{"id":1327,"date":"2018-01-10T08:26:10","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T14:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teachersfirst.com\/blog\/?p=1327"},"modified":"2019-04-05T17:37:31","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T21:37:31","slug":"the-power-of-peer-mentoring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/2018\/01\/the-power-of-peer-mentoring\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Peer Mentoring"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I\u2019m going to start off this post with two brief personal anecdotes\u2026<\/p>\n

Upon being asked what I taught when I was in the classroom, I always reply \u201cI was a high school Spanish teacher\u201d, however, there\u2019s a little more to the story.\u00a0 My last several years, I had the opportunity to also take over one section of a class called Peer Helping and wow did it provide insight into the power of peer mentoring.<\/p>\n

As a middle school principal, I was able to witness two successful peer mentoring programs in my school: one a math peer tutoring and mentoring program and one a ELL (English Language Learners) peer mentoring program.\u00a0 Although very different scopes, they both provided my students with similar benefits.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s delve into this topic a little further\u2026<\/p>\n

A strong peer mentoring program can have a variety of positive outcomes, both for the mentees and mentors.\u00a0 Relatively few monetary resources are needed to start up a program and the benefits can be both rewarding and long-lasting.\u00a0 A successful peer mentoring relationship can help with students with self-esteem, a sense of belonging and connectedness at school, communication skills, and conflict resolution (just to name a few!).<\/p>\n

So, how do you go about starting such a program at your school?\u00a0 Here\u2019s what I would suggest as a general framework to begin:<\/p>\n

Determine program outcomes.<\/em><\/strong> What do you want your students to get out of the peer mentoring relationship?\u00a0 Self-confidence?\u00a0 A role-model? \u00a0Increased communication skills?\u00a0 Maybe all of the above?\u00a0 Whatever your program outcome, set that goal ahead of time to drive your program and it\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

Clearly define roles of staff and students. <\/em><\/strong>Determine how involved staff will be.\u00a0 It would be helpful to jot these down so that you can share information with all participants ahead of time.\u00a0 Spell out the responsibilities and time commitments of staff and students.<\/p>\n

Involve your school administration. <\/em><\/strong>Not much more to say here, but you\u2019ll want to communicate your plan clearly and ensure that you have their support.\u00a0 They can also help down the road with any resources and partnerships you may need.<\/p>\n

Plan out participant selection and training.<\/em><\/strong> Will you have an application process?\u00a0 I always found it helpful to involve school counselors or other such personnel in the process of student selection (of both mentors and mentees).\u00a0 It may also be helpful to have teacher recommendations for your peer mentors\u2026 having a teacher seal of approval is always beneficial!\u00a0 Now, how will you train the mentors?\u00a0 Come up with a training guide or agenda.<\/p>\n

Identify activities or a curriculum. <\/em><\/strong>This largely depends on your age group. \u00a0Have some icebreakers and get-to-know-you activities ready. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen board games and table topics<\/a> cards work for sparking conversation and relationship building.\u00a0 Maybe you want to start out in a group circle if you have a large group.\u00a0 Use your creativity here and cater your activities\/curriculum to your program needs.<\/p>\n

Determine any needed resources and\/or partnerships. <\/em><\/strong>Per above, do you need games or conversation starters?\u00a0 Breakfast or snacks?\u00a0 There are obviously a lot of free resources out there and you can also ask for donations from other teachers in your building or your PTA\/PTO and community.\u00a0 As for partnerships, I\u2019ve seen local businesses or groups provide assistance in the way of speakers, donations, scholarships, etc.\u00a0 \u201cHit the pavement\u201d and reach out\u2014that\u2019s what I always found most successful.\u00a0 Local businesses love to support their local schools!<\/p>\n

Collect data. <\/em><\/strong>Don\u2019t drive yourself crazy, but you want to make sure you can communicate that your program is growing and worthwhile.\u00a0 Track how many students you have participating and any benefits you can show (increased student involvement in school activities, grades, behavioral improvements, etc.).<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re still with me, thank you!\u00a0 I am so passionate about this topic, because I\u2019ve seen it work\u2014both at the grass roots level of teaching a class and from the broader lens as a principal.\u00a0 Let me know how it goes or if you have a successful program already, share any additional tips you may have!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m going to start off this post with two brief personal anecdotes\u2026 Upon being asked what I taught when I was in the classroom, I always reply \u201cI was a high school Spanish teacher\u201d, however, there\u2019s a little more to the story.\u00a0 My last several years, I had the opportunity to also take over one … read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[173,96,97,176],"class_list":["post-1327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social-learning","tag-classroom","tag-peer-mentoring","tag-relationships","tag-social-learning"],"modified_by":"Karen Streeter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1327"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1347,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1327\/revisions\/1347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teachersfirst.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}