Jacob, a third grade student at Rivera Elementary in Denton, TX, has come a long way with his motivation and his academic focus from when I first started working with him last year.
When he was in second grade, I matched Jacob with a mentor, Mr. Bob, to try and help him improve academically and behaviorally. He had told me he wanted a mentor, but each time Mr. Bob would come to mentor, it was hard to pull Jacob off the basketball court with his friends. He knew it was only once a week, but it was still not the easiest adjustment as he got used to this new relationship.
As Jacob entered the third grade, he continuously asked me when Mr. Bob was going to start meeting with him again. His mom and I spoke about different tasks that would be beneficial for him to do while he spent time with his mentor, and we were hoping that we could nip the little problematic behaviors in the bud as soon as Mr. Bob started with him again.
Surely enough, ever since Mr. Bob started back with Jacob in September of this school year, Jacob has voluntarily shown up to meet with him rather than having to be searched for on the playground. Jacob also brings academic activities for them to work on together. There have been many times this year where I have observed them reading together or solving math problems. I’m super proud of Jacob’s motivation this year to learn his material and it’s awesome to see how focused he is! I can’t wait to see what else he accomplishes with Mr. Bob by his side.
