Positive Attention

This blog begins with an honest statement, and that is, “We all like a little attention.”

Do you agree?

Chances are, you’re an adult reading this blog, and if we as adults can admit that we desire attention, imagine what the level of attention that children require must be.

As Mentors it is our delight to give attention to those we mentor.

Requirements Differ

Some mentees require a little more, for a variety of reasons.  It is important for us to be aware of this. This could be for a variety of reasons; some may have had a challenging day at school, not having adequate sleep the night before and they are grabby.

Most times they won’t outright say it.  Although we do have one… who will let you know that she needs our attention.  And we willingly obliged.

The staff has noticed such a change in her behavior!  She’s more open to our suggestions and has even taken more of a leadership role.

 We learned yesterday that she really has a nice signing voice.  We quickly took that opportunity to use her gift by adding her to our upcoming Fashion Show.  (Stay tuned, you’ll have an opportunity to purchase tickets, or donate.)

No Hesitation

She didn’t hesitate when we asked.  I believe this was partially because we had paid positive attention to her.  Complimenting her on her leadership skills and intentionally asking her how she had put them to use during the day.

Also, during our journaling time, we specifically gave her prompts that required her to write about her skills.

The Benefits   

One of our other mentees is a drummer and he creates beats. Last week he created a new beat and came in excited to share it with us.

We capitalized on this opportunity as well! We put aside our normal routine allowing him to upload his creation so we all could hear it.

His shyness disappeared as he ‘got busy’ dancing to his own beat.  This encouraged the others to do so as well!

This created an environment that allowed us to do the following:

Let him know we are interested in what he’s interested in.

We let him know that we value his musical skills.

When the others began to dance with him, it helped to create a community of appreciation.

This will help the others know they are welcome to share their interests, skills and talents also.

Imagine what a little positive attention will do.

Picture Credit: Tim Mossholder@Unsplash.com