As a mentor, your role is to facilitate learning, which is different from directly teaching. Students will look to you for answers, but what they really need is help learning how to find the answers themselves. Here’s a few ways you can do that:

• Ask breadcrumb trail questions: these are the questions that are open-ended, and intended to help shepherd the student to the answer (not lead them by the nose). Some examples:

  • Well, what do you already know about the topic?

  • I understand why you might be frustrated and not see how to calculate your profits. Let’s take it one step at a time. What do you think a “profit” is?

• Ask students to summarize what they learned yesterday. You can tell a lot about a student’s understanding by asking them to explain or teach you.

• Watch group dynamics. One of the things this program focuses on is teamwork. They are learning how to listen to each other, how to respect each other, etc. Help them work together.

• You do not have to be a “know it all” as we encourage you to use your professional network to assist your group. If you are still having trouble, then you should contact the Community Champions so they can access our wall of excellence. You need to be the facilitator of knowledge, not the owner of it.

Although you’re not responsible to ensure the team has a dynamite idea, your responsibilities are threefold:

1. Know the curriculum roadmap. We use Lean methods to teach entrepreneurship in this course. Make sure you know the pacing and scope of the curriculum so you can help prepare students for upcoming events and leverage what they’ve already done.

2. Collaborate with student teams on communication protocols and status updates. Students are not used to working with working adults, so you’ll need to set protocols about how they can and should reach you. Additionally, you will want to tell them how you want status updates. Status updates from teams should occur prior to the face-to-face meetings, so your face-to-face time is used efficiently. Status updates can come in the form of emails, a shared document, or whatever method you like. The purpose is to ensure that you have the necessary understanding of where students are prior to the face-to-face meetings.

3. Facilitate learning with student teams. This rarely means you’ll be talking to the group lecture style. Your responsibility is to listen and guide and look for opportunities to step in and help. You’re more like the coach, not the quarterback. You are expected to meet with the students teams once a month during pre arranged dates during class. It’s imperative that you reach out to your student teams to get a status update before meeting with them, so your face-to-face time is efficient. The time you spend with students face-to-face should be strategizing solutions or improvements, not spent on updates.

4. Collaborate with the teacher and “wall of excellence” on where and how you can provide content expertise. Most lessons are very prescribed, which means if you have an area of specialty, talk with the classroom teacher about it so she/he can leverage your expertise best. A word of caution: stick to the curriculum (beware of curriculum creep) and trust in the process. These lessons were designed and tested by educators. So, although it may seem different than what you are used to, they are students who are learning only part of a very complex system. You can’t teach them everything all at once, and what we are teaching them - and what we’re not - has been carefully crafted.

5. Support classroom/team management. This is a natural responsibility of any adult in the room. This means if you see something awry, either let the teacher know or help out.

How often do I need to come in?

We are asking you to meet with groups during the required mentor days as a minimum that are: (INSERT DATES). If you need more time in class, just let me know prior and I will see what I can do with the curriculum.

You do not have to meet with your teams during class time only. Teams have found success with meetings at a local library, coffee shop, or after school on school grounds. However, please learn the school rules and protocols for meeting with minors outside of school hours or off grounds for school projects. Some standard, common guidelines: never meet with just one student and always meet in a public place.

Can I communicate with students outside of standard class to help?

This is up to the policy of the school and the discretion of the teacher. Talk to the teacher and/or the school to ensure you are within policies.

Why aren’t I giving more lectures about my experience and what I’ve learned?

As you probably recognize, the best learning happens through doing, not listening. If you have lessons to share, share them as teams need them. But remember: the exercise of learning isn’t to get it right the first, it’s to learn how to eventually get it right.

How can I make my time as efficient and enjoyable as possible?

Frequent, clear communication and collaboration with the teacher is vital to a successful mentor relationship. Also: think about how you can bring some of what you’re doing in the classroom back to your place of work. Set up a status report board where you can post notes or updates about what the students are working on. Getting others excited with you can help.

The safety and security of the students and staff at Westlake High School are of the utmost importance. You can park in the visitor section on the west end of the main parking lot off of Camp Craft (next to the stadium). In order to enter the building, you will check-in with the campus supervisors at the security desk. They will scan your driver’s license and provide you with a name badge to wear during your visit. Please keep this name badge on and visible at all times while you’re in the building. The INCubator classroom is located on the 1st floor by the ninth grade library.