Yesterday I observed Ellen masterfully tutor 4th grader P.J. I thoroughly enjoyed his appetite for knowledge, as the session covered questions he had from their last meeting, that is, today's session focused on the eyes and the sense of sight. Ellen began with a short video about the eyes that gave primarily scientific background for reasons our eyes are different colors, this was in direct response to a question P.J. had posed Ellen from before. This video functioned as a "bell-ringer" to grab his attention with relevant information pertaining to the rest of the lesson. After this Ellen asked P.J. some questions skillfully disguised to evaluate what he had gleaned. She had also prepared some texts from children's books from which P.J. was to read, and just as she had done with the video she asked him points of information in order to judge whether he had understood what he had read aloud. Another excellent aspect of this session was her incorporation of 'experiments' which the book had suggested. These activities were novel ways of teaching through direct experience the various functions that seemed too abstract in the text. The most critical element, to me it seemed, for teaching a child is the one on one engagement necessary to allow both the pupil and teacher feel as if they are communicating in an effective and meaningful way in order to achieve both learning and acquisition of the material. a
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