantly that the last fifteen minutes or so of the session, I found myself pretending to listen and nod along with him. Those last fifteen minutes went by slowly. In the second session, there was one kid who is preparing for the ACT (as opposed to the more-customary SAT). Since ACT materials are not as prominently placed as SAT materials, I hunted around for them a bit, found something, copied it, and gave him a practice packet. But then he noticed that it was an SAT Verbal practice packet. So, I went back, hunted again, found the real ACT material, ran it through the copier and gave it to him. He proceeded to work on it. Suddenly, he noticed that of the 75 questions, questions 52 through 61 were missing. So, I hunted down those questions and gave him a copy. I also apologized for my mistake.
By the end of the session, he used the answer key to check his answers and wanted to go over any missed questions with me. By then, my session was ending and so was my shift. But I took a few minutes to go over some questions with him. Then he requested some homework. By this time, I was ready to go home, but I honored his request and made him another ACT Verbal packet. I told him if he saw any mistakes in it, notify the front office. Just as I am leaving, he says to me: "This is ACT Reading, not ACT Verbal" and I motioned to him to notify the office manager. And that is the last of that.
These types of kids really bug me. I admire their due diligence but they can get too nit-picky at times. If they request an apple and are given one, they say they want a green apple, along with an apology that they should have specified that earlier. If they are given a green apple, they specify that they want one without soft bumps. They remind of that kid in class who would remind the teacher at the end of class that she forgot to give homework. When she did, they would further remind her that it's the same homework she has already assigned. Yeah, that type of kid.
Anyways, both Centers are giving me issues at the moment. But at least I am working on a way out of tutoring.
Learning
Probability Theory: not much yesterday.
Series 6: up to 31.0% done
Connecting and Analyzing: some, but not too much.
1.) I am thankful for my own health, overall well-being, and understanding my life.
2.) I am thankful for having income, a healthy family, and life security.
3.) I am thankful for having an all-electric vehicle.
4.) I am thankful for being accepted at a firm and being sponsored for an exam.
5.) I am thankful for my ability to learn new skills.
Until next time,
Just Jack