Who can be a mentor?
The learning community encourages and actively supports the well-being of students and teachers throughout the process of the exhibition. Mentors are drawn from all members of the learning community. Homeroom teachers, specialists, administration, guidance, learning support, language teachers, etc…anyone with a passion for helping students learn can be a mentor.
How much time commitment is it?
Mentors will work with their assigned group from March 25-May 3rd. Mentors will meet with their group for the first time during the week of March 25th and then will coordinate further meeting/communications times until May 3rd.
Who will I work with?
Once students have formed groups and topics, mentors can choose a group they would like to work with.
What do mentors do?
The role of the mentor is a coaching role. Students will have a process journal they will bring with them to each meeting, outlining their goals and the work that needs to be done. You can review it with them, ask questions to help them deepen their understanding, and help them organize their ideas and duties for the week until your next meeting.
Role of Mentors:
- Guide students with making phone calls, writing emails, scheduling and conducting interviews.
- Help students interpret sophisticated, difficult information from their research sources.
- Keep students focused on their issue, helping them to determine if information fits in with their central idea and line of inquiry.
- Ask probing questions to help facilitate student inquiry, such as, “Have you thought about …” and “How does this connect to your learning goal(s)?”
- Support, encourage, and provide feedback throughout the Exhibition process.
- Help guide and monitor group in their setting and accomplishing specific tasks and weekly learning goals.
Suggestions on Mentoring the Groups
- Build rapport with your group, explain why you want to be involved and find out what particular ares of their issues the students are interested in.
- Have the students explain the Central Idea, their lines of inquiry, and action plan. You might like to clarify their understanding of the topic by asking them questions and by discovering what they have already found out about the topic.
- Make suggestions for further research (MISO). Guide them to use Credo and MS Explorer to extend research.
- As the groups move along in their inquiry, they should be posing questions and pursuing answers. Check their progress, give them advice, and lead them into directions that will be helpful.
