Mentoring Students at Hawthorne

Through this mentorship experience at Hawthorne, I have discovered the importance of teaching proper editing techniques in the writing process. Working with a group of gifted young writers, it is clear that consistent editing is crucial in allowing these students to express their ideas. The student who I have been working with has been struggling with proper paragraph format. I was able to assist him in revising his writing by suggesting he read the first few sentences of each paragraph as well as the last few. If the sentences did not connect in any way, it was clear that he had moved on to a new idea at some point in the paragraph. From that point I was able to guide the student in looking at his paragraphs and figuring out where to break them up based on individual ideas.

I also admire this teachers methodology of creating assignments for students. By using short descriptions of what is expected, the teacher is able to facilitate inquiry based learning for his students. The students are given a topic and limited guidelines to explore the subject in their own way and express their ideas through different forms of writing. In order to place agency on the students and engage them in their learning, I would like to implore a similar practice in my own teaching.