Praise students for receiving feedback well to encourage them to be open and receptive when they get information that will help them improve their learning.
Encourage your students to apply for things that seem out of reach by sharing stories about what you learned from applying for things you didn’t get or that seemed out of reach.
Encourage students to identify their unique skills and perspectives explicitly, especially when working on projects, to build confidence in their ability to make meaningful contributions.
Reward students when they catch a mistake or ask a question you can’t answer to encourage critical thinking and engagement.
Remind students that you’re there to help them, especially when students apologize for asking a question.
Let students know it’s okay to make mistakes, you’ll learn just as much (and sometimes more) than when something works.
Create formal and informal environments for spending time with your mentees to build multifaceted personal and professional relationships.
Motivate students who get discouraged with difficult research tasks by letting them know you believe they can do it and that some tasks are meant to push their boundaries so they can grow.
Write encouraging notes, such as “Have you ever considered grad school?”, for undergraduate students who consistently do well in class to get them thinking about exciting postgrad opportunities like graduate school.
Seek out others to be part of your mentees’ mentoring team to ensure they have access to a wide network of mentors that can relate to and provide support for the wide variety of situations they’ll encounter.