I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for my mentorship and since I usually help out my old elementary or middle school in the summer I thought why not mentor someone in teaching or counseling. Unfortunately Mrs. Schoonover, Sierra Vista Middle School's counselor, wasn't available so I ask my 7th grade English and History teacher, Johnny Chung, if I could mentor under him. He told me he could really use some help setting up his new classroom because he had to move across the campus. Teaching isn't something I can ever see myself doing as a career but I can't just pass it up as an option.
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(714) 213-4211
Having gone to middle school with Mr. Chung as my teacher it was really easy for me to mentor under him because any questions I had I knew he would always have a great answer to them. Before this summer, I would actually stop by my old middle school and help Mr. Chung and Mrs. Song (his wife who also works in the same middle school) with the same thing I did this summer so I wasn't lost on what I was doing but this summer was different because I actually wanted to know about the career and not just be kind and help. With that being said, I always had a few questions for them, or anything teacher for that matter, that I was always curious about.
A few questions that I had were:
- How do you know that certain activities will be enjoyable but also helpful for the topic you are going to teach?
- Was teaching your first choice right out of high school?
- Out of your years of teaching if you had to pick a successful year, what year would that be and why?
The most important thing i've learned from this mentorship is that there is so much preparation involved before a student enters the classroom. The teacher had to go through each student's file and find whether there is anything in the past that will affect their ability to learn. Teachers also review where the student is weak and where they are strong. They look for any family problems just to examine any issues they had in the past. Another thing I learned that I found interesting was that most teachers now work in groups and they even create group test so everyone on the grade level can take the same test.
As much as I enjoyed helping an old teacher and learning about what being a middle school teacher takes, teaching just isn't for me. I wouldn't have the patience for it nor do I think i'm creative enough but I do like the thought of interacting with people everyday but maybe more of a coaching aspect. I had to stop playing softball do to an arm injuring and I could go back now but it's not really something I am still interested in. I love the sport and what it brings out of people and since this mentorship taught me that I might enjoy coaching, I don't see what the harm is in combining the two things I enjoy. My topic for senior year will be Coaching a Softball team. I've already got two people who would love to mentor me for my senior year.
Log of Mentorship Hours: click here
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