Please indicate the student skill areas that you feel you influenced through this project.
4 - Improved math comprehension and ability
2 - Improved science comprehension and ability
8 - Improved written communication skills
7 - Improved basic research skills
7 - Improved project management skills
6 - Improved collaboration skills
Please indicate if your mentoring support aided your student in the following areas.
7 - Better understanding of a professional work environment
1 - Improved awareness of post-secondary educational opportunities
4 - Increased desire to research and plan for post-secondary education
7 - Improved awareness of the value of a professional support network
The average quality of the messages received from students throughout the project.
4.09
Did your student share a final product (presentation, research report, plan, etc) with you for this project?
1 - N/A
5 - Yes
5 - No
Average level and quality of assistance received from the teacher throughout the project.
3.82
Average level and quality of assistance you received from Mentored Pathways staff throughout the project.
4.09
Things either the teacher or the Mentored Pathways Staff do to make a similar project more successful.
Expectations on what the student shares at each stage
The expectations for us as mentors after Semester end (but before the projects go to district competition) were unclear, at least to me.
While this was by far the best Telementor experience I've had, it was yet another project that did not follow the stated timelines. Delays were due to other class commitments. To be fair to students and Telementors, it would be better if teachers prepared realistic timelines for these projects and had perhaps less audacious project goals.
Each project I have been on has been impacted by classroom activity not related to the project. I totally understand that other efforts might take priority over the Telementoring project; however, it's not as though these cannot be accounted for when determining the scope and duration of a project.
The only issue that I observed was that the student was trying to manage two projects at once, and one of the projects had a different goal than the project description. So the timelines, outline, and the update emails from the teacher did not pertain to the student I was helping.
N/A, ITP staff helped answer questions and teacher gave some background into what was happening in the classroom for understanding the everyday work of the students.
I never felt like I had a rapport with De'Ante; that can take some time to develop, but it seemed like we immediately got into the rut of status updates by him and me trying to get him to write and think more about the project. Maybe if the first 3-4 messages dealt solely about either of us we would have gotten on better.
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Improve communication when delays/other impacts occur to project timelines. More than once I found myself lost on what the student was attempting to accomplish and share with me.
Feedback regarding the quality of the student's final project as well as suggestions for improvement.
In my opinion, the student project drafts contained a lot of grammar, spelling and basic writing problems. The student is obviously very creative, has some excellent ideas on running his small business and I think he is solidly on track with a great project. However, the poor writing meant we both spent more time on what I thought were remedial things than I would expect for a high school junior or senior. Maybe my own children were really good writers and my expectations are improperly set.
I only saw a draft, not the final project. The student did mention there were further edits and revisions to do. But since I never did hear anything, all I can do is assume this project completed.
Heather decided to enter the project into a Competition. I have to say it was really good so I hope that she does well.
My student seemed genuinely engaged, appreciative, and excited throughout the project, and was a lot of fun to work with. However, the final draft shared with me still contained the basic grammar, structure and logic problems I had pointed out during my reviews. It was disappointing to see my feedback disregarded - especially since it had appeared to be gladly received.
I think that the quality of the assignment was very good, the content was very accurate and the students showed a high level of understanding for the topic. Suggestion would be to help with putting together a final report, particularly the use of spell-check, formatting, and presenting results.
I didn't get to see the final project
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Spelling and grammar issues aside, the content was outstanding. Well-researched and insightful... I was so proud of Dana's work.
Overall experience in the program.
4.09
Would you consider mentoring new students in the future?
0 - No
11 - Yes
Why or why not.
Very rewarding experience due to the exchanges between the student and me
I am truly dubious about how much impact I'm actually having based on this and several previous experiences, but I want to try.
I enjoy helping out when I can, and Telementoring is a pretty easy and convenient way to do that.
Always. The work with the students keeps me active in learning new things and researching items that I've not thought of before. I truly win by working on these projects.
I liked the structure of the mentoring program.
It is an effective way to help students without having to give up too much time or convenience.
I just watched a TED talk by Drew Dudley - http://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership; in it he talks about instances in everyone's life that seemed small at the time but had a profound impact. I want to be that person who made a difference in a young person's life
It is a good professional experience.
I love making an impact in these kids' lives. I look back and think, "What if I'd had someone give me the opportunity I'm giving them?" And I know that my life, education, and career would've been enriched. So I hope I'm doing that for them.
The most rewarding aspect of participating.
Discussions with the student
Seeing the level of engagement and creative ambition. My student has a lot of ambition and energy. That is exciting to see.
Just helping out a student.
Heather's fresh ideas and helping her to apply them.
When I thought my time and effort and advice was going to be utilized to enhance the project (which was all the way up until the end).
Seeing the final product after the student took feedback into consideration.
When it works, seeing the changes in the responses of the student when we connect.
Share time with young people.
I loved seeing Dana improve and learn as we communicated week to week. Opening her mind up to new ways of thinking about things and giving her suggestions based on my personal experiences... those are the rewards for me.
The most difficult aspect of participating.
Not always knowing where they are in the process
As discussed above, the time spent in what I think are Freshman English kinds of corrections.
Timelines and the feeling the Telementoring project is second hat to every single other classroom project.
The project itself was challenging (improving employee engagement requires a bit more work/life experience than I think most high schoolers have). It was also difficult seeing advice completely disregarded and seeing a final product that I thought could have been much stronger.
Figuring out a common language and method to reviewing materials.
Making connections with students who have gotten this far in life without learning social, networking and communication skills.
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Project timelines and delays. This seemed to be a recurring theme on this project. I understand that Telementoring takes a back seat to required coursework, but several times I just found myself lost on what to do...
First time you've been part of a formal mentoring program.
10 - No
1 - Yes
