Tips for effective mentoring

Here are a few helpful things that I have picked up on not only in my mentoring at King but also through my experience as a calculus TA here at Tech.

1. Listen to the teacher--pay attention to how he/she explains new material. Try to use similar teaching methods and the same terminology that the teacher uses, so the students will more easily understand.
2. Watch the students as you mentor them--the ones that are falling asleep or talking with their buddies are the ones who probably are not learning the material.
3. Learn students' names--not only does this offer a sign of respect to them, but it will also help you when you need to call out one of the students mentioned in (2).
4. A rarer case, correct the teacher if he/she is wrong--this probably applies more often to those who mentor from 9-10 (with non-math teachers that have to teach math--see "How to mentor"). Today, in fact, I was in a social studies teacher's classroom and I saw that he was explaining a Venn diagram incorrectly. I interrupted him after a minute or so, but he was very glad I did and recognized that he himself is learning the material almost at the same rate as the students.