mentor

Look at the following resources:

Connector Resources

Press over the above image to access questions that have already been asked by new students

We have created a blog where you can share with other connectors your experiences and challenges while participating in Connect ALL. We invite you to use it as frequently as necessary. We will provide you with a ussername and password so you can access it and post any useful materials. The link for our blog is: http://connectors2010.wordpress.com/.

This blog has been designed exclusively for connectors use. You can share with your new student any materials you obtain from the blog however keep the names and questions of your fellow connectors private. Such privacy will allow connectors to feel more comfortable when posting questions on the blog.

The University of Nottingham describes four important mentoring skills connectors can use to improve their relationship with new students:

1. Asking effective questions

2. Active listening

3. Motivating

4. Fostering reflection in new students

For more information on how to develop these skills look at the following link - http://pd.nottingham.ac.uk/eng/Personal-Development/Mentoring/Mentoring-Skills

Asking questions

As a connector it is useful to ask the new student questions so they can come up with their own vission of the problem and alternatives. Asking the right questions can also foster critical thinking in the new student. Questions can be divided in four categories:

1. open-ended (may be short such as Where? Who? What? and can be used to start a conversation)

2. closed questions (used to receive specific short answers such as yes or no)

3. probing questions (used to invoke further information on a specific topic such as What happened when you did that?)

4. link questions (used to provoke greater reflection on an issue and introduce new information).

Listening

If you would like to discover how effective your listening skills are you can take a quick quiz at the following link: http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=test-your-current-listening-skills_1

Feedback

Yet another important skill to develop is giving and receiving feedback. A useful resource if you wish to read more on giving and receving feedback can be found at the Community tool box web page prepared by the University of Kansas. In particular access the following link for this topic: http://ctb.ku.edu/en/tablecontents/sub_section_main_1236.aspx

There are three types of feedback: a) summary, b)clarification (show the new student that the connector is paying attention to what the new student is saying or asking), and c) interpretive (explore feelings behind new students thoughts).

According to Daloz a connector or mentor should also be able to fulfill the following tasks:

1. Support new students by

- Calling out their Inner voice
- Providing appropriate structure
- Expressing positive expectations
- Advocating and explaining

2. Challenge the new student. . . by

-setting tasks
-providing an alternative voice
-helping new student identify their assumptions
-encouraging hypothetical thinking
-providing specific positive feedback

3. Provide vision by

-offering a map
-keeping tradition
-suggesting new language
-providing a mirror
(from Daloz Chapter "Mentoring" in Galbraith pp 451-469"

New skills and resources can be added according to what connectors suggest during the academic year.

We will include the names and e-mails of the new students that join Connect ALL each academic year. This will be added as soon as the Adult Learning and Leadership Program provides them to us and the new students request to join us.