Sharing Good Practice
TUTORING, COACHING AND SUPPORTING
STUDENTS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
BY OCTEVIA TORIAN
and motivation from home and school.
We need to help our students by
providing suggestions, strategies and
resources to support their academic
and social skills; guiding them towards
finding their passion to empower and
change the world.
Students require additional support
in the classroom that empowers and
motivates them. However, motivation
and empowerment are lacking
within our schools and community.
Empowerment,
motivation,
and
support are missing in guiding students
into finding their passion. Students are
not motivated to attend school. They
are tired of doing the same routines in
the classroom. Yes, they need some
enthusiasm and strength. If we start
implementing various empowerment
or motivational strategies within the
classroom,
student
participation
would increase, and students will strive
harder to complete tasks.
H
ave you ever had a student
that was just not motivated or
did not connect to his or her
passion? No matter how many
times you added encouragement, the
student just doesn’t seem to care or
believe in a goal. Do students even
realize what their goals or dreams are
while in school?
I told my grandfather I wanted to be
a teacher when I was five years old. I
honestly do not remember. However,
throughout school, I never discussed
or even thought about being a
teacher. I started college, majoring
in business, then counseling, to finally
declaring elementary education as my
major. In my early 20s, I finally realized
I wanted to be a teacher. Could this
have been avoided early when I was in
school? Many times, I am asked, “why
did I want to become a teacher?” My
response, “I was bored and wanted
to make school fun for my students. I
became a teacher so I could change
the way students felt about school.”
Years later, I realize some students do
not have an understanding of their
goals or dreams. Just like me! So,
what better time than now to support,
motivate and empower our youth with
21st century strategies and resources
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May - Jun 2019
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which will guide them to their passion.
As a teacher and a person highly
involved with youth in the community,
I had always wondered, what was
missing in the schools and community?
As I have talked to many students of
all ages, I realized empowerment,
motivation, and support could be
the missing link. I have always had
a passion to motivate my students.
It’s what drives me to keep going in
education, but I feel there is more that
can be done to reach our students.
Students need a voice to express how
they feel with all the assignments,
testing, extracurricular activities, and
pressures of student life. My desire
is to connect their voice to the world
through empowerment, motivation,
and support.
Empower is defined as 1.) Give
strength and confidence to. Motivation
is defined as 1.) The reason for your
actions or behavior. 2.) Enthusiasm.
Students have more influence today
than in the past due to changes in the
community, school culture, and world.
Students require options for extra
support and resources, assisting them
to make positive decisions. Students
are dealing with an absence of support
Class Time
Empowerment
Anyone?
and
Motivation,
I provided my students with
a
questionnaire
about
what
empowerment,
support,
and
motivation means to them, and what
they wanted to see in the classroom.
As I read their responses, I was
pleased with the feedback. They gave
interesting examples on what they
would like to see in the schools and/
or community. Based on the results, I
created a list that described what they
wanted in schools to boost motivation
and empowerment. These are just
some of the ideas that the students
brainstormed:
• Provide empowerment lessons/
sessions in school or in the
community
• Provide websites and resources on
empowerment
• Provide support to pursue goals
and dreams
• Encourage with real life examples
to chase dreams. Pushing towards
their passion
• Start a new trend or campaign to
motivate the students