He's got it!

Today I had a break through with one of my students. He is from Korea and has only been in the United States for about five months. Sometimes I really wonder if his English is improving at all. He understands a lot about what is going on. I have no doubt about that. He gets along well with the other students and is actually probably my class clown. However, I just really worry about his reading and writing. He has a difficult time reading anything and his pronunciation is awful. I wonder if he even understands anything about what he's reading. He takes lots of notes although his handwriting is barely legible. I wonder if he even knows what he is writing or if he is simply copying and is only gaining the handwriting practice.
However, today was the big break-through.
We were doing our literacy rotations this morning when he was looking bored and wanted to come read with me. So, I let him. Sometimes you just have to give in. Boy, was I glad I did so today. He sat down and began reading a book we were studying about the colonies. The students had a comprehension packet they were all working on. He asked me for help so I had him read a little to me, then helped him answer the matching question. Then I read a little and stopped where the answers were in the text and had him answer the questions when we were done with that segment. Then he (all on his own) began reading out loud and finding the answers and recording them. His pronunciation is still very bad, but he is understanding what he is reading enough to do grade-level work without much help! I was so excited! I'm not sure why the light bulb went off today, and maybe it's been there for a while now, but I couldn't be more thrilled and excited for him.
It is moments like these that made me want to become a teacher, and make me glad that I became one!