My latest trip to Classic City left me feeling a little down after the rewarding trips I've recently had. I worked with "Brenden" again this week. He is such a nice kid and I have no problem getting him to sit down and do his work. He remains focused throughout the class period and I feel like he really puts in a solid amount of effort. He is very respectful and just an overall nice student to work with.
"Brenden" was beginning his final paper on The Crucible this week, the same assignment that I worked with Kevin and Samuel with last week. It was different working with Kevin though because his paper was almost complete and he just needed my help editing it. Brenden was just starting and really need my help with coming up with a thesis for his paper. I was already at a disadvantage because I have never read The Crucible so I didn't know any of the characters or plot he was talking about. I frantically tried to look up some basic information on my phone so I could try and point him in the right direction. He went and asked his teacher for some advice and when he came back she had written some things down that helped me establish a basic thesis with Brenden. After that, he spent the rest of my time there writing... and never asked me another question.
I wish I had been able to help him more with his paper, but I was at a loss because I was so unfamiliar with the topic. He had also missed a lot of class so he wasn't even all that familiar with the play so I couldn't get much information from him. I found it slightly odd that the students never actually read the play they were writing a paper about. Apparently they just watched the movie and read the Sparknotes for it. I'm not sure how much they really got out of "reading" the play, but I can't judge because I am only there once a week so I don't get to see how much work actually goes in to covering certain material.
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