Why should I do it:

• Provides a student with a personal connection and buy-in
• Helps student to feel like someone “has their back”
• Increases student morale
• Improves student motivation
• Source of accountability, encouragement, support, and advocacy
• Helps student to perceive school, teachers, work in a more positive light

When should I do it:

• When students are unsuccessful academically or behaviorally
• When other intervention seem to fail
• When a student is having significant issues getting along with others
• When students exhibit very little motivation and effort or just do not seem to care about work and/or behavior
• When students seem to have little guidance and/or support in the home
• When a student seems suspicious of the school and staff
• For those kids that always seem to get a bad bream and are perpetually in trouble and/or failing
• When a student is frequently suspended and/or is in danger of expulsion
• When a student does not seem to respond to anything else
• When a student does not seem to have any significant connections to learning, academics, behaviors, etc

How do I do it:

• Read the RESA mentoring presentation below. If you cannot open the document, save it to your desktop and then convert it from its current format, pptx, to a PowerPoint slideshow, ppt, using this website: http://www.freefileconvert.com/
• Mentors should be voluntary
• Keep the student with one mentor, don’t switch around
• Mentors should not set out to “fix” the student and all the student’s issues
• Mentors should be supportive, encouraging, and engaged
• The student/mentor relationship is all about connecting and establishing a rapport and trusting relationship
• Mentors should try to do something fun or engaging with the student, like shooting a basketball, playing cards, or talking about a common topic of interest
• Mentors should listen, listen, listen! Use active listening with students
• Mentors should help students to set goals, plans, and solutions
• Mentors only need meet with a student once a week for 15 or so minutes

Resources & Support for technique:
(Items with footnotes link to external websites)

• RESA Mentoring as a Tier II PBS Intervention.pptx ¹
• Tips For Mentors ²
• TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS on Mentoring.doc ³
• 20 Ways to Be a Great Mentor.pdf ⁴
• What If?.pdf ⁵
• Mentoring Guidelines.pdf ⁶
• Mentoring Activity Ideas.pdf ⁷
• Tips For Mentors: Open-Ended Questions ⁸
• Tips for teen mentors: How to make connections with teens ⁹
• Articles:
  • Mentoring And Young People ¹⁰
  • The Moment of Youth ¹¹

Footnotes:

1. McEvoy, C. School-wide Positive Behavior Support: Mentors. [http://www.resa.net/downloads/positive_behavior/adult_mentors_20120725_141558_10.ppt].
2. Carr, R. Tips for Mentors. [http://www.mentors.ca/mentorideas.html].
3. Adapted by Mentoring.org from mentoring program interviews conducted by MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership. TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS. [http://www.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_488.doc].
4. Mentor Michigan. 20+ Ways to be a Great Mentor. [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/20_Ways_to_be_a_Better_Mentor_101420_7.pdf].
5. Mentor Michigan. What If… [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/What_If_101421_7.pdf].
6. Mentor Michigan. Mentor Guidelines. [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Mentor_Guidelines_101422_7.pdf].
7. Mentor Michigan. Mentoring Activity Ideas. [http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mentormichigan/Mentoring_Activity_Ideas_288509_7.pdf].
8. Katz, L. Tips for Mentors OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS . [http://www.everydaylearners.org/sites/uwucdev.org/files/attachments/Open%20Ended%20Questions.pdf].
9. Stairs, K. (2008). Tips for teen mentors: How to make connections with teens . [http://www.helium.com/items/1005522-tips-for-teen-mentors-how-to-make-connections-with-teens].
10. Philip, K. (2000). mentoring and young people. [http://www.infed.org/learningmentors/mentoring.htm].
11. Price-Mitchell, M., Ph.D. (2013). The Moment of Youth. [http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-moment-youth/201301/mentoring-youth-matters].