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I was thinking about becoming a mentor. Do I have to work in a school to be involved in a mentoring program?

January just happens to be National Mentoring Month, so it’s a good time to start something new in your life and something that could be invaluable in the life of a youngster. Perhaps you’ve seen the public-service announcements on television or heard about local men-toring programs through newspapers or radio.

Although many schools have mentoring programs that involve school personnel, you do not have to work in a school to be a mentor. There are many other mentoring programs that exist both in addition to and separate from school programs and outside the school building as well.

Go to www.mentoring.org to find a wealth of information about how to become a mentor. You can even enter your zip code and learn about the mentoring programs in your area. The web site contains information about mentoring, including information about a relatively new form of mentoring online, called e-mentoring. The web site also includes information about how to set up, manage and evaluate a mentoring program, as well as research information about the effectiveness of mentoring.

Another web site that offers good information about mentoring is Who-MentoredYou.org. Because mentoring programs in your area probably need more volunteers, visit one of these web sites to find out if mentoring is for you.

How can I make the most of the upcoming parent-teacher conferences that I will attend? I have one child in elementary school and one in middle school.

Since you may only have fifteen to thirty minutes for your conference, it’s important to make the most of the time that you have. For your elementary school child, you will probably want to focus on the basic learning needs: English-Language Arts and Math. Once you’ve discussed your child’s strengths and weakness in these areas, you may want to ask the teacher about your child’s peer groups and his overall day-to-day behavior. Finally, if there’s time, ask the teacher if your child is willing to try new things at school or if your child ever asks questions in class. You will get a better picture of your child’s educational situation if you know the answers to these questions.

Your conference with the middle school teacher, or teachers, may center on work habits. It’s important to discuss academic progress, but the conversation may need to center around how your child is getting his work done. Is he rushing to finish and not doing a good job? Is he handing in all the nightly homework assignments and working steadily on long term projects? If there’s time, ask if your child is getting along with everyone in the class, or if he is only working with a small group of students.

Remember that once the conference is over, the lines of communication should be kept open. Call the teacher or write a note to express concerns as they come up. Don’t wait until another conference to address a big problem that should have been handled while it was still a minor problem.

Send questions to: Answers from the Teacher, P.O. Box 54, South Egremont, MA 01258. Questions may also be e-mailed to answersfromtheteacher@adelphia.net.

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