Page 186 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

Selecting a Mentor

Identify and select a person who has an interest in helping with your personal development. A mentor
is like a personal guide; he or she is a teacher, tutor, or counselor who is positive, supportive, and gives
you constructive feedback. A mentor can help motivate you and keep you moving forward toward
meeting your goals and objectives. A mentor also assesses the quality of your plan, the processes you
use (to meet your objectives), and the ongoing progress you make.

Sandra has found two supportive mentors this semester: the veterans counselor and her English
instructor. Both have been happy to talk with her about academic and personal concerns. Both
have also asked her if she would like to help mentor other student veterans next semester. Sandra
thinks she would really enjoy that. And, with her new schedule, it looks possible.

Sandra has been on her new schedule for two weeks now, and so far she is getting a lot done. She
talked with her veterans counselor before she spoke with Ty and Alicia; he helped her clarify her
values and her concerns. Her counselor asked Sandra to let him know how the conversation with
her sister and brother-in-law went and how her new schedule is going.

Step 7—Assess Performance
You have a plan and you are taking action. To determine how well you are doing, stop at intervals
and assess your progress. One way to do this is to apply the SII Method of Assessment (Strengths,
Improvements, and Insights). This will be outlined later in this chapter.

If appropriate to the situation, and agreed upon prior to the start of the performance, your mentor may
offer “ real-time” feedback to you during your performance, such as a basketball coach does, during
a game. Instructors give constant feedback by means of grades, comments, and personal conferences.
Asking an instructor or other mentor to give you specific feedback on a variety of tasks simply clarifies
and strengthens the Personal Development Methodology. Students also provide a kind of assessment
feedback to instructors when they perform an end-of-semester course assessment. Conscientious
instructors are always trying to assess their own teaching methods in order to help students become
stronger learners.

Sandra was able to meet with her English instructor for an extra conference because the draft
of her paper was done early. Sandra was also able to be better prepared for her math test. She
has let her mentor know how things are going and has discussed next semester’s schedule with
him as well.

Step 8—Adjust the Plan
Once you have performed your assessment, you may find you want to adjust your plan to best serve your
overall goals. Do not change your overall plan at this point; just apply any insights you may have had
about challenges and opportunities in achieving success. Adjustments might include revising planned
activities, your desired outcome, or the way in which you measure your progress. Continue to apply
anything that is working well for you.

Sandra is looking at scheduling her classes at different times for next semester. She finds she
does well with breaks for homework between classes, instead of scheduling all her classes in
large blocks on three days. Because she does not have to babysit as much, she will be able to
schedule her classes in the way that works best for her.

180 Foundations of Learning