The Math Forum tries to make free mentoring available to its subscribers in several ways. A limited amount of free mentoring is provided by volunteers and staff.

During some weeks you will see an asterisk (*) next to the problem title and a notice that a mentor group is at work. These are usually future teachers who have participated in our Online Mentoring Project, which prepares them to give students feedback. During this time we can provide mentoring to a larger than normal number of submitters, all under the supervision of their college faculty. Most of this mentoring takes place in the Math Fundamentals PoW and the Pre-Algebra PoW, but watch for mentor groups at work in Algebra and Geometry as well.

Here are the opportunities currently scheduled for the spring 2008 term:

FunPoW

• February 18 problem: pre-service teachers from Western Oregon University
• March 3 problem: pre-service teachers from Appalachian State University
• May 12 problem: pre-service teachers from Western Oregon University and teacher educators from a variety of universities

PreAlgPoW

• January 28 problem: pre-service teachers from the University of Louisville
• February 25 problem: pre-service teachers from Western Oregon University

AlgPoW

• February 18 problem: pre-service teachers from Eastern Kentucky University
• April 14 problem: pre-service teachers from Plymouth State University (NH)

GeoPoW

• February 25 problem: pre-service teachers from Northwest Missouri State University

Students selected for mentoring will receive scores based on our rubric as well as suggestions on how to improve their math thinking and communication. Please revise your work if you receive a response! The greatest learning comes through revision. The mentors are learning important lessons as well.

Free mentoring does not mean that everyone receives mentoring. The volunteer mentors are able to respond to only some of the submissions. You can increase your chances of being mentored by doing the following:

• Submit problem solutions early in the problem cycle, rather than later.
• Demonstrate an effort to address the criteria we look for. We give mentoring priority to students who seem most likely to take advantage of the feedback.
• Check the box on the submission page that indicates you would like free mentoring if it's available.
• Use the Check Answer feature after submitting your solution to see if you're correct.
• Finally, follow the rest of the instructions carefully, either revising your answer if you can improve it, or leaving us a comment that tells us how you did, or asks us for help with a specific part.

This information helps mentors provide more useful recommendations. It may also help you to think more about your problem solving techniques and habits. (These instructions are on the submission pages as well.)