Orientations Offered By Mentor Coaches

Apprentice Mentors are required to attend one orientation session in order to be placed into the Second Life Mentors group. Mentor Coaches are volunteers in the Mentor group who are able to offer these sessions to help new mentors become familiar with the available resources and guidelines. This is an entirely opt-in role for the Coaches.

Guidelines For Planning

• Hosts must be part of the Mentor Coach role.

• Orientation plans must include information about the topics listed in the checklist (bottom of this wiki). Pointing at relevant notecards meets requirements for 'going over' such topics is one way to convey the information about the topics.

• Use of the provided orientation class handouts/notecards is encouraged as it fulfills the intended objectives, however, feel free to be creative and use any presentation screen or gadgetry you may have to offer. Please remember all materials given out need to be PG and nothing involving promotion or advertising.

• A registration link will be provided that will allow you to submit your Second Life name along with an assertion that the checklist requirements are met to receive orientation hosting certification. When your orientation plan is completed, feel free to sign up using the registration link which will let us know your plan meets the checklist requirements. If future orientation plans change for improvements, no new registration is required, though the check list requirements stay the same. VTeam members may not be able to read through plans, but we can try to provide feedback on creative ideas if it is desired!

• Registering for orientation hosting certification allows you to enter the Apprentices group with a special Coaches role, used for rallying Apprentices for attendance as needed.

• When ready and certified, Mentor Coaches should contact a VTeam Linden one week in advance to schedule a day and time for their orientation session with the date, time, and name of a Mentor Buddy who is planning on attending that orientation to guest speak. Advanced notice is needed so that we can be aware of application processing needs. All orientations should take place on SL Volunteer HI.

Guidelines and Hosting Techniques

• Sessions should be 30-60 minutes long. Mentor Coaches should find a replacement Coach for their session if they are unable to attend, as well as notifying a VTeam Linden of the changes as soon as possible. Please remember many attendees have arranged their daily schedules to be present. Coaches should make every effort to not miss a scheduled orientation or be late.

• Mentor Coaches may teach alone but teaching in pairs is a great idea! Inviting a Linguist to co-host or translate is also an option. To host an orientation using voice, please check in with a VTeam member for approval.

• It is acceptable to ask for questions to be held until you ask for them. Stick to session questions and topics only. Questions you need assistance answering can be directed to a VTeam Linden by you or the person with the question.

• Please take attendance during your session. This attendance list with your name, session date and time should be given to the VTeam Linden who scheduled your session right away. You may collect attendance manually or by using a visitor counter.

• If someone is not counted or there is a dispute over attendance, please let them know you will check with a VTeam member about the issue, and we will investigate from there. This will not be your burden.

• Please let the attendees know they will be moved to Second Life Mentors group within approximately 72 hours.

• End of session surveys can be very useful feedback for you. We encourage Coaches to use a free SurveyMonkey acct and offer an exit survey to their attendees. This is not a requirement but does help in improving one's session!

Orientation Sample

Coaches: A sample session outline that meets checklist requirements can be seen here

Orientation Checklist

If you choose to create your own orientation plan, please use the checklist to ensure your plan goes over the following:

• Tao of Volunteers (video or text)
• Volunteer Mission/Purpose (An explanation of our open ended way of doing things, and some choices available for volunteering.)
• Hot Spots for Volunteering (Welcome Areas, Help/Orientation Islands, Infohubs, etc.)
• When To/When Not To Volunteer (Activate title when in best spirits!)
• Volunteer Resources
  • Wiki, Knowledge Base, Support Portal http://www.secondlife.com/support, TEAMWORK
• Mentor Buddy Guest Speaker (Introduce role, role's purpose)
• Group Instant Message Guidelines
• SL Volunteer Island
• Incentives / Parties

Use of a personal class template is encouraged for all Coaches. Copy and paste during your session is acceptable as well as ad lib. Please feel free to adapt this information to a format that is fun and functional for you! Be creative if you like and feel free to experiment!