Talking it Through: Communication Skills for Mentors promotes successful mentor/youth interactions and relationship-building. Once mentors learn about the complexities of their role, they often wish they were better prepared. Watching and reflecting on the examples in this course can help you be ready for sticky situations. The videos in this series are based on experiences of actual mentoring pairs.The interactive website, built to enhance ongoing mentor training, presents 13 video stories with real mentors, real youth, and real situations that illustrate common challenges and proven strategies. Use this resource to build your self-confidence as a mentor as it demonstrates how to:
- Handle difficult situations
- Empathize with mentees by noticing verbal and nonverbal cues
- Redirect mentee requests that are outside the boundaries of the mentor-mentee relationship
- Help youth identify their options and provide recommendations without judgment or coercion
A built-in journaling feature keeps new and more experienced mentors engaged as they test what they would do in similar situations. Users can save their answers to interactive prompts they encounter throughout the course. Notes are saved by the journal feature and can be downloaded at the end of the course.
This course if offered at no charge from Education Northwest. Access the course at:
http://talkingitthrough.educationnorthwest.org/
From: Mentor Michigan; Michigan Community Service Commission
