Kimberly Seward is an Instructional Tutor at Norris Elementary School who’s worked for a decade in the district and 8 years in her current role. She works with 9-10 small groups every day building trusting relationships with her students so they can feel comfortable working and learning together.
“Her goal is to give students who need a little bit of extra support that support to help them access their grade level learning,” said Norris Elementary School Principal Corrie Schram. “She looks at student data, in collaboration with classroom teachers and our building coach, and she plans instructional lessons for students.”
Seward is well versed in the programs used in the classroom and intervention resources that can be used for students. She’s always looking for new strategies to best serve her students. She is also a certified social worker and has attended many staff trainings that allow her to be a resource to her school community beyond her tutoring work.
“She maximizes the 20 minutes she has with her students daily. She's always so prepared, and she really has a structure and a routine when they're meeting in small group to make sure that they're maximizing their learning,” said Schram. “She is purposeful and she is an intentional educator, and we are very lucky to have her working with our students.”
Learn more about Kimberly Seward in the Q&A below.
What drew you to tutoring students?
Seward: I had quit my job at an insurance company to be a stay-at-home mom and raise my kids. I always did different learning things with them, took them on activities and field trips. After being home with my kids all those years, I loved working with them and babysitting other kids in the neighborhood and things like that. I didn't want to go back to working in the insurance field. I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. So, I decided to go to school for social work. So, while the kids were in school, I went to school. I took a couple classes at a time. I went to MCC, got my associate’s there, then I went to St. Joseph’s, got my bachelor’s, then finally I went to the UConn School of Social Work, where I graduated with my MSW.
When I started applying for jobs, I realized I wouldn't be working with children anymore, I'd be working with the adult population. I did that very well and I enjoyed it, but my stomach was in knots. That’s when I knew I was meant to work with kids. So, I applied for Kelly Services and became a substitute teacher. I worked all over, and one of those schools was O'Brien Elementary. I got offered the building sub position, then a tutor position opened up and I went into that role. I was there for a year and then I got transferred over to Norris, and that's where I've been ever since. This December makes ten years of working in the district.
So, you could kind of say that teaching found me. I love what I do, and I've stayed because I genuinely enjoy coming to work every day.
What does an average day look like for you?
Seward: I start off every morning going to my desk, which is in a second-grade classroom. I have some time in the morning to prep for my 9 to 10 groups that I meet every day. They're in all different academic levels. Three of those groups are at my desk in the second-grade classroom, and the rest of them are in different classrooms throughout the building. The teachers have been very nice to me and have given me space for my materials, and I bring the rest of them on my cart down the hallway. When the kids hear the sound of my cart, they know that I'm coming. I decorate it for different holidays, which the kids enjoy.
I also do lunch duty on most days, which is 30 minutes. If I'm not doing lunch duty, I'm teaching a math group during that time. I also have bus duty at the end of the day, which I'm normally there five days a week, helping the kids with the bus.
On Fridays, I have a student that really wanted to work with me, so I take some of my planning time to meet with her and read sentences that she's been working on all week. You'll see students find me to just say hi and give me a hug. You can see me randomly walking around with students because they just need to take a break for a moment.
I am also asked to cover classes. Every morning before I come to work, I check my email to see if I'm going to be myself for the day, or if my assistance is going to be needed elsewhere today. Really, wherever the need is, that's where you'll find me. I also have the pleasure of going on many field trips with the kids being a chaperone, and I also belong to the district Safety Committee, which meets four times a year.
So really, as a tutor, there really is no same kind of day. Whatever is needed, that's what happens.
What does the small group work look like?
Seward: I get to tailor the lessons to meet the needs of the individual students and work on their strategies to help them in the group and in the classroom. There could be things like decoding, summarizing, fluency, CVC blends or a whole bunch of different things, even math. But the focus is really the same no matter what group that I'm in. We’re going to be in a safe environment, we need to be able to share and we're going to be pushed to learn and grow. And I always explain to the students why we're doing what we're doing and what the benefits are, and then they're able to see that at the end result.
We're not just all work, you know, I make learning fun. I might say words wrong for them to catch me, to see if they're paying attention. They're waiting for me to make mistakes and that's great. Then we have what we call a Friday Fun Game. If we've worked all week, we play this fast-paced game in the beginning of group and they're amazed when they get the answer right. Their objective is to beat me, and I always play to win. So, when they win, I also win. So, it's a very rewarding experience.
I have this wonderful opportunity to start working with some of the kids from kindergarten or first grade, and I get to work with them all the way up to fifth grade, and I really see them grow academically and as a person. And it's that time of year right now where the fifth graders and I are starting to reminisce about where they were then and where they are now, and it's just a great feeling on both ends, because I've gotten to know them. Working in small groups allows me to have that individualized relationship with the kids.
What do you think it is about you that makes you good at this job and building those relationships?
Seward: I tell them that I'm always going to be honest with them. It's their learning, and I'm here to help them to feel more confident in themselves. And I always tell them, if you're honest with me, I can help work with you and guide you through it. So, I build that relationship with them to be able to trust me with whatever it is that they're working on, whether it's something at home or it's a learning lesson. I tell them I won't proceed until I know that you understand what we're working on. If you need me to go back or we need to figure out another strategy, you need to let me know and we'll find it a different way. But you can get there, and I'm listening to you. I feel it's very important to hear what they have to say. I tell them, this is your group, it's your learning. It's not my learning, I've already done this. We're a team. Let's work on this together.
What does it feel like when you see students understanding the concepts you’re working on and growing as learners?
Seward: It's just an overwhelming warm feeling like, yes! I mean, even if it's one student once a day or ten students a day, the feeling is the same when they light up and they just get it.
It's like, yes, that's the moment, for both of us. It can be a high five, a fist pump, a hug. They get so excited and it might not even be when they're at your table, they can find you down the hallway to come tell you how they did. It’s a feeling that's indescribable. Because each student, when they get that moment feels it in a different way, you know, so you feel it also in a different way.
What is your favorite part about doing your job?
Seward: Oh, my favorite part about doing my job is to see the smiles on their faces. To work through what their struggle is academically, and we finally piece it together and they get it. Or even if they come in sometimes super excited to share something that just happened over the weekend, and they just can't wait to tell me. They're like, “Excuse me, can I say something?” And I'm like, “Yes!” And they just take that one minute to share and it means everything to them. You can see it in their face, they feel so good that they're able to share what happened over the weekend or what experience they had, and that just warms you inside.
And the same thing goes too if they're having a hard day, and I can give them a hug and just listen to them and they can just calm down and we work on it together. I mean, they all relate kind of the same way because the end result is we're happy and we're fulfilled, and I'm able to either be a voice for them, help them, or they're telling me, “Hey, I've got this now. I've learned this. Watch me.”
It's all amazing. I really love coming to work every single day. You never know what you're going to get, but it's great because these kids are amazing kids. Kids in general are amazing, and every day is different and it's filled with so much happiness.