Garret TS #1

Today, September 8th, I met with Maria at Starbucks. Before doing a needs assessment we spent time doing a homework assignment that she had to finish by the time her class started the following day. The assignment consisted of Maria needing to interview a person and then compile all of her notes into a short, cohesive paper consisting of one or two paragraphs. Maria asked me where I was from, what I like to eat, and many other questions that really forced me to engage with her. Maria is a level 3 student and speaks very well, but I am really trying to get her to open up and speak more. She has a pretty thorough understanding of English grammar rules, however, I do believe that she battles with a bit of anxiety that increases the density of her affective filter. I hope over the next month to be able to get her comfortable and relaxed while speaking. While doing the assignment with Maria, there were a few minor errors that I did not really bother to emphasize too harshly, mostly because many times she caught herself before I could correct her. Based on her needs assessment, I do believe that I will be composing mostly speaking oriented exercises for us to do for the remainder of our time together as tutor and tutee.