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Initiate Regular Interactions: Once
you have been paired with mentees your mentoring
will continue throughout January to March, 2006.
The NVSF Timeframe: Phase I, the local school
science fair, begins in December, 2005 and continues
through the middle of March, 2006. Winners of the
seven NESA school science fairs will advance to the
virtual competition, Phase II.
Regular interactions will greatly influence the
satisfaction of your mentoring relationship and
will develop a learning community. In order to encourage
this relationship, take the initiative to suggest
methods or alternative procedures for their experiments,
share your personal experiences, and pose questions.
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Respond to your mentee within 48 hours of their
adding notes to their research diary. If you are
extremely busy, just indicate that you will get back
to him or her as soon as possible.
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Listen to your mentees' ideas; encourage questions,
explore concerns and challenges.
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Focus the mentoring discussions on the research
project.
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Point your mentee in the right direction for information
when you do not have the answer (e.g., recommend
Web resources).
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Share your personal science experiences
and challenges completing a task
similar to what these students are going through.
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Communicate with the Program Director whenever
there is a question or concern (sfleischer@wbais.org).
Be Flexible and Patient: Remember what it was
like to be a student, realize that your mentee may
not understand "scientific habits
of mind," and may be impatient
with asynchronous conversations (threaded BlackBoard discussion
or email. Telementors bring new resources into classrooms
and make it possible for teachers to join their students
as learners. Teachers who model learning strategies
are often more effective than those who can quickly
supply factual information.
Note: Asynchronous “conversations” can
be enhanced using questioning strategies which promote
critical thinking and problem-solving. Avoid simply
telling your mentees what to do and think; instead,
continue their conversation thread by deliberately
using words/phrases from the Bloom’s
Taxonomy of
higher order thought processes table. Promote
critical thinking.
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