Sanchez Elementary School Online Mentoring Program Program Expectations for Online Mentors

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• As a mentor, on or offline, you will work to be a supportive, caring online adult friend. You may occasionally counsel, advise or teach... HOWEVER, in this program, you are NOT a substitute parent, a substitute teacher, or a professional counselor, nor are you expected to be as part of this program.

  The Sanchez Elementary School Online Mentoring Program has been set up to help support the academic goals of Genny Gamboa and Jim Wahrer's fourth grade class, primarily in the areas of reading and writing; and to establish a positive, trusting relationship between online adult participants and the students.

  Other outcomes we hope to achieve are increasing in positive feelings about technology from the point of view of all participants -- students, teachers, mentors and parents.

  Students will visit a computer lab each week to check their e-mail through this special web site, to answer mentors e-mails or to start new conversations with mentors on their own. Conversations will center around books the youth are reading and classroom activities directed by Ms. Gamboa and Mr. Wahrer, but we also have suggestions for other topics of conversation to help keep your conversations flowing.

   
  

• At minimum, we hope that each mentor and student will write each other at least once a week through January 31, 2001. These exchanges are the core of your relationship, and are the priority of this program.

  Also, you are expected to read and, as appropriate, respond to all e-mails from teachers and the Virtual Volunteering Project (which will be infrequent).

  In addition to these minimum requirements, and as your schedule and interests allow, we encourage you to:

  • e-mail your student even more often than once a week

  • interact with other mentors in our special online area, to talk about experiences and ask questions of each other

  We will provide updates to all participants before the pilot period is completed about the future of this program, and how you can, if you choose, continue your participation.

   
  

• We suggest you plan for 30 minutes a week for participating in this program. This can be at anytime, day or night, that you choose! At the very least, it will mean reading your protegé's e-mail and writing e-mail yourself. Occasionally, you may also want to read messages from other mentors, and you will also have very short messages from the teachers or the Virtual Volunteering Project you will need to read and, sometimes, answer.

   
  

• BEFORE YOU BEGIN, you must complete the online application, and, when directed, complete your online profile survey. You will not be matched with a young person until these two items are completed in full.

   
  

• Don't be surprised if there are ups and downs in the student's e-mail levels. At the beginning of the experience, youth will probably write often. This may taper off suddenly when the interactions aren't "novel" anymore. We have many suggestions for your online interactions, to help keep the conversations flowing.

   
  

• E-mail exchanges with students will not be accessible by other program participants or the general public at any time. For safety reasons and program evaluation, these e-mails WILL be accessible by the teachers of this class, as well as the manager of the Virtual Volunteering Project.

  Messages from mentors will not be forwarded to students until they have been approved by a representative of the Virtual Volunteering Project. A mentor will use a special password to send his or her message to the protegés; it will be read by the VV Project representative and, if approved, will be forwarded on to the student. All messages will be read for approval within 24 hours of receipt (two business days; excludes weekends and holidays).

  Messages will be rejected if a mentor has violated the guidelines outlined in this online manual, attempted to engage in or encourage criminal activity, or if the supervisor feels the subject matter is inappropriate for the youth.

  Parents will also be able to view exchanges between their child and a mentor if they so request. Otherwise, no exchange will ever be reproduced or forwarded to any other person without your express approval.

   
  

• For security and privacy reasons, there are some things you should never share with your protegé, and that the youth should never share with you:
  • Your "real" e-mail addresses (those you use outside of this program)

  • Your postal mailing address

  • A phone number

  • Aliases you may go by in any online discussion group

   
  
• You are strongly discouraged from sharing e-mails from a student with others, unless directed to do so by the project supervisor.

   
  

• NEVER arrange to meet your protegé face-to-face or over the phone without explicit approval and direction from teachers. We are happy to make arrangements for such a visit, as possible and as appropriate, but we have to keep in mind parents' safety and approval concerns, and the appropriateness of such encounters.

  Also, NEVER arrange to interact with your protegé electronically outside of this program's Web site. That means do not arrange to "meet" via any online discussion group or chat room on any web site not associated directly with this program.

   
  

• No press/media outlet will be notified about your participation or your activities in this program without your express approval.

   
  

Return to the main page of the Sanchez Elementary School Online Mentoring Program