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FOR MENTORS
 Mentoring Tips and Tricks
Suggested Web Links to Activities
Thirty + Ways to Connect with Young People
Tips for Building a Mentoring Relationship
What Will We Do Each Week?
For mentoring older youth:
General Career Planning Sources
General Educational Opportunities and Financial Aid
Occupational Information on the Internet
Suggested Web Links to Activities
http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/home.htm
- Great site! Links to jokes, trivia, stories and other fun and thought
provoking activities.
http://familyfun.go.com/ - Choose games or arts and crafts that are age
appropriate for you and your mentee from Family Fun Magazine. Great search
feature that allows you to fill in the blanks for child’s age and interest!
http://www.coe.uga.edu/chds/mentoring/mentoring_activities.htm - Exploring
personality types!
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/wmy2008/index.html - Read about famous
people and the mentors in their lives. You can even write a tribute to your
mentor!
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/sanchezov/mentors/ideas.html - Although
this site was designed for e-mentors (online mentors and students who
communicate via e-mail), other mentors will find great ideas and tips, too!
http://www.outdoor-nature-child.com/ - Nature activities and games
A Year's
Worth of Mentoring Activities - This is a list of 52 things to do with your
mentee - one for every week of the year. Some activities are designed for
community-based programs only!
This is a mentor / mentee quiz developed by the
Becker Institute. The purpose
behind this quiz is to develop a base for dialogue and enhance relationships
between mentors and mentees.
Quiz
Instructions
Mentor Quiz
Mentee Quiz
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Thirty + Ways to Connect with Young People
- Be first to smile
- Learn family members names and use them in
conversation
- Attend his/her activities - plays, art
exhibits, games
- Freedom within limits - set limits firmly -
and kindly
- Notice and Act
- Judge less - Support more
- Lend your favorite book and borrow one of
his/hers
- Discuss the news
- Say what makes you happy - exude optimism
- Share your favorite music
- Laugh
- Share your most embarrassing moments
- Expect respect, and show it too
- Search out what you have in common
- Listen
- Give examples of how today’s action(s) WILL
effect tomorrow
- Talk about people you admire and why
- Help him/her move through frustrations -
Share the silliest thing you ever got angry about
- Play games
- Walk around - see things through his/her
eyes
- Send a card
- Say what you value
- Talk about getting through hard times -
Discuss your failures/regrets
- Agree to disagree
- Talk about money
- Tell what makes life meaningful to you
- Vote
- Practice with them - teach a youngster to
balance a checkbook, change a tire
- Walk your talk
- Meet their friends
- Trust him/her - encourage truthfulness
- Forgive
- Help with decision making – some examples:
make a list of pros & cons, encourage them to follow their gut, contemplate
possible results
- Be a rock - never give up on anyone
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Tips for Building a Mentoring Relationship
- Be There.
When you show up every time for your mentee and 'struggle' to make things
work out you send your mentee a big message that you care and that he/she is
worth caring about.
- Be a friend, not an all knowing
authority:
Be the adult in your mentee's life that is just there for them, without
having to fix them. Hanging out and conversing with them is surprisingly
developmental for the youth. Young people learn more "conversing" with
adults than they do "listening" to them. In the words of a mentee:
"My parents lecture me all the time. why would I want my mentor to be the
same way. I have the best mentor in the program, but sometimes he tries too
hard to be a 'mentor', instead of just being himself. What I mean is that he
thinks he always has to share some wisdom or advice, when sometimes I would
rather just kick it and joke around."
Of course, when your mentee comes to you for help or advice, it is
appropriate to help them develop solutions. It's also okay to check in with
them if you suspect that they are struggling with something. They just don't
want non-stop advice. So, take the pressure off of yourself and just enjoy
your mentee's company.
- Be a role model:
The best that you can do is to lead by example. By becoming a mentor, you've
already modeled the most important thing a human being can do: care about
another. Here are some other ways you can be a positive role model for your
mentee:
a. Keep your word: Call when you say you will. Send what you say you will.
Be there when you say you will.
b. Return phone calls and e-mails promptly
c. Have a positive outlook.
d. If your program has group sessions, fully participate. "I don't know how
this is going to work out, but let's give it a try".
e. If you enter a competitive activity with your mentee, keep it in
perspective and by all means do not cheat (or even fudge a little) to help
your mentee win, or get a better place in line at an event, etc.
f. Let your mentee see you going out of your way to help others.
- Help your mentee have a say in your
activities:
Some mentees will have a lot of suggestions about what you can do together,
but most will need a little guidance on your part. If your mentee doesn't
have any preferences, start by giving them a range of choices. "Here are
some things we can do, which ones sound good to you?"
- Be ready to help out:
When your mentee lets you know that he/she is struggling with an issue in
their life you can combine the above tips to help them out:
a. Be there for them. Let them know you want to help.
b. Be a friend, not an all knowing authority: Don't fix their problem. Ask
questions and help them figure out how to come up with answers.
c. Role model problem solving (your mentor manual should have some tools for
this). You can also be a role model by telling them how you overcame a
similar problem in your life. Metaphor is a great teacher.
d. Help your mentee have a say: Once he comes up with a solution, don't try
to give him a better one. Make sure she has explored all the possibilities
and support "her" solution.
e. Be ready to help out by checking back and seeing how things worked out.
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WHAT WILL WE DO EACH WEEK?
Courtesy of Dr. Susan G. Weinberger, president, Mentor Consulting Group.
Below is a partial list of some tips and
strategies for your mentoring sessions. Check to see that they are age
appropriate. Remember to ask youth what they would like to do. Plan together.
Don’t be too structured, though. Spontaneity is important! Add some good ideas
of your own. Make a list of the ideas that you really liked and share them with
other mentors. Good luck!
- Engage in games such as chess, checkers,
Monopoly and crossword puzzles.
- Select books you like and read them
together. Get to an exciting part and finish it next time you are together.
- Start a book club.
- Exchange favorite recipes. Put them in a
book and use it as a neighborhood fundraiser for the program.
- Research the history of music and learn to
play a musical instrument together.
- Teach the beginning alphabet, words and
phrases of a foreign language.
- Create a scrapbook of memories that last the
entire year.
- Use a disposable camera to capture special
moments.
- Work on the computer. Create calendars,
write poems and search the Web.
- Set up e-mail correspondence between mentors
and youth if you are permitted and if your youth has e-mail access where the
mentoring program is located. Write to each other and touch base between
visits.
- Construct a kite together and fly it.
- Build and launch a rocket. Don’t forget to
take photos.
- Create a design and carve a pumpkin on
Halloween.
- Help research and design an extra credit
project.
- Create a time capsule and bury it. Determine
when it should be opened.
- Create a holiday, get well, or greeting card
for a special occasion.
- Discuss safety precautions such as wearing
helmets when riding bikes and fire safety in the home.
- Write an original storybook together.
- Discuss personal hygiene, health, exercise
and healthy habits. Remember that we are what we eat! Manage a diet plan
together.
- Teach how to give a good handshake. Practice
makes perfect!.
- Discuss proper etiquette and social graces.
Plan a field trip to a fine restaurant after youth pass all the tests. Make
sure to get permission and invite a chaperone. Get approvals from the
program first!
- Connect with the community. Research what
after-school programs are offered in the community in which youth might
engage.
- Encourage your youth to try out for school
activities such as the band, chorus, drama and sports.
- Play sports. Shoot basketballs in a school
or organization’s gymnasium.
- Explore what to do in an emergency. Create a
contact list and discuss 911 procedures.
- Plan for a sound financial future. Discuss
opening savings and checking accounts and the concept of good credit and the
meaning of credit cards. Invite a banker to speak with youth.
- Plan for future careers. Conduct mock
interviews for a job, read the want ads, discuss dress codes and fill out a
sample job application.
- Discuss opportunities for post-secondary
education. Research two- and four-year colleges and technical schools and
the meaning of financial aid. What does it take to get to college? What high
school courses should be taken? It is never too early to begin.
- Take a career interest inventory. Discuss
entry-level positions.
- Decide on a community service project
together with mentors and youth and carry it out. Plant a garden in front of
the local school, remove graffiti from school walls or collect food and
deliver it to the homeless. Take credit for the project as part of your
mentoring program. Ask the program what their needs are.
- Start a pen pal project with a group of
young people in another country.
- Talk about friends — those that your youth
has and those he or she would like to have.
- Decorate T-shirts and wear your creations
proudly.
- Discuss what your youth wants to be when he
or she grows up. Invite guest speakers in who represent the careers of
choice.
- Arrange to shadow corporate executives on
Groundhog Job Shadow Day, a national event in February.
- Have a game of basketball, football or
volleyball with mentors playing against youth.
- Help your youth to craft a personal mission
statement.
- Design and paint a mural on the wall of the
school.
- Act out a scene from a favorite book and
make a production out of it. Invite the school to attend.
- Discover ways to make spelling fun. Use
alphabet cereal or flashcards.
- Play Hangman.
- Discuss the positive activities youth can
get involved in during the summer.
- Walk outside on a nice day; sit under a tree
and just talk.
- Research and talk about famous people who
use their abilities to get ahead.
- Read the newspaper and discuss current
events.
- Share your life experiences.
- Share your career experiences. How did you
get to where you are today?
- Remember your youth on his or her birthday
with a card.
- Share your school experiences when you were
the same age as your mentee is now.
- Share a proverb each time that you meet.
- Build a model.
- Swap photos of youth and mentors.
- Bring a scrapbook or photo album from home
and share photos of your family, travels and pets.
- Share thoughts and feelings between meetings
in a small journal.
- Practice the answers to the questions for a
driver’s license.
- elp your youth write a resume.
- Discuss people you admire. Compare heroes
and research your favorites.
- Discuss leisure activities.
- Plan a leadership project with your youth
and carry it out.
- Tell your youth – if you could go back to
high school, what would you do differently?
- Complete a personality inventory to find out
who your youth is.
- Help your youth to design a unique and
original calling or business card.
- Ask your youth where they hope to be in five
years and in 10 years.
- Help your youth to get organized. Write out
what your youth does every day and what he or she would like to change.
- Practice how to get a point across.
- Research volunteer opportunities and adopt a
project. Giving back through community.
- Discuss travel and dream vacations.
- Discuss the pillars of character including
pride, punctuality, honesty and responsibility.
- Help to arrange a mini career fair and
invite other youth to attend.
- Cook a meal together if it is allowed. Ask
to use the school kitchen or home economics classroom if there is one at
your local school.
- Explore careers over the Internet.
- Teach how to ask a boss for a raise.
- Invite a guest from the local labor market
office to discuss market requirements and the fastest growing jobs today.
- Share your dreams.
- Help with homework. Make sure that your
youth takes the lead in making this decision.
- Plan a random act of kindness.
- Learn about how newspapers write the news
and invite a reporter to a session.
- Usher at the school play or musical concert.
- Arrange a field trip to visit a senior
citizen home. Read to the seniors.
- Hold a spelling bee and crown the winner.
- Try clay modeling
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General Career Planning Sources
Career Planning Process, Bowling Green State
University
http://www.bgsu.edu/offices/careers/process.html
JobhuntersBible.com:Counseling
http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/counseling/counseling.html
Test Your IQ, Personality, or Entrepreneurial
Skills on the Web
http://www.review.com/career/find/index.cfm
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General Educational Opportunities and Financial Aid
FinAid, The Financial Aid Information Page
http://www.finaid.org
Financial Resources on the Web: US News.edu
http://www.Usnews.com/usnews/edu/dollars/dshome.htm
College is Possible
http://www.collegeispossible.com/
Walking through the process, much information in
Spanish; much can be downloaded.
Preparing for College
http://www/ribghe.org/col-prep.htm
This is a Rhode Island based comprehensive college planning resource for
students in middle school through high school, their families and community
members.
America’s Learning exchange
http://www/alx.org
A huge database of classes. degree programs, specialty training opportunities,
you can find information on certification and accreditation and licensing for
states. Great links to industries.
COOL: College Opportunities on Line
http://www.nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cool/
Access to more than 9,000 trade schools, colleges and universities in the US.
Web U.S. Higher Education
http://www/utexas.edu/world/iniv/
Links to web servers at universities and community colleges in the US.
Distance Education and Training Council
http://www/detc.org/
This is a clearinghouse of information about the distance study/correspondence
field.
RVM Vocational School database
http://www.rwm.org/rwm/
This is a database of private postsecondary vocational schools in the US.
The Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training (BAT)
http://www/doleta.gov/bat/index.htm
A listing of apprenticeship programs.
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Occupational Information on the Internet
Featured Web Site:
National O*NET Consortium
http://online.onetcenter.org
U.S. Department of Labor
www.doleta.gov/programs/onet
The O*NET is a newly developed system for
classifying occupations and relating education, training, skills, licensing,
experience, typical tasks, specific demands on workers, and other information.
It replaces the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) and is a “work in
progress” which is being continuously updated. The O*NET can be accessed on the
Consortium site; the Dept. of Labor site is “about O*NET and includes an option
to download the O*NET.
America’s Career InfoNet
www.acinet.org/acinet
This site provides access to information on
employment outlook, wages and trends, employers, state profiles, links to over
3500 other sites, and tools for career exploration and an “employability
checkup”, in addition to links to America’s Learning Exchange.
Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH) &
Occupational Outlook Quarterly (OOQ)
http://stats.bls.gov
These Department of Labor publications and others
can be accessed at this site by selecting “Publications and Research Papers.”
The full text (modified for the Internet) of the Occupational Outlook Handbook
(OOH) contains, for many occupations, authoritative information on nature of the
work, working conditions, employment, training and other qualifications, job
outlook, earnings, related occupations, and sources of additional information.
The Occupational Outlook Quarterly (OOQ) is a magazine-like periodical
containing a variety of articles related to occupations. Some issues contain
information on occupational projections each time they are updated, and most
have an article devoted to a description of a single occupation.
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