Thoughts from week 1...
Guess one of the reasons I have this blog going is to kinda document what seems to work and what doesnt. Now this isnt a "how-to" on mentoring, more of a bunch of things that seem to hit home.
So here goes
Listen at your first meeting
Silence helps.. I talked a bit and then just waited, my mentee then opened up. Nothing specific just general things that he was willing to talk about. In most cases talking about school grades is easy, because he/she already know that you know about their grades. It also helped me find out what he liked... which leads me to
Find out what they like (and dislike)
My kid seems to be the kind that likes reading (interestingly he liked to read about religion and history) so Ive got some library sessions in mind. Finding out dislikes may be a bit tougher but I will get there soon
Allow them to interact and watch
We went to the office to pick up his shoes and was able to see what he was comfortable with. Some kids are introverts, and should be encouraged; mine really isnt and so it was nice to see him communicate with the folks at Bolder
Set your schedule up
Kids find it easier when they have a set schedule. Im in a process of setting up 2 days a week that we will meet. Once we have that schedule going I guess he wont have excuses to say that he didnt remember that I was going to be over.
Well thats all I have for week one ... lets see what week two brings