Mary Anne McCloud (KS) and Jolene Combs (CA) discuss problems they've encountered in their mentoring. (Photo by Bill Flechtner)
by Peggy Gregory
JEA Mentoring Committee
After an initial Ice Breaker (pieces of which continued after breaks and after lunch until everyone was able to briefly share personal bits of information in “headline” form), mentors got to work.
The day began with a large group activity called Problem Posing/Problem Solving. Nick Ferentinos set mentors up in partners. Each person quietly brainstormed problems he/she had encountered. Then partners shared one at a time while the other listened and took notes. Feedback was given and solutions offered before switching roles and repeating the process.
Here’s a comment about the activity from the end-of-the-day evaluations mentors completed: “Knowing I shared similar problems with the group was comforting! Keep up the review of what is most important for all mentors to know.”
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From the blog editors: We’d be interested in comments about this activity from those of you who participated in the Mentor Forum. What were some of the problems you discussed and what were the solutions? Mentors who weren’t able to attend the forum can post a problem, too, and see what solutions we can propose.