Genius Hour Mentors |
You may want to find a mentor outside of our class for your projects.
Why?
Why?
- Although I am pretty smart, I am not the source of all knowledge! There is a very good chance that I will not be able to help you with the content of your project.
- There is no textbook for our course, therefore, you don't have a standardized expert resource to refer to.
- Even though you will read websites and watch videos about your content, these will not able to tell you if you are on the right track or not, an expert can!
- An expert mentor CAN help you guide you and answer questions along the way.
- Someone outside of this class.
- Someone who is trained or experienced in your area of focus.
- Someone who is at least a senior in college. I'm willing to make exceptions if you can give me a great reason why that person is an expert :)
- A mentor will meet with you to discuss your project, possibly more than once!
- A mentor will be available to discuss the project with me once or twice.
- These discussions can happen face-to-face or via social media (Skype, Google Hangout, phone, etc.)
A mentor relationship is not a requirement. If you cannot find someone, we can talk about ways to find a mentor if you need one.- You may be tempted to ask a famous person to mentor you and I would encourage you to ask. You never know what might happen!
- I would give potential mentors 3 days to respond to your request. If you don't get a response in that time, move on to someone else.
- It's possible that a mentor may agree to help you, but not follow through. If this is the case, talk to me as soon as possible. Your grade will not suffer if someone else doesn't hold up his/her end of the bargain.
When I find a mentor, what do I do next?- Let your parents know. Why? Your parents should be aware of the people you meet online, or outside of school, especially while you're a minor. It is just good digital citizenship and safety:)
- Direct your mentor to this page so he/she knows what is expected.
- Give your mentor the general idea behind this course and your project. It wouldn’t hurt to share your project proposal with your mentor.
- Give me your mentor's name and contact information so I can follow up.
- Plan a time and platform (telephone, Google Hangout/Skype, email) for meetings that are convenient for both of you and let me and your parents know this schedule too!
- Although I am pretty smart, I am not the source of all knowledge! There is a very good chance that I will not be able to help you with the content of your project.