For my experience hours I went to Montera middle school in Oakland, California where i had the wonderful opportunity to shadow a teacher there that teaches specifically African American males. I was able to be his teacher assistant (TA) for the day and shadow him. The teacher that i shadowed is my mentor Kevin Jennings, where I had the chance to to meet the students that he teaches and mentors. I helped in the classroom when I was needed to do so. I also pitched in the conversation because the topic that day was about Black History Month and famous black inventors. When I first went into the classroom I did not know what to expect from the students and their reactions when seeing a stranger in their classroom. I was able to shadow two of my mentors 6th grade classes and his 7th grade Manhood Development class (MDP). I was able to meet some of the 7th graders in his class during the lunch break. I was able to be a mentor to the students who I had a chance to meet because they had a lot of questions for me about high school and other things that i’ve experienced and they are now going through. What I’ve notice while I was doing my experience that mentoring is not all about giving someone advice about something. You can also be a friend and build a relationship with that person where the person feels more comfortable to ask for help when needed. For example how i tried this with the students was try and find out what they like then to build off of that to turn it into a conversation. We all talked about basketball for the rest of lunch and they left the classroom knowing that I somehow I made an effort to show them that I care. That is what I feel that my mentor does really well when working with his students.

What my mentor has taught me from my experience hours is that building relationships with the students is the strongest way in becoming an implacable mentor. Then to uplift the students by referring them as Kings and Queens, implementing the awareness that they come from greatness. Also that they are not a statistic but put on this earth for a purpose. You install this mindset in the student, so they know that you are here for them and they can rely on you. This is another method that is very helpful to get the students really engaged in the topic or lesson, which creates a healthy learning environment. There are times when you need to be strict, and that is when there is a lesson to be learned.