[GreyingJay]

Advice for newbie mentors, eh? I can help there! It was just about one year ago that I rolled up to my local FLL regional to be a robot design judge, saw the local FRC team demoing their robot in the hallway, and said "oh cool, do you need any volunteers?" I didn't even know the correct term was mentor yet.

So all in 2015: My first build season, my first regional competition, my second regional competition, my first trip to Worlds! I won the team's "mentor of the year" award, and now I'm the alternate lead mentor for my own community FRC team! What a difference a year makes.

So, lessons learned, from my own experience and observation:

1. Read the manuals. Know what to expect. There is a LOT to learn, both with the nuances of each year's games, the rules, and the format of build season, competitions, regionals, etc. in general.

2. Assuming you have students on the team who have done FRC before, don't be afraid to ask them questions about how it works. It's not a sign of weakness for the adult to ask the student questions. Take their answers with a grain of salt, but ask for their opinions and their stories. It's good to get to know the students and let them know you're an approachable person.

3. Adults are typically much better at situational awareness than students. Especially when working with power tools, pay attention to things like good or bad techniques, forgetting safety glasses, distractions, horseplay.

4. It's tempting to say "no no, you're doing it wrong". Sometimes that's legitimate - a safety hazard for example. But when possible, phrase in such a way that it is constructive teaching rather than criticism, which students are hyper-sensitive to. "Can I show you how to do that so it works a lot more effectively?" (The corollary is: ARE they doing it wrong? There's the way YOU were taught, but are there other ways that are acceptable?)

5. It is also tempting to tell the students the answers. "We need to do it this way." Is there a way you can get the students to come up with the answer, and you guide them along? You might even be surprised. I often would try to guide the programming students toward X, and one bright student would say "oh, so we should do Y!" and I would stop and go "... Wow. You're right. I was going to say X, but Y is even better!"

6. Praise often, but don't fake it. Students see right through false praise. Some students love being praised often, others feel embarrassed and self conscious, or might be struggling with self confidence and self worth issues and think that you're making it all up. Don't stop praising those students, but make sure they know you're talking about real, measurable things. "You're awesome!" can be debatable in someone's mind. "That's a really clever design you came up with!" is not.

7. As part of your situational awareness, try to be aware of group dynamics and personalities within them. There's loud and bold, there's shy and introverted. There are different skill levels and experience levels. It's got to be tough to be that shy introverted kid who is new to the team and thinks she knows nothing (or has ideas but thinks nobody will listen). Look out for those students and find ways to help them open up, either by spending time with them, giving them a voice for their ideas to be heard, etc.

8. Have fun! Learn! It's not just for the students!