August 9th, 2010 by anderseriksson

So what is Mentoring really all about? The following report includes some fascinating information about Mentoring–info you can use, not just the old stuff they used to tell you.

An established teacher mentoring program is an important asset for any educational institution. It helps develop talent, maintain a school’s quality standards, ensure its compliance to state or even national benchmarks and provide high quality standards of teaching for students.

It’s also a way to help improve the quality of teacher personnel and assist new teachers in getting assimilated into the environment. This is why preparing a proposal for a teacher mentoring program should be a careful and well thought-of process, something that must be carefully deliberated and designed in order to produce a plan that will be a perfect fit for the institution.

There are several important steps and considerations to keep in mind when designing a proposal for a teacher mentoring program. These include:

Establishing the goals and purposes of the school
Before writing a proposal for a mentorship program, it is important that the goals and purposes of the school is understood and considered. Ultimately, this is the benchmark upon which the efficacy of the program will be assessed. Determine what the organization wishes to achieve through the mentorship program and how the program will fit the image, values and philosophies set by the school.

Determining the needs of the organization
In every organization, there are areas where it can show strengths and weaknesses. If the goal of the organization is to close the gap between its weaknesses and the current standards, it will be a lot easier to establish what the organization needs and design a more effective and successful teacher mentoring program.

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A mentoring program also has to fit the specific requirements of the participants. Elementary level teachers, for example, may have different needs than high school level or collegiate level teachers.

Assessing the available resources for mentorship
The next step to preparing a proposal for a mentoring program is to find out what kind of resources the school has that may be used with the program. Staff specialization, number of teachers or personnel that can assist or participate in the program, materials, funding and even external resources that may have to be tapped should be considered.

For many organizations, including schools, the use of resources can be a touchy subject, particularly if it involves budget. Establishing the cost and type of requirements that may be involved in a mentoring program initially will help school administrators to decide whether or not the program is feasible.

Establishing the responsibility and accountability of the program
It is important to establish which department will be responsible for the implementation and assessment of the program. This department will ensure that correct practices are enforced and that certain standards are met. If necessary, creating an audit team might also be considered.

Establishing the benefits and creating quality perimeters
The benefits of the program should be enumerated in order to show the administrators that it is necessary and useful to the school. The proposal should also include the standards for checking the validity, relevance and efficacy of the mentoring program. These standards should be quantifiable to allow for easy measurement and evaluation.

Preparing the proposal
The proposal is a formal presentation of the mentorship program and as such, should follow certain guidelines. The proposal must be well-written and informative, establishing the facts about the program immediately. This will allow the administrators to see whether or not the program will be useful for the school. The success of the proposal and ultimately, the teacher mentoring program will depend on how well it is designed and accepted by school administrators.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit his new GVO affiliate site: GVO

July 7th, 2010 by anderseriksson

If you’re seriously interested in knowing about Mentoring, you need to think beyond the basics. This informative article takes a closer look at things you need to know about Mentoring.

Guiding people through the right way through life can be a daunting task for any person who is tasked to do it. A person who has to do the guiding has a lot of delicate balances to strike: he or she has to be strong enough to reprimand the person who is following him or her when that follower is not being obedient or is straying from the right path; on the other hand, he or she has to sometimes allow the follower the chance to stray, so that the follower can gain experience and thus be much wiser. There are many different things that a person has to do to guide his or her follower or followers, and these concepts of guidance are covered under coaching and mentoring.

The process of mentoring involves the relationship and bonding between master and pupil, a togetherness that is more commonly referred to as mentor and protégé. A mentor is someone who may sometimes be older, but who is certainly more knowledgeable, more wise, and perhaps even more serene and settled than what might predictably be a less knowledgeable, less wise, and flighty protégé. The mentor’s task is to be the guide for the inexperienced protégé: as the protégé learns more and more from the mentor, the protégé is farther thrust into greatness.

The mentor-protégé relationship has long existed in history, and has been glorified by pop media. There are also many different mentor-protégé relationships in the modern world. For instance, when an employee first enters a company or business, he or she is adopted by someone who has been in the company or business for a long while. Because a new employee might experience culture shock, or might not be prepared for the rigors of the current workplace, the mentor serves as a buffer and guide through how the company or business operates, making the transition easier for the protégé.

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Still in line with workplace relationships, an existing employee might show potential as someone who could one day lead, or who could move on and be great elsewhere. In this case, a person experienced in the company could informally take on this employee and be his or her mentor. In this relationship, the mentor will teach the protégé the necessary skills to advance in the workplace, so that one day, the protégé might perhaps take the mentor’s place, advance elsewhere in the hierarchy, or move on to another company and do even better.

The concept of coaching, on the other hand, is quite different from that of mentoring. In coaching, a method is employed in which a leader or overseer directs the movements of a person or a group of persons. In coaching, the instruction and training given are done with a definite end goal in mind. The methods of directing people’s movements and thought process might include giving motivational talks. There are also ways to train people in order to make them perform better, such as through seminars or workshops, or through practice, such as those done by sports teams.

In mentoring, a mentor teaches a protégé how to live better or how to function better. In coaching, perhaps better seen as a more specific method of mentoring, the coach guides his or her team in order for them to meet an end goal. For sports coaches, this will mean victory in a game. For marriage coaches, this will mean a stronger marital bond. For family coaches, this will mean a stronger familial bond, between parents and children, and sometimes, amongst the children themselves.

There are many different kinds of mentoring and coaching, as well as different techniques associated with each. For more information, you can talk to professional mentors and coaches, or do more research online.

Is there really any information about Mentoring that is nonessential? We all see things from different angles, so something relatively insignificant to one may be crucial to another.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit this new site for my swedish customers: Billigt Webbhotell – from SEK 10:- per month!

June 15th, 2010 by anderseriksson

The only way to keep up with the latest about Mentoring is to constantly stay on the lookout for new information. If you read everything you find about Mentoring, it won’t take long for you to become an influential authority.

Many schools in the US have formalized the process of mentoring novice teachers as their way of inducting the new teacher into the teaching profession. They run Mentoring Teachers Programs, which enable a newbie to adjust to the new teaching career through the assistance of a veteran teacher. In these programs, the veteran teacher, the mentor, coaches the new teacher on several areas in teaching such as how to prepare lesson plans and execute them, how to handle students of different ages and characteristics, how to teach more effectively in different kinds of settings, how to resolve classroom conflicts and the like.

Benefits to the New Teacher

The program leads not only to improved teaching skills but also to increased job satisfaction on the part of the new teacher. According to Evenson in his book on mentoring teachers, the new teacher benefits in three ways. First, the program allows the new teacher to easily adapt with the school environment. Aside from helping the new teacher get acquainted with the school’s staff and facilities, the mentor also teaches him how to observe and cope with the school’s rules and regulations.

Second, the program allows the teacher to establish teaching competence. This is achieved as the mentor provides the new teacher with opportunities to observe, assess, and practice his and other teachers’ teaching. The process encourages feedback from and constant communication with the mentor.

Lastly, the program introduces the teacher to teaching as a continuously developing and a life-long profession. If the new teacher feels that he gets as much support as he can from colleagues and the school administration, he will likely stay in this profession and would gladly make himself available as well for future teachers who would need his assistance.

Other Benefits of the Program

Hopefully the information presented so far has been applicable. You might also want to consider the following:

The benefits of mentoring programs are far reaching. It is not only the new teachers that benefit from the program but all the participants in the program including the mentor, the student and the school as a whole as well. Thus, mentoring programs are seen not just as a form of assistance to the new teacher but as a vehicle for the improvement of the school’s whole educational system.

For the mentor, the program serves as another opportunity to share his wealth of experiences, knowledge and skills. Much of these skills and knowledge are not found in books or reference materials. They are accumulated through time through extensive training and professional practice. Without the mentoring programs, these experiences, knowledge and skills gained and acquired through time may gradually fade away.

In a way, the mentor also improves himself as a teacher in the process of mentoring. He does this as he reexamines his professional experiences inside and outside the classroom and as he provides tips and guidelines to the new teacher.

Moreover, the mentoring program provides him with an added source of income as mentors are usually compensated for the extra services they render.

Students are directly and indirectly benefited with this kind of program as their new teachers gain more teaching skills and knowledge, which are imparted to them. Ultimately, the students learn more things and enjoy their classes more when the teacher is prepared and well versed with the topics he or she is discussing.

A research conducted by Southwest Educational Development Laboratory to study the mentoring programs in Texas reveals that many districts see mentoring teachers programs also as a vital retention strategy. The study recognizes that the attrition of new teachers is among the cause of shortages of teachers in some schools.

If you’ve picked some pointers about Mentoring that you can put into action, then by all means, do so. You won’t really be able to gain any benefits from your new knowledge if you don’t use it.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest acquisition: Adsense Sites and make sure to download the free adsense sites package!

June 11th, 2010 by anderseriksson

Current info about Mentoring is not always the easiest thing to locate. Fortunately, this report includes the latest Mentoring info available.

When people say that ?no man is an island,? they don’t only mean that no man or woman should live alone. That much-used phrase also refers to the fact that men and women are perpetually learning creatures: they need the help of someone to guide them through life, and to help them make wise decisions. Moreover, as these same men and women grow older, they also have the chance to be a guide for someone who is younger and less experienced than they. This need for people to feel connected, loved, and taught by someone better than they are has given rise to different concepts such as mentoring.

Mentoring, or the process of mentorship, is really a growing, strengthening bond that occurs between a mentor, who is more experienced, not necessarily older, but who is certainly wiser; and his or her protégé, a mentee or someone who is less experienced and wise, and who therefore needs to be guided by the mentor. The concept of mentorship has long been known and tracked in history. In fact, it was Homer’s Odyssey that first gave rise to the term ?mentor? through its character called Mentor, who, despite the fact that he is presented as a somewhat debilitated old man, is actually used by Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, to guide Odysseus’ son Telemachus through a difficult time in the young man’s life.

The concept of mentorship also takes various forms in different cultures and periods of history. The Ancient Greeks had the concept of pederasty, in which teachers could hone young men to greatness. The Hindu and Buddhist religions have the concept of the guru, where a wise, religious man serves as the spiritual guide of someone who is misguided or who needs to know the Truth. In Judaism and Christianity, the concept of discipleship forms both history and current practice, as clergy or deeply spiritual people guide their respective flocks or followers. Lastly, in the medieval guilds, an economic system was built in order for apprentices to learn from guild masters and thus ensure the longevity of their respective crafts.

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There are many famous mentor-protégé relationships in history. Take, for instance, the triplet of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, three great minds in philosophy who actually preceded each other. That is, Socrates was the mentor of Plato, and Plato was the mentor of Aristotle. Aristotle was even the mentor of Alexander the Great. The Christian faiths owe a good deal of their spread to the letters and preaching of St. Paul. In the music industry, the rapper Dr. Dre is mentor to younger rappers Eminem and Snoop Dogg. In the movie industry, the famous and late British actor Sir Laurence Olivier served as mentor for multi-awarded actor Sir Anthony Hopkins.

Even fiction has its own share of mentors and protégés. There are the Jedi knights of the famous Star Wars epics, where Qui-Gon Jinn mentors Obi-Wan Kenobi; when Qui-Gon Jinn dies, Obi-Wan Kenobi takes on Anakin Skywalker; Luke Skywalker, Anakin’s son, is mentored by Yoda. The master-padawan relationship in the Star Wars series is actually akin to that of a mentor and protégé, not so much fighting or sparring partners.

In the employment arena, there are also mentoring programs to help employees do better. For instance, in new-hire mentorship, new employees are taken on by experienced persons in the company in order for them to work better and be accustomed to the company culture and climate. In high-potential mentorship on the other hand, existing employees that show promise are taken on by experienced persons who may be interested in seeing them progress higher through the company hierarchy.

These are only a few facts that are associated with mentoring. There are many mentoring and mentorship programs available, and you can find out more about them through the Internet.

Don’t limit yourself by refusing to learn the details about Mentoring. The more you know, the easier it will be to focus on what’s important.

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By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest acquisition: Adsense Sites and make sure to download the free adsense sites package!

June 8th, 2010 by anderseriksson

What is mentoring? Mentoring pertains to the development of rapport involving a more knowledgeable mentor and a less knowledgeable protégé or mentee. A protégé or a mentee is a person who is guided, supported and protected from an experienced mentor. A mentor is the one who boosts the career of a protégé or a mentee.

What is best practice? Best practice is an organizational idea which states that there is a standard activity, process, method, technique, reward or incentive that is more effectual in accomplishing a specific result. The idea is that a desired result is delivered with few or no unexpected complications and/or problems. Best practices is also described as one of the most effective and efficient way in carrying out a task, based on tried and tested procedures.

Therefore, best practices in mentoring involve the development of an equally beneficial correlation that improves the proficient intelligence of the mentor and the protégé or the mentee. A good mentor usually projects expertness, candidness, affability, and communication skills. Enthusiastic protégés or mentees have a tendency to express desire for knowledge, utmost discipline and self-respect.

A Good Mentor

A good mentor is a mentor who (is):

? Listens well and treats the conversation with the mentee as confidential.
? Determines what is important to a mentee and explore their ambitions, propensities and skills.
? Knows the importance of the learning process by creating a candid and open relationship to promote confidence and trust.
? Accepts the fact that in some cases a mentee may need to seek other sources of assistance and help.
? Appropriately trained and has vast knowledge in mentoring.
? Should have a professional approach in mentor-mentee relationship.
? Refrain from mentoring those who are directly reporting to them, no matter how professional the relationship is, this will avoid other colleagues to think that the mentor may influence some matters pertaining to the issues concerning the mentee’s decision and position.

A Good Mentee

A good mentee is a mentee who (is):

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? Very enthusiastic to be taught and trained and is liberated to new ideas or concepts.
? A team-player who can interact well with other people.
? A risk taker who is not afraid to go beyond the boundaries of safety and venture into uncertainties to learn.
? Patient enough to realize that an ambition in life cannot be acquired overnight.
? A positive attitude, even in the midst of a crisis.
? Demonstrates inventiveness and resourcefulness in any task assigned.
? Accepts feedback, negative or positive, about behavior and skills, with an intention to improve and learn from it.

When is a Mentor-Mentee Relationship Good?

A good mentor-mentee relationship is not just gauged by the personality of each that they bring into the relationship, more significantly, the occurrence of proper interaction and behavior is needed all throughout the process. What the mentor accomplishes with the mentee, and how eager the mentee responds and receives it, is what matters most in such a relationship.

A good mentor-mentee relationship cultivates and successfully carries out the following:

? Career Roles:

1. A mentor that introduces new opportunities to the mentee, which the latter believes in.
2. A mentor that coaches and sponsors a mentee, which the latter gratefully accepts.
3. A mentor that protects and challenges a mentee, which the latter understands as part of the relationship.

? Psychological Roles:

1. A mentor who is a role-model, which the mentee looks up to.
2. A mentor who counsels, which the mentee receives wholeheartedly.
3. A mentor who befriend a mentee, but is still focus enough to achieve the goals of the relationship.
4. A mentor and a mentee who accept and confirm each others ideas.

Within this representation, a mentor serves as a leader, a teacher that encourages thinking abilities, an advocate of realistic principles, an overseer, and an analyst. A mentee on the other hand is a student who is willing to be taught and is ready to embark on a journey towards an absolute learning experience.

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May 29th, 2010 by anderseriksson

Teenagers are facing the most critical stage in their life ? adolescence. At this stage, they experience the transition from childhood towards adulthood; in the process of transition, teens deal with lots of biological, emotional, social and psychological changes. Often, these changes make a life of a teenager miserable. There is a great desire to fit in, to be accepted for who they are, to find their true identity, and to realize their own strengths and weaknesses. This is where peer mentoring becomes a lot of help. It keeps the youth guided and makes them feel loved, cared for and accepted.

Features and of a Peer Mentoring Program

Peer mentoring is a kind of mentoring program, which matches older youths with younger ones. The former provide the latter with guidance, advice, and all forms of support they need to be able to meet challenges of adolescent life. The older youths do not only serve as mentors but as role models to the younger ones. They are not perfect but having been through the same stage and most likely, the same problems, predicaments, and challenges in their homes, school and community; they are in the position to provide friendly advice, positive influences, attention, and moral support to these younger teens.

Mentoring programs, either in schools, local communities, and youth organizations bear the following characteristics:

? Centered on the needs of the youth ? Every peer mentoring program is designed to meet the specific needs of the teens to be mentored. Those who come from broken homes, for example, may need more time for counseling and recreation activities that would help them divert their thoughts on sad experiences at home towards happy ones. Those with academic problems may require more time for tutorials.

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? Participants voluntarily join a peer mentoring program ? A big part of the success of peer mentoring lies on the voluntary participation of the mentor and the younger teens. The student must not be forced to attend the peer mentoring program as this would only make things more difficult for him. The student must first acknowledge the need to have a mentor, someone who is older, wider, and more experienced than him. Only upon acknowledging this need can he actively participate in the activities in the mentoring program.

? Mentors are bound by the responsibility to keep things confidential ? Trust is very important in building good relationship between the mentor and the student; thus, it is a must or the mentor to keep things that he and the student talks about confidential. Without trust, it would be hard for the person mentored to talk about the things he feels and thinks especially about very critical issues involving him, a close friend or his family.

Joining a Mentoring Program

Joining a peer mentoring program starts with the eagerness to be a part of a support group or program that is aimed at creating changes both on the life of the mentor and the younger person to be mentored.

If you want to be a mentor, first you must be prepared in all aspects. Do you have a plan on how to conduct peer mentoring? Do you know what to do when trying situations arise? Do you have the patience necessary for you to deal with persons who might be going through tough moments in their life? How would you handle issues such as early pregnancy, divorce, and drug addiction?

When you are ready, the next thing you should do is to look for a pee mentoring program that is suited to your interests. You can look for these in your school, local community and even online. You may also ask for your teachers, schoolmates, and friends’ recommendations. You can also ask the head of your local community church or youth organizations in your community or neighboring areas.

I hope that reading the above information was both enjoyable and educational for you. Your learning process should be ongoing–the more you understand about any subject, the more you will be able to share with others.

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By Anders Eriksson, who just launched this great product..
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April 20th, 2010 by anderseriksson

The following paragraphs summarize the work of Mentoring experts who are completely familiar with all the aspects of Mentoring. Heed their advice to avoid any Mentoring surprises.

Joining a mentoring program is a very powerful tool that can help you reach your potential because of the training and empowerment it provides. Mentoring is also one of the most effective ways for you to advance in your career because your skills are developed and your performance is monitored. In short, mentoring enables you to be the person you really want to be.

Two-way Relationship

It is important to realize though that mentoring is a relationship between two people who trust and respect each other. Mentoring is not simply a teacher-student relationship; rather, it is a partnership that will help both the mentor and the mentee grow both personally and professionally.

The mentor can aid the mentee so that he can find the right direction he should take in his career. The mentors will usually rely on their own experiences in the past and their knowledge about the industry. Because of this, mentoring can be a great way for a mentee to understand his career options and progress professionally in the future.

Most of the time, having a mentor will boost the confidence and the self-assurance of a mentee because he has all the support, encouragement, and guidance he needs. But the mentors should also take note that challenging the mentee to do his best is the best thing they can do so that the mentee will know how to handle difficult situations the right way in the future.

Truthfully, the only difference between you and Mentoring experts is time. If you’ll invest a little more time in reading, you’ll be that much nearer to expert status when it comes to Mentoring.

As was mentioned earlier, a mentoring program is a two-way relationship; so likewise, the mentor can also expect that he will learn a lot from teaching and guiding another person. This will develop his management and leadership skills so he will develop empathy for people who is experiencing the same struggles he did in the past.

Benefits of a Mentoring Program

A mentor will help a mentee believe in his or her capabilities as a person. Because of this, the self-confidence of the mentee will be improved and they will be more apt to accept more challenges in the future. The mentor would also enable the mentee to explore new ideas so that you can achieve a higher level of self-assurance in yourself and explore even greater highs of success. The mentoring program will be an opportunity for you to take a deeper look at yourself, your goals, your personality, and your life. This will enable you to know which the right path you should take in life is.

Features You Should Look For

Of course, it is inevitable that some mentoring programs would be better than others because of the features and objectives provided by the specific program. For example, it would be better for you to get a mentor from outside the company so that you will get an unbiased view of what you should do regardless of who your boss is. The mentoring program would not be entirely effective if your mentor knows your boss as well.

Likewise, the things that are discussed during the mentorship program should always remain confidential between the mentor and the mentee. And lastly, the mentorship program should be focused on the person. The mentor should be aware of the everyday challenges that his mentee faces so that these issues can be faced accordingly and enable the mentee to succeed in his career.

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April 18th, 2010 by anderseriksson

“Mentoring”, this Greek term has been used in countless ways so you can expect that there are various wise mentoring quotes that abound. But it all refers to the same concept, giving guidance and advice to another person. The term “mentoring” actually comes from the Greek word that means enduring. This is a committed relationship between a youth and an adult wherein the adult has the patience to teach the youth whatever he knows from life. It is the adult’s responsibility to provide support, assistance, and guidance as the younger one faces new challenges and problems everyday. Mentors usually take the role of the parents when the parent is busy or unavailable during the critical stages of a person’s life.

There are basically two types of mentoring; the first is natural mentoring and the second is planned mentoring. Natural mentoring can come from everyday situations wherein anyone can be your mentor. You can learn through collegiality, through friendship, through teaching, or through counseling. On the other hand, planned mentoring comes from a structured program wherein the mentor and the mentee are chosen from a list and matched through a formal procedure.

Currently, mentoring is becoming increasingly popular in the workforce as well as for personal development. This is partly due to various testimonials among people who have tried it and derived a lot of advantages from the mentoring program. But how does mentoring exactly work? Well, if you wan to look into the formal mentoring programs, you should be aware that your mentor will be chosen by an authority figure through interviews, comparative index outlook, and by looking at their personal profiles.

The information about Mentoring presented here will do one of two things: either it will reinforce what you know about Mentoring or it will teach you something new. Both are good outcomes.

Of course, in most cases, the mentor and the mentee would need to get acquainted first before the mentoring program can start. Mentors are needed because they can be a positive influence on the mentee who is learning from them. As Gandhi once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” Mentors can be a force of change and they can influence a lot of people, including you, by becoming a respected authority figure.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that, “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” And indeed, mentors are doing kindness when they take on the responsibility of helping other people learn from their experiences. Through this, they can give back to society and make career growth, personal development, or intellectual achievement possible for the person they are mentoring.

As you can observe, mentoring is helpful for educational purposes wherein the mentor will help the mentee improve their overall academic achievement. Likewise, mentoring is also very helpful in the workplace because mentors can provide the necessary insights and perspectives on what a person should do to achieve his goals. Meanwhile, having a mentor would also be a very helpful option in your personal development because the mentor can help you during tough personal and social stress and offer guidance just when you need it the most.

A very nice quote from an unknown author read, “A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could.” The mentor does just that, they believe that their mentees can do it. This, in itself, is usually encouragement enough for the mentee to do their best to succeed in life.

When word gets around about your command of Mentoring facts, others who need to know about Mentoring will start to actively seek you out.

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April 1st, 2010 by anderseriksson

It is estimated that there is approximately 2 million youths in the United States that have an incarcerated parent. It is also estimated that there are over 7 million children with one parent who is under the supervision of the Federal or state correctional authorities. The figures indicate that there are nearly 200 children out of every 1,000 who are in dire need of guidance and mentoring from relatives, concerned parties or the government. Any mentoring organization in private or government practice has a high likelihood of encountering at least one of these children, making it extremely essential that the needs of children of prisoners must be considered and integrated into specific mentoring practices.

Children with special needs
Children of prisoners undergo plenty of physical and emotional challenges that other children who live in normal households won’t. Some of these challenges include:

- Having to cope with being separated from that parent for long periods of time, with some children having to deal with repeated incarcerations of his or her parent/s.

- Having to deal with infrequent visitations or the experience of going through procedures in prisons just to visit the parent.

- Having to deal with social stigma that usually accompanies children with parents who are incarcerated such as teasing, name-calling, guilt, etc.

- Having to live in conditions or environments that are unstable, unreliable and often less than ideal.

The problems of allowing children of prisoners to cope without any extra help often increase depending on certain factors, such as:

- the age of the child
- the presence of another parent or authority figure
- the quality of time spent by the child in the care and guidance of this parent or authority figure
- the economic status of the child’s family

Without the availability of an effective mentoring program for children of prisoners, there is a high risk that they will develop problems both personal and social, such as:

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- using and abusing drugs and alcohol at a young age
- irregular attendance in school
- developing problems with their peers
- finding outlet in destructive behavior or developing relationships with questionable individuals or groups

Using mentoring programs for children of prisoners
To help improve this group of children’s chances at experiencing success in school and in their social interactions, certain mentoring programs are being made available in both private and government organizations, such as those funded by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Some of the mentoring resources that children of prisoners can look forward to include:

1. Access to a wide variety of educational, counseling, guidance and healthcare services that include the children, their siblings, other family members or caregivers. Many of these programs may even include the incarcerated parent/s.

2. Access to the appropriate resources that children of imprisoned parents can use, such as books, data and other information that will help them cope with the absence of either or both parents.

3. Access to mentoring and counseling services that can assure high levels of confidentiality to protect the child’s identity.

4. Access to realistic and non-judgmental services from mentors and volunteers who also have the right background, training and experience to assist the children.

5. Opportunities to maximize their natural capabilities and experience new activities that will help them learn and cope in their environment.

6. Opportunities to experience leadership roles with their peers.

7. Assistance in terms of guidance and even financial services to help caregivers of children of prisoners cope with the financial burdens of running a household in the absence of one or both parents.

When word gets around about your command of Mentoring facts, others who need to know about Mentoring will start to actively seek you out.

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February 19th, 2010 by anderseriksson

Do you ever feel like you know just enough about Mentoring to be dangerous? Let’s see if we can fill in some of the gaps with the latest info from Mentoring experts.

Mentoring doesn’t have to be a complicated process or business. Once it is designed to fit a particular need, it can be a very effective and simple method to implement, something that will be easy to use once it’s established. Although it consists of certain processes and procedures, mentoring is actually like fine art in that it requires creativity in design and implementation. It’s also a practice that requires flexibility and adaptability and will require participants to look beyond the mere series of techniques in order to put it into practice more effectively.

Why use mentoring programs
In many organizations, a gap often exists between the actual needs of the individuals and the established practices. Depending on how well the organization works to fill this gap, the difference may be great or small. The role of mentoring is to close this gap and allow staff, employees, personnel or students to access resources that will allow them to improve their learnings and skills.

Mentoring is also used to increase the quality of the intellectual capital of an organization, allowing employees to be trained in order to meet set standards of quality in terms of qualifications and technical skills. It is also an excellent tool for improving the standards of service in an organization. As a recruitment and retaining tool, mentoring is also effective, allowing businesses to attract quality employees by providing new ones with a means to adapt well to their new environment.

The fine art of mentoring
When people view mentoring, they see it as a means to transfer knowledge. However, it is so much more than that. Choosing, designing and implementing a mentoring program often requires inventive solutions in order for it to remain attractive, relevant, updated and useful. It has proven to be a very effective method in improving business processes and has become one of the highly valued issues within many organizations.

Those of you not familiar with the latest on Mentoring now have at least a basic understanding. But there’s more to come.

Matching
The main concern of mentoring is matching, something that requires patience and imagination on the part of the administrator. Having a good pairing between the mentor and the mentee is crucial to the success of the program. If the match is in place, both parties will benefit from a strong, mutually rewarding relationship. If the matching fails, either or both parties will suffer from negative learning or feel frustrated about a system that does nothing.

This is why administrators who wish to implement an effective mentoring system should find creative ways to determine the matching qualifications between the mentor and his protégé. Certain factors, for example, such as temperament, personal characteristics, values, philosophies or similar goals can impact the relationship. There is no set standard for matching, which makes it important that those who wish to implement the program should be able to apply a certain adaptability and imagination when determining a successful match.

Keeping the mentoring system fresh
A mentoring program also thrives on being up-to-date, which keeps it interesting. Implementing a mentoring program that is outdated can have disastrous results, encouraging participants to perceive it as ineffective and useless. Like art, mentoring must remain dynamic and appealing, keeping participants’ interests up, which gives them more reason to use the program.

Establishing a successful mentoring program
Mentoring is like fine art in that it needs to remain relevant and an effective source of motivation. As such, it has to undergo improvements along the way and must be open to changes. The best way to determine the success of the mentoring program is to compare the initial goals of the system to the results. This may be done through feedback and evaluations, allowing participants to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the program. Without a set feedback system in place, it will be difficult indeed to quantify the efficacy of mentoring within an organization and thus rate its success.

As your knowledge about Mentoring continues to grow, you will begin to see how Mentoring fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

About the Author
By Anders Eriksson, feel free to visit my latest venture: GVO to claim your $1 trial membership!