So, I went back to the library today. It was good; got 3 hours of grading done! The science tests are all graded, which means I can give the kids back their tests tomorrow. It also gave me some time this evening to plan out the next project and get a start on tomorrow's power point lecture.
But, what I really wanted to share with you all are some things I noticed about the library. For starters, it is very popular with the several homeless people who live here in Menlo Park. ( No surprise.)So much so that the library staff posted a sign in the bathroom prohibiting bathing and laundering, with the location of the nearest shelter where they can bath and wash clothes.
Also, the library is full of adults. I'm more used to seeing tons of kids at the library, but this weekend it was full of grown-ups doing quiet, grown-up stuff: reading the paper and magazines, computering, looking for books, and even using Skype. I guess kids have more to do on the weekends than adults.
But the strange thing I witnessed yesterday and today was the interaction between a math tutor (an older guy, probably in his mid- to late- 40s) and the tutee, a woman in her 30s. Man, she would argue with him, rant, demand explanations, and she even cried once. All over calculus. He just sat there, not really saying much. He let her do things her own way, and when they didn't work out then he'd step in and show her another way to solve the problem. There would be these periods of quiet, then she'd start in on him about why the equations didn't graph the same, and she'd seem to get more and more angry while he just sat there. Then, there'd be periods of concern, when she'd ask him how he was, what was wrong, did he want to go outside for a break. He pretty much responded to these queries in a quiet, calm voice, saying as little as possible. Today ended by her asking when they could get together again and offering to give him a ride home. Which he declined.
Anyway, it was weird. She would get totally aggro with him. I've never seen or heard of tutees getting all mad at their tutors on a regular basis.
3 comments:
I used to work in a library and we had one homeless guy who visited almost everyday during the summer. He actually lived in the ravine near my house. Really smart, well read guy if you could engage him. I used to wonder where he went during the winter.
I would never, ever go agro on my tutors. Never. I don't care what you heard from my Arabic teacher it never happened!
I've worked with psychos like that woman. Sounds like she needed a time out!
Yeah, I would say that the guy had the patience of Jonah, but he seemed to be more like a bump on a log than anything. Anyway, guess the library is more interesting than I remembered!
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