Mentor Timeline

The mentor serves as a guide and a resource in the accomplishment of specific tasks during the PYP Exhibition process. A mentor can help students to set and meet their goals.

The role of the mentor in the PYP Exhibition is to:

• Be supportive and encouraging

• Advise and keep students on track

• Goal setting and providing time management advice

• Encourage should regular meetings

• Offer advice on locating resources and using them efficiently

• Ask guiding questions

• Help interpret sophisticated/difficult information

• Facilitate interviews, telephone calls, and any electronic communication

• Guide students in documenting all mentor meetings by commenting on the Mentor Meeting Record Sheet.

• Celebrate achievements and successes with the students

The main role of the mentor is to advise and keep students on track throughout their inquiry. The mentor should:
* meet regularly with their group(s) – once per week
* offer advice on locating resources and using them efficiently
* ask questions
* help to interpret sophisticated or difficult information
* help to organize, arrange, or facilitate interviews, phone calls, field trips or electronic communications (emails, Skype, twitter interactions, etc)
* provide goal setting and time management advice
* be supportive and encouraging
* celebrate achievements and successes with students

The mentor should not:
* do any of the work for the students
* tell the students the direction to take, but instead ask probing questions to help facilitate their inquiry

Do not hesitate to ask for help from the classroom teacher any time you need. It is also important that any concerns over lack of progress be reported to the classroom teacher as soon as it is evident.

1. Build rapport with your group, explain why you wanted to be involved and find out what the students are interested in.
2. Have the students explain the Central Idea, their lines of inquiry and their plan of action. You might like to clarify their understanding of the topic by asking them questions and by discovering what they have already found out about the topic. You may make suggestions for further research.
3. As the students move along in their inquiry, they should be posing questions and pursuing answers. Check their progress, give them advice, and ask them probing questions to lead them into directions that could be helpful.
4. Ultimately the students need to ensure their final Exhibition presentation (as a group) includes the following:
a) Written work in a variety of formats and styles
b) Oral presentations, individually or in groups, to the school community
c) Use of technology
d) Ways students have taken action to help solve or bring more awareness to this real-life issue