I really enjoyed Atwell’s piece on Making the Grade. I have always felt that one on one time with students and teachers are beneficial to learning. It is a very important relationship to have, that of a mentor and a mentee.
I understand that some may say it’s not practical. Maybe it’s not, but I feel like there are always ways to make it work. Of course, I have not been in a classroom yet. I really think it would be worth a shot though. It could even just be utilized three times a semester, not necessarily before and after every project.
Perhaps I could meet with students once in the beginning of the year to assess goals and hopes for the year. I could then meet with them in the middle of the year to go over what has been accomplished and what they still wish to accomplish. Finally, we could meet at the end of the year to see what has improved and where they should be at for the next year. Then again, maybe this is the exact method that Atwell was suggesting.
I think logistically speaking it could be a challenge, especially when meeting during class time. However, if there were ways that I could meet with students during their free time, we could avoid taking up class time entirely.
There are obviously ways to make the process move faster as well. Students would definitely need to be prepared before the meeting, which would increase responsibility on their part as well. It also could be an optional meeting for at least one of the three. Or I could assess my students and figure out who might need it the most and go from there.
This is all very disorganized, but I just really love the idea of having goal setting sessions for students who need it.