The Beginning to a Great Mentorship

I believe that my reason for blogging from the article 15 Reasons I Think You Should Blog is so I’ll live a more intentional life, inspire others, and to serve as a personal journal. I think by blogging and eventually reading back through old blogs I will find out who I am and who I am becoming. I will be able to track my life and see the personal growth I’ve made. Additionally, I’ll always be able to come back to this blog to reminisce an enjoyable experience in my life. Through blogging, I also hope to inspire others when they read it. Whether it be for other students that want to go into education or students who want to try Career Mentorship, I want them to learn from my experience and encourage them to do something similar. I think it could even inspire teachers and show them a different perspective of education from my point of view as a student and encourage them to give other students this great opportunity.

My first two weeks of mentoring with Mrs. Zawisza’s first grade class at J.W. Reason Elementary School were amazing! I was so nervous my first day because I wasn’t sure how welcomed I would be by the children, but my first lesson by far is that children are all love and no hate! Unlike high school I don’t see judgment in their eyes, I see excitement that there is a new teacher, Miss Coleman, the want of her attention, and the exhilaration of making a new older (but not too old) friend. When I learned this, I was able to use my strengths positivity to be quick to smile and generous with the kids, and individualization to see how each child is so very unique and to use that to begin building my relationships with them. But, I have to give a big thank you recognition to Mrs. Zawisza for being so welcoming and helping the kids transition into having someone new in their class. The first few days I got to play games with the class so they got to know me and to break the ice! She has never mentored a student before but she is already so great at including me in everything and giving me more responsibilities (another one of my strengths) each week.

When I am with Mrs. Zawisza’s class the kids learn about math and social studies! In math we have been working on balancing equations and recognizing friendly numbers that make ten. Then, in social studies we have been learning about maps! We usually begin with a quick math lesson or review then some days the kids have a number of the day where the students have to write down every way they can add/subtract to a certain number. I got to take two students to a table and help them think of ways one on one with them, which was a good way to learn their learning style and personalities. After that sometimes they get to do math games in groups and I walk around to watch and sometimes play with them! Moreover, on Fridays they get a problem of the day and then work in groups to put how they solved in onto a large piece of paper with a section for their words, pictures, and numbers! It is fun to watch them work together and answer any questions they have. They are so smart!! Finally, the last ten to fifteen minutes is spent on social studies which I usually just observe.

My favorite thing so far in the class I’ve gotten to do was to give the kids a sight words test which was just a list of words they had to read to me and I marked which ones they got wrong. It really made me feel like a teacher and it was also the first major responsibility that Mrs. Zawisza gave me. It also showed me the different progress each student is at which is something that is so private in high school. I have so much more I could write about because so much happens in the two hours I am there but then I would end up writing a book! My last comments are that these kids have grown on me so much already, they are the highlight of my day! I get so many hugs and even got a kiss on the cheek (it was so adorable). At this point, I could definitely see myself doing this for the rest of my life which is a crazy and scary thought but I still have many months to go so I will just have to see!