SGHS Mentor Training

1. SGHS Mentor Training 2012

2. Items to Cover • Purpose of Mentors • Confidentiality • Skills needed for Mentors • Empathy • Attending Skills • Questioning • Goals for the upcoming year • Freshmen Registration

3. Mentoring Benefits • Opportunity for self-growth • Contribution to others and sense of school community • A chance to give back to the community • Resume booster • A+ hours

4. Confidentiality • Students often feel more comfortable talking with a peer than adult-so it is imperative that you understand confidentiality. • You must break confidentiality if • Threats are made student • Threats that a student will harm themselves • Student threatens to harm others • See Confidentiality Contract

5. Careful Listening • Look at the person who is talking • Pay attention to who is talking • Avoid drifting away to your own thoughts • Be aware of the feelings that go with the words • Say something to show that you have been listening • Wait till it is your turn to talk • Don’t change the subject unless it is deliberate • Don’t always wait till the end of the story to interject • Read example • Role Play

6. Empathy • Empathy-Understanding other individuals so completely that their surface feelings and even their deeper feelings, thoughts, and motives are easily comprehended. • Sympathy is pity and is different • Use paraphrasing to convey your empathy for a situation • It is not effective when repeating word for word • It lets others know that you are listening • Things often sound different when they are repeated back to them, so the helped helps them to get a more complete picture or understanding of their feelings. • This is one of he most important skills!

7. Summarizing and Paraphrasing Examples • You seem to be saying….. • In other words… • Correct me if I am wrong, but you are saying • What keeps coming through me are these ideas • Ex. I didn’t know what to do, sometimes she is nice and sometimes she is mean • Ex. I am really having a hard time getting my parents to trust me and it make me so angry every time I go out

8. Questions • Open vs. Closed • Avoid Why/ Try What or How • Ex. Why do you like him or What do you see in him? • Ex. Why don’t you like the class or How would you describe the class? • Try not to ask too many questions • Worksheet • What are some questions to ask of new students when giving a tour?

9. Other • Compliments are helpful and be as specific as possible • Ex. one of the things that I noticed about you is…. • Simple acknowledgement • Thank you • Thanks for sharing • Reassuring/Supporting/Advice • Dangerous territory • Ex. I know you feel • Ex. It’s going to be alright • Ex. you need to study more • Ex. go ahead and ask her out • Avoid Sarcasm • Avoid Negativity • Ex. Dances are really stupid • Ex. That teacher is easy • Boundaries-Never give out your phone number • Classroom Behavior Tips

10. Resources • Website • See Mentor Plan • Advisory Visit Reports • Communication • Email/Texts • Lead Mentor Meetings

11. Goals for This year • Have a concrete plan for mentoring the Buddy Program • Enhance and expand Freshmen Olympics • Work with freshmen class sponsors with ideas to enhance advisory • Enhance 8th grade presentation in October • Mentors chair events • 100% advisory teacher satisfaction! • Use Club Day Meeting for Practice and Planning

12. All Mentors • Exchange Contact Information • Advice/Best Practices and Challenges to Mentoring in the Classroom • Would like to add to website • Information about the upcoming meeting

13. Freshmen Registration • Advisory Assignments • Comments/Questions

14. My Agenda