Megan Lolley

The sessions that I conduct prioritize student learning and needs. I facilitate my sessions according to a basic format of an introductory activity, explicit teaching, and independent practice before closing with a comprehensive (and usually fun) activity to boost learning. I set learning goals for each session and allow my students to be a partner with me in these session goals. I like to utilize a variety of online tools to boost engagement and motivate students to connect with the material with a goal of increasing comprehension. I adapt the specific schedule of my sessions to each student according to the content area they are working with, their age, and their strengths and weaknesses as a learner. With younger students, I use more of this structure approach to work on specific targets that correspond with the level of learning that they are aspiring towards. With older learners, I like to encourage student autonomy by giving students opportunities to take charge of their own learning by re-teaching concepts to me, creating unique and engaging content related to lessons that interest them, and initiating conversations about their work. I have strategies for prompting progress during these sessions, but my goal is always to encourage and empower students to strive to reach their fullest academic potential in order to reach their goals. I believe education and academia is very closely tied to identity and a student's sense of self, so I work to foster a personal and comfortable learning environment for all of my students to explore their sense of self and personal goals. Becoming more reflective and aware of these things can help students develop growth mindsets and goal-oriented approaches to different challenges.