This is the sixth article in the series of six, for the teacher, who works with pitching in the classroom.
In this last chapter, you get to learn what to turn your attention to when the students have finished their pitching and how to keep them working.
In the wake of a pitch
As a teacher, you usually facilitate the students’ process from getting an idea to doing a presentation, in some cases that presentation being an exam. If that is the frame, to finish off with a pitch, which is natural because of how the school system is set to work, with the years coming and going, new classes starting up for the students to attend, you and the students might look at a pitch as the endpoint of it all. That is a bit flawed.
Off course there are cases, where the students’ ideas or products, for some reason doesn’t turn out to need further investigation, but that doesn’t mean that all of the students’ projects should be shut down following the exams. (The, for some, unthinkable might happen – a student could have a great idea)
Cultivate their dream
As you have also taught them during the process, a pitch in itself isn’t the most important thing. A pitch is a tool, that helps you generate interest and engage new partners. A pitch is a situation, where you talk to a chosen audience, thereby getting golden feedback, that can sharpen your idea or product, making it viable outside the classroom when you keep working. The pitch is just a comma, not a final dot. The good idea should and must get the help that they deserve.
The system is a challenge. Both you as a teacher, who has obligations in your workplace, and the students, who has new assignments in their new classes, can find it hard to put in the time. But the inspirational teacher fights to keep making room for the dreams to live on.
Maybe you could, once in awhile find the time during an afternoon, and sit down with the students and have a meeting in a room at the school, to follow their progression and help them out. It makes good sense, that it should be you doing it, as you know where they are coming from and where they are heading. But if you haven’t got the time yourself, maybe you could help them out by finding an external mentor, could be a student from the university and help them research on local opportunities for setting up a new business. To know everything about entrepreneurship in their age is difficult, so hand out your knowledge and tell them about your experiences.
Sadly there isn’t much room left for helping the teacher for now. But if you are getting interested in the realms of pitching, there are plenty to read on this blog. Enjoy!
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