PEER MENTORSHIP PROGRAM
The 20-21 school year came with the challenge of online teaching in the coronavirus pandemic, which ultimately made the implementation of the peer mentorship program even more valuable because it gave mentees the opportunity to get detailed individual feedback on a weekly basis in real time and allowed the students to have a sense of community and connection.
From the third week of school, each middle school student was assigned a high school mentor to have a 30-minute lesson with once a week.
​
BEGINNINGS
When implementing peer mentorships, pairing students effectively is critically important. A bad mentor pairing can have a negative effect on student achievement, so it was important to consider learning styles as well as common interests when pairing the mentees with their mentors. In order to achieve this, I asked students daily "getting to know you questions" to gather this information and inputted their responses into a spreadsheet. I then shared this spreadsheet with my high schoolers and asked them to choose three students that they thought that they would work well with. This got the high schoolers excited and gave them some ownership in the process. I then used my knowledge of the high schoolers to make the final pairings.
​
During class in high school band, we discussed what students were excited and nervous about when it came to the mentorship program. I wrote their concerns and was sure to make time to address their needs in future classes as I coached them on mentoring. I asked students to share how they like to receive feedback and what kind of feedback is helpful and what kind isn't. They reflected on whether that may have been different back when they were in beginning band. They concluded that they liked positive feedback more when they were younger than they do now. I shared that research indicates that positive feedback is much more effective in peer mentorship settings. They practiced giving each other feedback on their flip grids. When we worked on rhythms in class, I would intentionally make errors and the students would work together to correct me.
​
In sectionals we began to discuss instrument-specific technique that would be important for beginning band students. I modeled different common problems and coached the future mentors in correcting me. It was fascinating to watch the students start to make adjustments in their own playing based on what we discussed, and I started hearing my first improvements in the mentors playing.
​
FIRST MEETING
In order to ensure that students had positive first interactions with their mentors, we worked together during class on how to send a welcoming and warm email. The students then sent their emails, and the mentor program began. Due to the pandemic the students wound up meeting over the school's Google Meets rather than in person as I had originally envisioned. In their first meeting, they were told that the priority was less about playing and more about building connection, but they had small counting goals to work on with their student as well (this also served to normalize the student performing for their mentor).
​
ONGOING SUPPORT
Each week during the mentor's Monday class we went over the goals for their beginners for the week. We also had a mini lesson "hub" document where they had access to these goals as well as all of the beginning band students' materials. Students had an opportunity to ask questions, and this also gave me the opportunity to model how I would teach certain concepts. Ultimately, research indicates that students often learn better from their peers because students explain things differently than adults. I didn't want to take that away, so I generally avoided getting too specific about how to explain things when possible.
​
During sectionals each week we had a small group discussion about how our lessons were going. Students brought up anything that their mentee was struggling with and their peers would have an opportunity to give suggestions on how to help. It was very impressive to watch them work together in this way, and it wasn't too often that I would need to provide them with information or ideas. Generally, through questioning I could get them to come up with great ideas on their own.
​
Mentors and mentees wrote a short reflection each week. This gave me the opportunity to help any mentors who may be more shy about discussing during sectionals and allowed me to have a picture of how mentorships were working from both sides. Some mentors certainly took to it more naturally than others, so hearing what the mentees had to say was important in guiding the discussions that I had with the mentors.
​
RESULTS
My students don't have access to private lessons, so I cannot compare the results of a peer-mentorship program to a full-fledged private lesson program that you see in many mainland schools. However, despite the coronavirus pandemic and being fully online for three quarters of the school year, my beginning band students are achieving at a much higher level than they have historically. They are able to self diagnose errors better, they have better tone, they understand rhythms and key signatures better, and they play with a lot more nuance. Now that we are in a hybrid setting, the students seem more focused and motivated than a typical beginning band year. It seems that having mentors has really sparked their passion and enjoyment of band.
​
On the side of the mentors, I think that this process has had a few effects. Firstly, I suspect that next year's crop of section leaders will be stronger. This is because all of the students have spent a year learning to teach rather than just learning how to play. I also think that it has increased student investment in the long-term success of the program. They are invested in the success of their mentees and are excited for what the future holds for them. They understand how the mentees are the future of the program. The mentors have also had to learn how to be a good example, and now that we are in a hybrid setting they seem to be much more willing to jump in and help beginning band students in the band room than they used to be. I never have to ask a high schooler to help a beginning band child anymore--someone always steps up and takes initiative. They have a new confidence in their ability to help and an increased sense that this is their band program. They have also grown as musicians. In having to explain concepts to the mentees, they have had to delve into deeper levels of understanding. They have become more aware of error diagnostics in their own playing, and their increased attention to detail shows in their playing.
