Let's focus on what has meaning for students to promote engagement and career success!
Attention leads to engagement but it comes at a price with the tech-savvy students of today’s classroom.
As I attended my fourth cohort mentor meeting with tnAchieves this past Monday in Dyer county I reflected upon my past experiences in earlier meetings. My first was in Weakley county and it was the first of such meetings for both the students and myself. To say that the format has improved would be an understatement as they have progressed dramatically and improved each year since. The impact and results are improving as well.
Many of the issues to be addressed then; were already taken care of by the staff of tnAchieves and by the schools prior to first mentor meeting. This made being a mentor much easier but no less rewarding as the students realize they may need some advice and support as they move forward in their career and academic pursuits.
Because of my career choice I have maintained that I have a different view of my role as a mentor. However, based upon the overall numbers stated in the annual reports I have been unable to distinguish myself as being a better option. I have regarded this as being a challenge and my numbers seem to be on the upswing based upon the results from my last cohort group of mentees!
I found there were many resources online which could help to connect with home school students which comprised my last group of mentees. Without question they were my most interactive group since I first began as a mentor in 2014 for the 2015-16 school year.
Not only have I learned and grown from engagement with these students they have encouraged me to increase my social media presence so that I could communicate better with them. We must learn to learn from each other as we move forward in the 21st century. The student of today must be more resilient than at any time before in our nation’s history.
Education is evolving as schools are becoming more and more “student centric;” providing them with the resources and help that they need to achieve success post-graduation. I have been fortunate enough to live in Tennessee and been a part of engaging in the governor’s Drive To 55 program.
I am excited about the future of our graduating high school students as well as those being provided with an opportunity to reconnect and finish what they had started and had to put on hold for whatever reason.
“True intuitive expertise is learned from prolonged experience with good feedback on mistakes.” Daniel Kahneman
Maintaining an emphasis upon literacy and workforce development I strive to initiate change to promote engagement by bringing these efforts to fruition in the years to come.