Become a Spacemesh Community Mentor, with This Cheat Sheet
So, you’ve decided to become a Spacemesh Community Mentor and to share your passion and compassion with others. We applaud you!
We’d also like to help, to make your mentoring experience a satisfying and meaningful one, for both yourself and your students.
Whether you plan to teach new skills or support another community member in their life’s change or journey, this post will help you take your first steps toward turning your skill and knowledge into something you could pass on to others.
Before you start planning your course
- Read about this project
You are invited to read about the logic behind the Spacemesh Community Mentors program. Find out a bit more about why we believe in the power of our community and in peer-to-peer education in this post. - Make sure to tick all the minimum requirements boxes, such as:
- I plan to teach something which can help people improve themselves and the world, and will not cause harm.
- I will not abuse teaching for self-promotion purposes only. This means you are allowed some promoting of yourself – of your YouTube channel for example – just make sure it’s not your only motivation.
- I plan to teach something that I am informed about or skilled in.
- If the subject or skill I plan to teach requires a permit, I declare and can provide proof that I have such a permit.
- I have a stable internet connection.
- I have a good functioning camera and mic.
Start planning your course with this cheat sheet
Go over these recommendations for successful mentoring.
Course outline: Compose a list for yourself, which you can later share with the students, with the title of each lesson, and a few words on what each lesson will be about. Don’t worry about sticking to the plan; it makes sense that things will change a bit over time, due to the interaction between you and your students. But the outline will help you build a coherent course, and it is always useful to have the plan to fall back on.
Read this post, to learn how to craft your online course.
Class length: Make sure each lesson is no shorter than 30 minutes, and no longer than one hour. It’s hard to achieve anything in less than 30 minutes, and it’s difficult to maintain an attention span past one hour.
Intro, outro, and assignments: Create an intro, an outro, and an assignment for each lesson. The intro is a short explanation of what today’s lesson will be about. You deliver it at the beginning of the lesson. The outro is a summary of the main takeaways from today’s lesson, for you to say at the end of the lesson. And the assignments are exercises you could give students either during class or for them to prepare between lessons so that they can practice what they’ve learned.
Explainer video: Consider creating a short and basic explainer video about your course. In the short video, introduce yourself, and say a few words about the course, what students can hope to gain, who it’s for, and why you are passionate about teaching it.
Pro tip: Write down what you’re going to say, read it out loud, rewrite it, then practice a couple of times before recording.
Class assignments: Learning from listening alone is less effective than learning through doing. Create short assignments or exercises for your students to experience and practice what they’ve learned.
Class materials: Featuring visual material helps to explain ideas and to break the “one person talking to a camera” routine. If you do create such materials, share them on the dedicated Discord channel after class. You can also share any links to additional materials you think your students might find interesting or useful, and any exercises you gave.
Your personality: Remember, you are doing this because you are part of the Spacemesh community, and you have something to give. Be sure to bring yourself into the mix. Your personality, not just your knowledge, is your unique added value, that no one else can bring. The personal connection between you and the people you are mentoring is the thing that will make learning from you worthy and powerful.
Feedback and connecting with students: If you gave your students assignments or exercises, be clear about when you will review them. Will you review them together, in the next class? Or should they submit them beforehand for you to review?
Also, remember that the connection between you and your students is what makes peer-to-peer learning so valuable. We encourage interaction on Discord. This doesn’t mean you have to be available 24/7. You can let your students know how often and at what times you’ll be answering questions or open to discussions.
Feedback and connecting with team Spacemesh: This is a journey we’re embarking on together. Please feel free to offer us any constructive feedback, share your suggestions for improvements, and ask any questions. I’m darshu#6972 on Discord, and also available at daria@spacemesh.io
