Tutee: Amirah
I find Amirah in a classroom upstairs with a book about a little boy and a monkey, she laughs and puts it down and I ask if she wanted to go over the book together and she laughs again. She says no and pulls out a vocab sheet with terms on economics and business. She has difficulty understanding why some of the terms have limitations with context. The word lounge comes up and even though it is not on the sheet we take a few minutes to create its space in her mind- at first, she thinks of it as a living room. I tell her that its connotations are more professional- spaces for businesses or waiting rooms where people can sit and eat or drink in a communal environment. She realizes now why I have been asking if we should meet in the lounge. We also go over how it is sometimes used as verb as well, she laughs and says that she understands how they are connected. Corporate is another word that comes across as a difficulty-she pronounces it as cooperate and as I introduce that word to her, her eyes spark in recognition of how she might confuse these two. She views the word as a business and asks if it is like Mcdonalds- I tell her that the headquarters or the official business would of that would be considered corporate, not small representations of the business as those are not the deciding figures of the company. Amirah and I always have the most fun when we can come up with groups of words and use them in context. She picks them up quickly and you can tell it is in her intentions to try to use them in her life as much as possible. We continue to look through the verbs and use the words in context. Since it is super Tuesday, I explain to her the events that are going on through the country and how contentious the political scene of America is these days. She asks for further explanation and I explain to her the different party system. We talk about universal healthcare a bit, but I am careful not to say too much about all of the policies as to not make things uncomfortable. Though throughout our sessions she has been kind and understanding, I can feel a line where her opinions on life and mine will remain different grounds.
I find Amirah in a classroom upstairs with a book about a little boy and a monkey, she laughs and puts it down and I ask if she wanted to go over the book together and she laughs again. She says no and pulls out a vocab sheet with terms on economics and business. She has difficulty understanding why some of the terms have limitations with context. The word lounge comes up and even though it is not on the sheet we take a few minutes to create its space in her mind- at first, she thinks of it as a living room. I tell her that its connotations are more professional- spaces for businesses or waiting rooms where people can sit and eat or drink in a communal environment. She realizes now why I have been asking if we should meet in the lounge. We also go over how it is sometimes used as verb as well, she laughs and says that she understands how they are connected. Corporate is another word that comes across as a difficulty-she pronounces it as cooperate and as I introduce that word to her, her eyes spark in recognition of how she might confuse these two. She views the word as a business and asks if it is like Mcdonalds- I tell her that the headquarters or the official business would of that would be considered corporate, not small representations of the business as those are not the deciding figures of the company. Amirah and I always have the most fun when we can come up with groups of words and use them in context. She picks them up quickly and you can tell it is in her intentions to try to use them in her life as much as possible. We continue to look through the verbs and use the words in context. Since it is super Tuesday, I explain to her the events that are going on through the country and how contentious the political scene of America is these days. She asks for further explanation and I explain to her the different party system. We talk about universal healthcare a bit, but I am careful not to say too much about all of the policies as to not make things uncomfortable. Though throughout our sessions she has been kind and understanding, I can feel a line where her opinions on life and mine will remain different grounds.
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