uturnmentoring


 * [[image:cpslibraries/U-Turn Banner.jpg align="center"]]

**Turn the Corner on Your Technology Skills!** During the 2015-2016 school year, as many as 20 librarian pairs will be set up for the **U-Turn Tech Support Mentoring Program**. This will be the second year of the program. Matches were announced on Tuesday, November 3rd.

The U-Turn Tech Support Mentoring Program is a unique one-on-one opportunity tailored to your technological needs. Those participating will be able to work side-by-side with another librarian in a program where they can stop, change directions, ask all the questions, and press all the buttons they never felt comfortable pressing by themselves. They can take a U-Turn until they understand all they need to before moving to the next level in their library program.


 * Introduction **

The U-Turn Tech Support Mentoring Program stems from the belief that there is a digital divide in education, not only for students, but for educators as well. The program seeks to bridge that divide by providing one-on-one support for educators ready to grow their skills in a supportive environment. The U-Turn Tech Support Mentoring Program encourages "safe failure" for both the mentor and mentee.  **Guiding Questions/ Assisting your fellow librarian in building a trusting rapport**  Flexibility is key in U-turn Tech Support. The mentor may need to explain how an android phone works, explain the basic differences between a Mac and a PC, or review the security settings and the purpose for using them. A critical point to remember as a mentor is not to pack as much technology as possible into an hour. This opportunity seeks to identify key technological skills that are realistically useful for the user and they can build upon those skills individually. U-turn Tech Support is about building individual success which is incredibly subjective.   Establishing a safe environment and "safe" failing is critical to the success of U-Turn Tech Support. Often when we explore technology that is new to the user, is can be quite intimidating, especially given the cost of technology and the overwhelming expectations of society. Encouraging failure in a fun way allows the supported librarian to break through those glass ceilings, establishing agency and ownership of the technology, rather than the technology "running" the user.   U-Turn Tech Support is not a demonstration, nor a tutorial. U-Turn Tech Support encourages the supported librarian to actively explore, "safe" fail, and interact with technology, with the mentor librarian behaving as a "sherpa". Rather than doing, U-Turn Tech Support expects the mentor librarian to support, cheer on, and push the user in new directions.  **Progress Monitoring Towards Goals ** Prior to the mentee and mentor first meeting, the mentee will identify at least 3 goals that will be covered during the course of the program. These will be noted on a google document. (Of course, upon meeting these goals can be modified.) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">At the end of every meeting, there should be an authentic exit activity i.e., send a google drive document to your principal, contact another librarian within your network from the contact directory list, etc, that enables the user to "share" or use the tech skills in a real world situation that lines up with one of the goals. <span style="display: inline !important;">We are looking for progress towards the goals. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">View a sample goals document here. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> **Program Details** <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> We will be able to support 20 librarians for six hours each. At least three of the hours should be face to face meetings while the remaining three can be a hybrid of Google Hangouts, face to face, or phone calls. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> The face to face time can be split into 1.5 hour sessions, or two hour sessions, whatever works for the pair! <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Both the mentee and the mentor will be asked to complete at least three surveys to help us track how the program is working. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"> The program will run from November 2015 until February 29, 2016. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">//<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">*A huge thank you to formal CPS Teacher Librarian Sarah Steiger for coming up with the the idea of the U-Turn Tech Mentoring Program. // <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">//<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">*A huge thank you to Jennie Magiera < [|__http://www.teachinglikeits2999.com/__] > < Twitter: [|__twitter.com/msmagiera__] > for the idea of the goals document. // ||