Mentorship

Benefits of Having a Mentor

• Learn and develop skills in a precise and correct manner
• Accountability to fellow colleague
• Learn from another person’s vision, experience and learning
• Obtain career advice and planning assistance
• Get more involved inside the organization
• Get more involved outside the organization
• Learn more about yourself and develop your skills
• Gain assistance solving problems and changing your perspective
• Remain valuable to the organization
• Explore new ways to contribute to the organization
• Build your self-confidence, personal growth
• Have a “safe” person to bounce ideas off
• Increase your energy and interest in your work
• Become more comfortable in your organization
• Gain understanding about the organizational culture, appropriate behaviors, attitudes and protocols

An Ivtom Member on the Accredited Track is eligible to work with a Mentor if he or she has been teaching for a minimum of 6 months with at least 5 students per week. Each Accredited Track member must work with at least 2 Mentors before being accepted as an Accredited Teacher. (If an Ivtom member on the Accredited Track does not meet the requirements to work with a Mentor, he/she should enter the Student Teacher Program to work toward being able to work with a Mentor.)

Accredited Members are encouraged to find a Mentor who can support their continued professional development. Accredited teachers who are studying with a Mentor pay the Mentor’s usual fee for lessons. The financial details for Associates are later on this page.

The following requirements must be met by the Accredited Track member wanting to enter the Mentorship Program:

1. Ability to demonstrate mix in your own voice.
2. A minimum of 6 consecutive months of teaching experience with at least 5 students per week. 
3. Willingness to commit the necessary time and effort required to complete the Mentorship Program and advance to Accredited status.
4. Submit an official Mentorship Program Application form to begin.

Each Accredited Track member must work with at least 2 Mentors before being accepted as an Accredited Teacher.

If an Ivtom member on the Accredited Track does not meet the requirements to work with a Mentor, he/she should enter the Student Teacher Program to work toward being able to work with a Mentor.

Accredited teachers who are studying with a Mentor pay the Mentor’s usual fee for lessons. The financial details for Associates are later on this page.

You and your Mentors will develop a good understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, and which areas will need to be addressed for you to advance to Accredited status.  With your Mentors, you will develop a customized Mentoring and training schedule. This should include, but not be limited to: Technique Sessions, Vocal Science Sessions, Discussion Sessions, Observation Sessions, and Mentor Review.

The goals are:
1. Strengthen the mix in your own voice.
2. Improve your ability to assess your student’s vocal needs.
3. Learn to select the most effective and appropriate exercises and songs for your students.

With each Mentor you should expect to:

• • Meet with your mentor no less than twice each month for a 30-minute Technique Session that will be in the form of a private voice lesson or practice teaching session. You will pay the Mentor for these sessions at the Mentor’s usual rate. (A practice teaching session is where the Associate teaches a lesson and the Mentor observes. After the lesson the Mentor reviews and discusses the lesson with the Associate. Practice teaching sessions should occur at least twice with each Mentor.)
  • Observe your Mentor teaching lessons either in person, via Skype or recording. There is no fee for Observation Sessions.
  • Meet with your Mentor at least once each month for a 30 minute Discussion Session which can include Q&A’s, studio development guidance, education guidance, and anything else that you and your Mentor deem appropriate. This can be done in person, on skype or through email. There is no fee for Discussion Sessions.
  • Study IVTOM’s online education materials to help prepare for the “open book style” Written Evaluation of your knowledge of Vocal Anatomy, Physiology, Vocal Function and Acoustics. The evaluation will be sent to you once both Mentors recommend you for Accredited status. You must pass 100% of the Written Evaluation to advance to Accredited status and receive the official certificate of Ivtom Accreditation.

Please keep in mind that what is written above is only an outline of your time working with a Mentor. You will work with your Mentors to determine what will best help you achieve your goal of becoming an Ivtom Accredited teacher of Mix.

To be declared an Ivtom Accredited teacher of Mix, each teacher needs to be assessed on their understanding of mix and their ability to teach it. There are two ways of accomplishing this:

A. BYPASS the mentoring program. If a new Ivtom applicant is applying for Accredited status or if an Accredited Track Member feels they are ready to be advanced to Accredited member status without going through the mentorship program, he/she must receive the approval from two Mentor teachers. This can be done in person, via Skype, or via video. The applicant must also complete the Written Evaluation showing his/her knowledge of important voice teaching principles such as Vocal Anatomy, Physiology, Vocal Function and Acoustics. If you are an Accredited Track member and feel you are ready to advance, contact the Mentor Program Director at mentor@ivtom.org to schedule. (It is highly recommended that the teacher applying for Accreditation has gone through the education modules as mentioned below before applying.)

B. ENTER the Mentoring Program. If an Accredited Track member feels they need more training before being assessed, or if it is determined during the Mentor Evaluation that there are areas of improvement needed before Accreditation can be approved, then the teacher will need to enter the Mentoring Program and complete the following checklist:

1. Work with 2 Mentors (normally this is done consecutively, not at the same time). You can apply to be assigned a Mentor by filling out the Mentor Application form at the bottom of this page. (Some Accredited Track members will need to go through the Student Teaching Program in order to be ready to work with a Mentor.)

2. Start and eventually complete the education modules on-line including answering the test question at the end of each module. The modules are based on Dean Kaelin’s Book “Teaching Good Singing” which can be purchased on the IVTOM website.

3. With your Mentors, develop and implement a customized mentoring schedule.

4. During this time of mentoring, the Accredited Track member should be strengthening mix in their own own voice and be working on playing scales, assessing voices, understanding the process of progressing a student and learning how to select the most appropriate exercises for singer development, application to song and even style development.

5. The Accredited Track member should also study IVTOM’s online education materials to help prepare for the “open book style” Written Evaluation of your knowledge of Vocal Anatomy, Physiology, Function and Acoustics.

FINAL STEP: Once both mentors agree that you are ready to advance to Accredited status, your Mentor will contact mentor@ivtom.org and report that you are ready. You will be sent a link to the Written Evaluation that will make sure you understand the important points of teaching Mix.

Once you complete the Evaluation you will be contacted by the Ivtom Membership Coordinator. Your Accredited Track membership will be canceled and information will be sent to you about how to change to Accredited status. Your Ivtom and Paypal accounts will be canceled and new accounts will be created. Once the change has taken place you will be able to create a personal profile acccount on the Ivtom “Find a Mix Teacher” page.

Most Accredited Track members find that the process to be prepared for evaluation for Accredited status requires anywhere from six months to two years, depending on their previous knowledge and experience, the intensity of their training, and commitment to education. It’s an individual process and there is no “correct” amount of time.

The mentor-mentee relationship will last as long as both Mentor and Accredited Track member decide it is beneficial.

Alert the Mentor Program Director at mentor@ivtom.org so that a Mentor with more availability can be found.

Yes. The Mentorship Program is designed to help Accredited Track members advance to Accredited status. All Accredited Track members are required to be working toward becoming Accredited. In order to become an Accredited Ivtom Teacher an Accredited Track member will need to work with at least 2 Mentors.

We consider the IVTOM Mentor Teachers to be the best of the best. Not only are they knowledgeable, they are caring and desire to help other teachers grow and develop. They work tirelessly to spread knowledge about the voice and good vocal production to anyone in the world who is searching for it.

Mentors are highly experienced teachers; most have over 20 years of experience.  They share the common goal of teaching good singing and they embrace Mix technique as the best possible approach.  Each Mentor has multiple strengths and specialities: some are songwriters who play multiple instruments; some are repertoire coaches and acting teachers; some conduct chorales; others direct musicals; others are highly trained classical singers; some work with damaged voices and others enjoy teaching children.  Many are published authors; others are recording artists.

They all share four qualities: they are superb teachers; and they are committed to excellence, to their own continuing education, and to the education of other teachers.

Yes! Mentors often study with other mentors. Depending on their individual professional development needs, Mentors also create their own continuing education programs with Speech-Language Pathologists, Vocologists, Otolaryngologists, and other specialized voice teachers.

You may view the IVTOM Mentors and read their bios by going to https://ivtom.org/teacher-directory/ and searching for mentors.

IVTOM members on the Accredited Track who have completed their Student Teaching or have otherwise met the requirements should complete the Mentorship application form at the bottom of this page to be connected with a Mentor.

Accredited Members who desire to develop a relationship with an IVTOM Mentor can contact the Mentor directly to schedule time.

If you have additional questions, email mentor@ivtom.org to contact the Mentor Program Director.