Prompt 2: Consideration of materials and/or social space.
NALC is located in a building that used to be a high school, so upon entering one immediately has a sense that the building is for young people. Lockers line the hallways and the classrooms create that unique "high school" feel. Though I can only guess, this may not be the best space for adult learners. There's the potential of feeling out of place, or feeling too old for this building. Also, since high school was probably a place they felt alienated from, or a place where they really struggled, their initially feeling upon entering the building may be negative.
Regardless of the initial reaction, entering the tutoring area is definitely a more intimate and comfortable experience. Most of the times when I went to volunteer, there were people chatting at the entrance area, and anyone who arrived was always greeted warmly by the receptionist. The actual tutoring stations were a table with two seats divided by cubical walls. Some tutoring stations were back to back with no wall in between, and this occasionally created problems with four people all trying to talk at the same time. It posed a particular difficulty if the student really need to practice listening and speaking, but fortunately this occurred infrequently.
The books we worked with were better used as tools that could be used when needed, or as something to get us started. Though we always began with a lesson from the book, we usually branched off to a different topic or activity. The lesson plans worked about the same way. I feel like if a tutor was less comfortable and tried to rigidly follow the book exercises or the lesson plan, it would be a be a bit too constraining, but with the right attitude towards them they are a very useful tool.
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