Fostering Relationships Between Students
Pairing Students
Teachers typically decide on partners for each of their students. This is done some time after the first couple weeks of spring semester when college instructors have a more concrete idea about who is actually staying in their courses. Some teachers randomly decide who should partner with whom while other teachers create assignments to assist in pairing their students up with students who have similar interests.
Here is an example questionnaire created by Amy Parziale (it's also available for download):
Questionnaire
Name:
1. Where are you from? Please briefly describe your background.
2. What three things do you think are the most important for others to know about you?
3. What talents, interests, and/or hobbies do you have? What do you like to do in your free time?
4. What would be your ideal career and why?
5. What social issues do you feel strongly about and why?
6. What do you like about school?
7. What do you dislike about school?
8. What do you hope to gain through this partnership?
9. What do you hope this partnership is not?
10. Is there anything else about yourself that you'd like to share?
11. IS there anything else you'd like to know about your mentor/mentee?
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire! We hope it will help us match students based upon interests.
Here is an example questionnaire created by Amy Parziale (it's also available for download):
Questionnaire
Name:
1. Where are you from? Please briefly describe your background.
2. What three things do you think are the most important for others to know about you?
3. What talents, interests, and/or hobbies do you have? What do you like to do in your free time?
4. What would be your ideal career and why?
5. What social issues do you feel strongly about and why?
6. What do you like about school?
7. What do you dislike about school?
8. What do you hope to gain through this partnership?
9. What do you hope this partnership is not?
10. Is there anything else about yourself that you'd like to share?
11. IS there anything else you'd like to know about your mentor/mentee?
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this questionnaire! We hope it will help us match students based upon interests.
Initial Contact
For the first contact, some teachers have asked their students to respond to specific writing prompts and send this passage to their partners.
Here is an example of an assignment created by Faith Kurtyka to encourage friendly contact among partners:
Autobiographical Email Assignment
In order to get to know your high school peer mentor, you will send him or her a brief email about yourself. This email will have three parts.
1. The body of the email (1-2 paragraphs) should say your name, year, major, and where you're from. Include other biographical information as you choose: interests, hobbies, loves, hates, info on family and friends, pets, wishes, career plans, etc.
2. Attached to the email (in .doc format) should be a 1000-word essay concerning:
a. What your high school experience was like (tell a story, similar to "What High School Is").
b. Reflections on the differences between high school and college.
c. What you wish you had known before coming to college.
3. At the end of the body of the email, pose three questions to your mentee either about himself/herself or about his/her high school experience.
Be interesting and honest, but be appropriate in language use and tone-- use proper English and proofread. As a mentor and role model to this student, it is your responsibility to be friendly but also professional.
Due dates: Draft of 1000-word essay 1/23, Complete assignment completed and emailed to [high school teacher] and [college instructor] by 8 am 1/25
Here is another example created by Anna Varley:
Autobiography
In order to get to know your mentor or mentee better, please write a one to three page documents in which you tell your new friend as much about yourself as you wish to reveal. It is appropriate to use the first person here. Examples of details to include: family, loves, hates, wishes, acheivements, quirks. Please feel free to be creative but be honest-- you want to get as much out of your new friendship as possible, so start off on the right foot! Also, descriptive language is always more fun to read than dry, formal lists. Use sensory imagery, metaphors, examples, etc. to spice up your writing. Have fun!
Here is an example of an assignment created by Faith Kurtyka to encourage friendly contact among partners:
Autobiographical Email Assignment
In order to get to know your high school peer mentor, you will send him or her a brief email about yourself. This email will have three parts.
1. The body of the email (1-2 paragraphs) should say your name, year, major, and where you're from. Include other biographical information as you choose: interests, hobbies, loves, hates, info on family and friends, pets, wishes, career plans, etc.
2. Attached to the email (in .doc format) should be a 1000-word essay concerning:
a. What your high school experience was like (tell a story, similar to "What High School Is").
b. Reflections on the differences between high school and college.
c. What you wish you had known before coming to college.
3. At the end of the body of the email, pose three questions to your mentee either about himself/herself or about his/her high school experience.
Be interesting and honest, but be appropriate in language use and tone-- use proper English and proofread. As a mentor and role model to this student, it is your responsibility to be friendly but also professional.
Due dates: Draft of 1000-word essay 1/23, Complete assignment completed and emailed to [high school teacher] and [college instructor] by 8 am 1/25
Here is another example created by Anna Varley:
Autobiography
In order to get to know your mentor or mentee better, please write a one to three page documents in which you tell your new friend as much about yourself as you wish to reveal. It is appropriate to use the first person here. Examples of details to include: family, loves, hates, wishes, acheivements, quirks. Please feel free to be creative but be honest-- you want to get as much out of your new friendship as possible, so start off on the right foot! Also, descriptive language is always more fun to read than dry, formal lists. Use sensory imagery, metaphors, examples, etc. to spice up your writing. Have fun!