Keep regular and frequent contacts with your mentees and teacher-in-charge, a minimum of two-three meetings per week.
Set expectations with students for how and when you will contact each other. After first meeting, ideally students should initiate meeting through calendar invite mentioning agenda for the meeting. Refer mentoring slots while booking meeting with students
Help your student in identifying and setting goals. Use exhibition calendar as reference. Track progress and make changes as needed.
Stay updated and in the loop by reading and replying(if needed) to communication done by teacher-in charge, team leader or students. Explore this website to understand exhibition process.
One of the most important role of the mentor is as subject expert not so that you can answer students' questions but ask the right questions.
Offer advice on locating primary and secondary resources, using them effectively, suggesting 3-4 important resources which can get them started, helping interpret difficult or sophisticated information.
Help organize, arrange and/or facilitate field trips, interviews, electronic communication (phone call, email, Skype, Hangout etc)
Be supportive and encouraging
Allow and support the students do the heavy lifting. That's where the real learning will take place.
Follow a gradual and authentic process of inquiry. Process is more important than product.
Help students recognize ways of applying their learning in real life and taking action.
Conduct formal and informal assessment (formative assessment) and it's result can be used for conducting feedback meeting and goal setting.
Mentors are involved in assessing the mentees. Keep recording anecdotes and observations on regular basis so that it doesn't come as a backlog later on. We expect you to submit these comments to the teacher-in-charge by 18 April.
Celebrate achievements and successes with students.
Live in the moment and take in the awesomeness that is the PYP exhibition.
The mentor should not:
do any of the work for the students
tell the students the direction to take, but instead ask probing questions to help facilitate their inquiry
Mentor – Student Meeting Suggestions
Build rapport with your group, explain why you wanted to be involved and find out what the students are interested in.
Have the students create and explain their central Idea, their lines of inquiry and their plan of action. 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. You may make suggestions for further research.
As the students move along in their inquiry, they should be posing questions and pursuing answers. Check their progress, give them advice, and ask them probing questions to lead them into directions that could be helpful.
Important note: This year art component is going to look different. Students, instead of presenting their research topic through arts, will be using one of their strengths or interest area to present one of the big ideas learnt during the whole of the unit. New groups will be made for this. Mentors are not responsible for art component(dance, drama etc) [I hear that phew ;)] , it will be taken care of by the arts team and HRTs. But since it's going to be fun and really exciting if there is anyone who wishes to be part of it is most welcome!
Do not hesitate to ask for help from the teacher-in-charge, G6 team leader (Zahabiyah Shaikhmahmood) or PYP coordinator (Sanjana Amarnani)