Meet Mamie

Since October, tutor Mamie Belle has spent her Saturday mornings in FLOC’s math program working with Xochitl, a 3rd grader Mamie describes as a bright student who is a bit behind grade level in math.

“She’s fun to work with, and completely dominates in multiplication tic tac toe,” Belle said. “I think I’ve won maybe 5% of those games.”

Because she strives to be creative throughout the tutoring session to help Xochitl better master a new skill, Mamie makes sure the tutoring session includes a variety of activities. They typically begin the lesson with a game like flashcard war, where the player who draws the card with the higher product of both multiplication problems wins all the cards drawn from both players’ decks. Then, they move onto a review of the material they covered the previous week. After the warm up activity and review, Mamie moves on to teaching a new concept.

Like many FLOC tutors, Mamie focuses on teaching new material by using the math manual as a guide and incorporating games to help reinforce the concepts.

In college, Mamie tutored a high school student in various subjects. One of the difficulties she’s encountered at FLOC is finding “different ways of explaining a process.”

She especially praised the programs at FLOC for two reasons. “The math manuals for the students and the tutor training that FLOC provides help take a lot of the guesswork out of the process.”

“There are always situations that challenge you to come up with creative and fun ways to help the student master a skill,” she added.

Mamie describes her tutoring experience as very rewarding, since she’s had the opportunity to feel connected to the community and give back. “I don’t have the chance to interact with kids during my 9-5, so tutoring through FLOC is a great way to fill that void.”

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