tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232997740963687513.post8594465047525942326..comments2023-11-05T03:14:41.710-05:00Comments on Chick with PhizzleDizzle: On MentoringPhizzleDizzlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02036442165798690074noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232997740963687513.post-73735481805473341472008-11-10T20:28:00.000-05:002008-11-10T20:28:00.000-05:00I, also, am not a professor. But one way or anoth...I, also, am not a professor. But one way or another, I've been in tutoring/mentoring/teaching roles surprisingly often in the past. It can be really awesome and rewarding, and it can also be unbelievably hard.<BR/><BR/>I think the most important things are to realize that at least the first several times (and maybe for the rest of your career even), probably you won't strike the right balance. But, that's okay! Makes some sense that it would take a while to learn how to be a good mentor, just like anything else. It takes a while to figure out how you teach best, and to know what you can give, and what you can't. <BR/><BR/>When I worked as a peer tutor, we were always advised to very clearly set out ahead of time the boundary lines, so they're known right up front (ie, we will help you edit your paper, but we will not write even a sentence for you, or we can make up tons of example problems just like your math homework, and show you how to solve them, but you have to solve your homework problems yourself). Having those defined boundaries helped avoid sticky situations, both in terms of giving us standards to hold ourselves to (which can be really surprisingly hard when you badly want to help), and making it clear to those we worked with what to expect.<BR/><BR/>Over all, I really think it's best for everyone to make sure that the person being mentored really does have to work hard and think for themselves, with some amount of judicious guidance and encouragement. Learning to be persistent and work hard and motivate yourself is one of the best lessons out there, and not one you're liable to get as a mentee if everything's given to you easily. Someday reality will hit, and the farther you get before it does, the worse it hurts.<BR/><BR/>My lab group was always a mixture of a few hardened veterans, and a fairly large number of inexperienced underclassmen. Our prof was pretty hands off - always will to talk and work with you if you came to him, but rarely keeping tabs on what you were doing or holding you accountable. The students that made it in the lab are those that stepped up to the plate and went after a topic for themselves, out of their own motivation. And as they did so, they got support from our advisor, and from the senior students. I really think this is a good way to run a lab, almost like preparation for grad school. A lot of dead ends occurred, sure, but the people that made it learned a heck of a lot.<BR/><BR/>I guess ideally probably it would work best to let your students select you (1) by showing some initiative/curiosity/persistence when you defined some ground rules and given them a way to seek you out.<BR/><BR/>More than enough out of me.Transient Theoristhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02721204252286682841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1232997740963687513.post-49089567867897206272008-11-10T12:31:00.000-05:002008-11-10T12:31:00.000-05:00I can't offer any advice on choosing students sinc...I can't offer any advice on choosing students since I still am one but I wanted to say that I think you're awesome for taking another fledgling CS kid under your wing. Good for you for being there to help...remember that "helping" can sometimes involve a swift kick in the butt if he's mooching too much and not doing the hard work himself. Nice is nice, but pushing him out of his comfort zone (i.e., not coming to you for all the answers so he figures shit out for himself) can be kinder in the long run. <BR/><BR/>Mentoring is great but don't let it consume all your time - your job is to earn your PhD...there are other people whose job it is to mentor this kid and good on you for filling in the gaps for him.Ambivalent Academichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05908454781195782927noreply@blogger.com