PRE-SEASON CHECKLIST
This checklist will take you through the steps to prepare for a successful season as a Technovation Mentor.
Complete your Mentor profile
- add a photo and write an engaging personal summary to help you match with a team on the Technovation platform
- review and sign the volunteer agreement
- Complete a background check (from your Mentor dashboard)
- if you are a returning Mentor, go to “Your Profile” and update any out of date information
Learn about the Mentor role
- review the Mentor training lessons to understand the roles and responsibilities
- review the Volunteer Code of Conduct to understand what is appropriate and inappropriate behaviour as a Technovation volunteer
- review this Safety lesson to help you keep student safety top of mind
Completing this and the previous step means that you are officially onboarded as a Mentor.
Understand the program and timeline
- learn more about the competition submission requirements & rules
- review the suggested timeline
- Explore the Mentor resources available to you
Build your team
Find a team
- reach out to your Chapter or Club Ambassador (found on your mentor dashboard) in your local area to see if there are in-person teams, OR
- search for teams on the platform and see if they are in your time zone
Find a co-Mentor
- ask a colleague or friend to co-Mentor a team with you to help make the season more manageable. Try to find someone with complementary skills to you
- join our Volunteer Slack to interact with the global Mentor community and get advice on leading the program from other Mentors.
Connect with your team
- introduce yourself, and start the discussion about how you’d like to communicate and find a time for your first team meeting based on the suggested timeline
More on this in the lesson Connect with your Team
Explore the curriculums
- review the student curriculum to gain an understanding of the content your teams have access to
- there are Mentor tips that will help you gain better context about the content and guiding questions you can use to guide your team through discussions while staying on track
- use the Mentor curriculum to help you put together the agenda for your first meeting
Resources Just for You
Mentors have access to a range of resources to support their experience in the program. View the available resources below:
Here you will find the mentor curriculum, resources organized by each part of the season, coding resources, and more!
Under ‘Newsletter Archive’ you’ll also find newsletters sent so far for the season and resources on discussing challenging situations with students.
The ‘Getting Started’ section is a great first stop for preparing for the season.
Mentors will receive regular newsletters with:
- new and recommended resources
- upcoming event information, local stories
- deadline and milestone reminders
Be sure to add [email protected] to your safe sender list, so you never miss an email.
Instructions to add to safe sender for: Outlook | Gmail | Other
Connect, share best practices and ask your fellow mentors questions through our Technovation’s Volunteer online communication tool. You can also reach out to Technovation team members!
Ambassadors are local volunteer program leaders who recruit and support local students & Mentors. Referred to as either a Chapter or Club Leader, depending on if the program is lead by an organization (Chapter) or an individual (Club).
This person is your go-to contact for questions about team matching and events in your area. If there is an Ambassador in your area, you’ll see them on your platform dashboard.
If you do not have an Ambassador local to you, you can always reach out to the Technovation Volunteer Engagement Team. (We’re here for you even if you have a local Ambassador)
Mentors are invited to Join Technovation staff for live sessions about a variety of topics throughout the season. These sessions are a great opportunity to ask questions, learn helpful strategies for working with your team, and meet other Technovation volunteers. View the live session schedule and register below.
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Coaches are topic specialists that teams can book time a 1-hour meeting with to get answers to questions about a specific topic.
This is a great way to get support for your teams in topics outside of your expertise as a Mentor.
Coaches will be available for bookings starting in late January 2025.
USING SLACK TO CONNECT GLOBALLY
Slack is a great place to connect with our global community of Mentors and Technovation staff! You can ask questions, celebrate successes, and share best practices. You can view our full Slack guide here.
Here are the channels you’ll have access to in our Slack workspace:
- #announcements: updates from the Technovation Team for all volunteers
- #mentors: the main channel for Mentors to share questions and successes.
- #mentors-needed: the channel for Mentor – team matching! Mentors looking for a team and Ambassadors looking for Mentors can share availability and connect
COACHES FOR ADDED EXPERTISE
Coaches provide feedback and guidance to teams on their projects in a 1-hour session. Teams will come prepared with the question(s) they have and provide the context of their project in advance.
Conversations will be focused in one area of the program:
- Ideation/Brainstorming
- Coding – MIT App Inventor, Thunkable, Python
- Artificial Intelligence
- Business
- Pitch writinG
Coaching appointments are available starting in January 2027!
I still have a question
You can always reach out to Technovation’s Volunteer Engagement Team on Slack or at [email protected].
Keep going through training, by clicking “Next Lesson” in the bottom right
