Know What you Need to Do, When You Will Do It and Don’t Forget
Just2 Tutoring Donates Time to Local Students to help them Know What they Need to Do and Not Forget
Each week, for the past two years, I have been volunteering at our local high school. I help our kids Know What you Need to Do, When You Will Do It and Don’t Forget. My role is to support the administrative goal of raising overall school test scores. I provide individual students with the support they require to meet that goal.
In our rural mountain community, the enrollment is low, and FTE seems to not provide the support afforded to most district schools as well as most national rural schools.
Experience and research tell us that consistent and personalized check-ins provide the coaching, prompting, accountability, and follow-through required to meet course expectations. Many students are more capable than their GPA expression and in some cases extraordinarily talented, but they require individualized support. However, we see that our overstretched teaching staff is not always available to support. There is only one school counselor for both the middle and high school.
Simple Objectives
In light of all of this, I have developed a plan to achieve three simple objectives:
- Know about course expectations (Know what you need to Do)
- Schedule time to meet the expectations (Know when to Do It)
- Don’t forget about course and schedule commitments (Don’t Forget)
This may seem incredibly simple. I have found that, in the absence of an academic coach such as those at Just2, most students are not aware of their course expectations. Many students don’t even keep a planner. The excuse that runs rampant is; “It’s all in the portal”. However, many students don’t regularly access their student portal. In some cases, students may even have parents or guardians who have generously provided them with smartphones, but students usually find that the portal app takes up space that could be used for social media notifications.
I speak with students every day
about something they hold near and dear: not having their parents take their phones. “The best way to achieve this”, I say, “is to show your parents that your phone functions as not just a form of entertainment, but also the most powerful organizational tool to date. A tool that is necessary to your executive function.” However, getting to a point of both viewing and utilizing a phone as a learning and organizing tool can be a tough road for all parties.
I am often accused of oversimplifying my articulation of student scenarios, but I believe this is often an effective approach to solving big problems. Student underachievement is a big problem, and part of this is feeling uneasy with their experience with learning. Kids need to feel confident in their abilities regardless of how far up the academic ladder they plan to climb.
Many of the kids whom I serve, whether in my volunteer work or my Just2 students, have supportive, engaged parents. They engage with their young people about their progress and offer support. The important difference between a parent and a mentor and a young person having both is the reason why I donate my time to support our local kids. I support them in completing assignments, communicating with teachers, getting their laptops repaired, accessing special education services, and remaining athletically eligible. This is important work and we are all doing it.
Solution Oriented: Know What you Need to Do, When You Will Do It, and Don’t Forget
At Just2 Tutoring, we are solution-oriented. We are minding our kids to:
- Know about course expectations (Know what you need to Do)
- Schedule time to meet the expectations (Know when to Do It)
- Don’t forget about course and schedule commitments (Don’t Forget)
Tell us about how you help your young person stay on top of their course expectations and meet deadlines OR let’s get real about how difficult or even impossible it is to inspire self-initiation and engagement in strategies that result in meeting the above objectives.
Who is interested in participating in parent discussion on this topic?
