Session Summary
Saturday, October 15, 2016
1pm to 2:30pm CDT
Topics covered:
Session Summary:
Sam did okay today. He was quite distracted, and clearly he was tired. He worked hard, he definitely did that, but I kept asking him questions to guide his thinking, and he kept not answering me. Also, he kept not trusting the hard work he had just done by breaking down the grammar of each word in the sentence (in a process I call "obeying the grammar" ) and instead proceeded to translate haphazardly. More than anything else, Sam seemed in a hurry to get this done, and by the end of the session I could tell he was quite frustrated with me that not only we had not gotten the entire passage translated together but that I had insisted he break down the grammar of each word instead of simply allowing him to translate the sentence (of which I knew from experience he would make a hatchet job *if* I did not insist he break down all the grammar first). Breaking down the grammar is the only way Sam will actually learn this material, and, not only learn, but master this wonderful language and take from that mastery the skills of thinking and problem-solving that accompany that mastery. I asked Sam to finish his translation of the passage and that I would happily go behind him and check his work. I did tell him I do indeed expect to see all the grammar broken down, an important step which, when given the chance, Sam tends to skim over in his haste to simply get the assignment done. I sympathize Sam wishes to get homework off his plate, but it is also my responsibility that he learn, and learn well. At the beginning of the session, I had asked Sam how he was today and how his week had been, to both of which he answered "Fine". I suspect, though, something actually had him quite distracted and tired today, and I could even tell he was quite frustrated throughout today's session, which was not one of his better.
1pm to 2:30pm CDT
Topics covered:
- Jenney Translation Exercise
Session Summary:
Sam did okay today. He was quite distracted, and clearly he was tired. He worked hard, he definitely did that, but I kept asking him questions to guide his thinking, and he kept not answering me. Also, he kept not trusting the hard work he had just done by breaking down the grammar of each word in the sentence (in a process I call "obeying the grammar" ) and instead proceeded to translate haphazardly. More than anything else, Sam seemed in a hurry to get this done, and by the end of the session I could tell he was quite frustrated with me that not only we had not gotten the entire passage translated together but that I had insisted he break down the grammar of each word instead of simply allowing him to translate the sentence (of which I knew from experience he would make a hatchet job *if* I did not insist he break down all the grammar first). Breaking down the grammar is the only way Sam will actually learn this material, and, not only learn, but master this wonderful language and take from that mastery the skills of thinking and problem-solving that accompany that mastery. I asked Sam to finish his translation of the passage and that I would happily go behind him and check his work. I did tell him I do indeed expect to see all the grammar broken down, an important step which, when given the chance, Sam tends to skim over in his haste to simply get the assignment done. I sympathize Sam wishes to get homework off his plate, but it is also my responsibility that he learn, and learn well. At the beginning of the session, I had asked Sam how he was today and how his week had been, to both of which he answered "Fine". I suspect, though, something actually had him quite distracted and tired today, and I could even tell he was quite frustrated throughout today's session, which was not one of his better.