First Experiences

My first few weeks of mentorship has been nothing short of a wonderful experience. Every time I walk into Mrs. Fernando’s achievement centre, I learn and do something new. The most major aspect I’ve learned is that the achievement centre itself works so much differently than the regular classrooms I’ve been in and out of since I’ve been in high school. Students can come in and out due to different courses all at a variety of different levels. I found that the achievement centre caters much more towards the students’ personal needs and allows them to ask for help whenever they need without the pressures of other students around them. Everyone learns in different ways, and that’s okay because there will always be resources available to help students along with their learning, whether in a regular classroom or a more personal environment like the achievement centre.

A few challenges I’ve faced these past few weeks were having to deal with my many absences due to leadership camp and the grad hike event. This kept me away from potentially helping students. Another issue I found was that not many students were taking courses I could really help with. When I did help students, however, it was a bit of a challenge to express my thoughts clearly and concisely as I could to avoid further confusion. Despite all this, I discovered solutions to these minor hiccups. When I was away at camp, Mrs. Fernando came along to supervise, so I took the opportunity to get to know her and how she teaches in the achievement centre. She also got to know the type of person I am outside of a school setting. This helped me feel more comfortable and I felt less nervous working in a new classroom environment with such an approachable teacher like Mrs. Fernando. During the time I wasn’t helping students, I observed what happens in the achievement centre so I could soak in as much information as I possibly could, like what teaching method works best with students I might be helping. As for communicating my ideas, I feel that given enough time with students, I will definitely be more articulate and clear with diagrams. Working out the specific math problems with them also benefits both me and the student so I can talk them through what they don’t understand.

This week, I got to work with a wonderful student and I got just a taste of what it would feel like helping around the achievement centre as a whole. I assisted her with her math lesson of fractions and word problems the entire period. Whenever she needed help, I was right there beside her. No matter who the student, I want them to feel comfortable and that they can go to me incase they don’t understand their lesson. Constructive criticism is the key when going through work with students. Praising them on what they did well and giving pointers on what to improve on really helped this individual understand the concepts of the lesson. The highlight of my week was most definitely the end of that period where the student thanked me for helping her and how she said she was glad that it was me who did. That feeling of pride and happiness I experienced when she said her thanks made me excited and hopeful to help even more students in the achievement centre.

Over the course of these past few weeks, I have learnt a lot, built on relationships with students and my teachers, and discovered new ways to tackle my challenges. All in all, I feel comfortable and welcome in the achievement centre. I look forward to helping so many more students throughout the semester. If this semester reflects what I have learned and experienced in my first few weeks, I am ready and beyond excited to continue through with my growth in mentorship!

To close out my first ever blog post, I will add motivational quotes and wholesome memes just to spread around some seeds of positivity throughout my website.