MENTORS · The Forge

MENTORS

Tab 03 / 11 · Section 2

MENTORS

Three functions, not three bodies. How the 2-mentor primary split works, and when to add a third.

11 Tabs

START WHY MENTORS WEEKS CYCLE UNITS WORKSHOPS FINALE PROTOCOLS FADE DICT

MENTORS · opener

Mentor Configuration

THE FORGE · MENTOR GUIDE

The Forge runs on three functions, not three people. Decouple the job from the body and the room survives a short-handed week.

Function	What it owns
Forge Coach	The room. Energy, role assignment, timer authority, deadline enforcement, the “hold the tension” minute. The smith who guards the fire.
Text Coach	The evidence. Source verification, Evidence Maps, jury prep, fact-checking during the Forge, the Skill Layer at the Tavern. Enforces the student-facing Sources & AI policy (Student Handbook, "Sources & AI — The Rule"): no fabricated or unread sources, no AI-generated text submitted as evidence. Know that policy verbatim before you spot-check against it.
Weaver	The record & the story. The private Forge Record, the Reveal, 1:1 conferences, Story Layer feedback, the year-end Final Gift.

The 2-mentor configuration (primary)

Most weeks you will run with two adults. Collapse the three functions onto two bodies like this:

Mentor	Carries
Mentor A	Forge Coach + Weaver, runs the room and keeps the record/story thread.
Mentor B	Text Coach, evidence, jury, fact-check, skill layer.

The load riskMentor A holds both room-running and record-keeping during a live Forge. Mitigate two ways: (1) keep the Forge Record to a brief after-session note, never live transcription; (2) have Mentor B hand over observational notes captured while fact-checking. Re-check this load at Forge Workshop 1 (Oct 27), if Mentor A is drowning, split the Reveal off to Mentor B for spring.

The 3-mentor configuration (variant)

With a third adult, split A back into its parts: one Forge Coach (room), one Text Coach (evidence), one Weaver (record/story). This is the configuration the Week 1–4 tables assume. When you run 2 mentors, read every “Weaver” and every “Forge Coach” instruction as “Mentor A”: the same person, wearing two hats.

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Mentor RolesTHE FORGE · MENTOR GUIDE

WHO DOES WHAT

THE ROOM · THE EVIDENCE · THE RECORD

Three jobs keep the Forge running: the Forge Coach holds the room, the Text Coach guards the evidence, and the Weaver keeps the record and the story. The preceding configuration sheet shows how two or three adults divide those jobs. Say who holds each function before students arrive.

What each mentor owns

Forge Coach · room and procedure

At the Arms Room: confirm access privately, confirm the next debate's roles and speaking seats, and state the exact prep deadline and submission route. Rehearse the student moderator's opening when the unit calls for one. Follow the unit plan for when assignments are first announced.
At the Forge: guard the 35-minute debate and its speaking order. Model the procedure at the Sept 15 Trial Forge. On Sept 29, students debate with an adult moderator. As the students take over, move from a whisper-card beside the moderator to a seat outside the circle. Step back in when the fade criteria call for it.
At the Tavern: make sure the next reading target and any upcoming deadline are stated, by you or the student leader as the fade advances. The Text Coach teaches; the Weaver runs the Bridge.
Hand off: give the Weaver the final role and side record. Give the Text Coach the deadline, submission route, and any private access problem that needs a solution.

Text Coach · sources and argument

At the Arms Room: check source access and reading privately. Before pairs work, make sure each student has written an independent quote → claim → impact → strongest-counter response. Then help students test whether their quotations support their claims.
At the Forge: receive and spot-check prep. Check a claimed source when fabrication is clear; let students answer ordinary disagreements. On each Forge Reflection, mark whether specific text evidence answers the strongest counter. Check one box for the part to revise and add a short note tied to the student's words. If the criterion is met, leave the boxes blank and write “Met” with one refinement.
At the Tavern: teach the unit's assigned argument skill using something that happened in the debate. Help students make the marked before/after correction.
Hand off: pass the Weaver brief notes about evidence and the marked criterion. Never supply a completed student packet or write a student's claim for them.

Weaver · record and story

At the Arms Room: guide the document discussion or opening hook while the fade allows. Keep personal prompts private unless a student chooses to share.
At the Forge: collect the attributable reflections and the moderator's tally. In U1, protect reflection, criterion feedback, and correction time; keep the tally private. From U2, read one anonymized line for the Reveal, then ask what the winning side left out. Record each student's role, side, and criterion note after the session.
At the Tavern: run the Retro and Story Forge, plus the Forge Workshop on U2, U5, and U7. Protect students' choice of how to keep or share Story Layer writing. Use the private record for conferences and, later, the Final Gift.
Hand off: give the Text Coach the evidence problem that should become the next Skill Layer. Give the Forge Coach any process issue that needs attention before the next debate.

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Mentor RolesTHE FORGE · MENTOR GUIDE

UNIT BY UNIT

THE ROLES STAY; MENTOR VISIBILITY CHANGES

What changes across the eight units

The roles stay the same. The adults' visibility and the teaching focus change. Fade only when the room earns it; the unit number is a starting point, not an automatic promotion.

Unit	Forge Coach	Text Coach	Weaver
U1 · Supported student debate	Support the student debate with an adult moderator; keep the clock and roles visible.	Check independent claims and source use; mark the reflection's strongest-counter criterion.	Keep the private tally and reflection record; run the Tavern Bridge. No U1 Reveal.
U2 · Handoff	Sit beside the first student moderator with a whisper-card.	Take a jury seat and spot-check evidence; teach plot fact versus interpretation at the Tavern.	Run Story Forge and Workshop 1.
U3 · Warm fade	Move outside the circle; intervene for a genuine process crisis.	Serve as a juror from the side; require a named dependency, moment, and cost.	Run the Bridge; note where talk stops at “teamwork is good.”
U4 · Warm fade	State the hard 48-hour prep deadline; keep the student moderator in charge.	Serve as a juror from the side; check the order of the proposals and confrontations.	Run the Bridge and preserve the debate record.
U5 · Independent	Remain outside the circle unless an emergency calls for you.	Serve as a juror under the student rules; teach strategic silence as argument.	Run Workshop 2 and the private thesis conferences.
U6 · Independent	Continue the emergency-only position if the room is steady.	Serve as a juror under the student rules; require a timeline marker with each quotation.	Keep the private record and 1:1 conferences.
U7 · Emergency only	Keep the Coach function out of the circle; the same adult may still observe as Weaver.	During the debate, intervene only for a fabricated source. At the Tavern, teach students to argue a position they find distasteful from the text.	Run Workshop 3 and its draft work.
U8 · Emergency only	Leave the debate to students unless there is genuine distress or a process crisis.	Check fabricated sources only during the debate; at the Tavern, teach the difference between late courage and false courage.	Run the Bridge and conferences; use the record later for the Final Gift.

From U4 onward: The printed 48-hour prep deadline is firm. A student who misses it does not hold a debater seat that unit. Explain the Jury or Bench route privately, arrange the required text-grounded evidence, and keep the debate moving. A missed reading block alone does not publicly change a role.

Terms mentors use every unit

Term	What it means in the room
Independent claim gate	Before pair work, each student writes a quote, claim, impact, and strongest counter. The Text Coach checks it.
Criterion mark	One piece of feedback on a Forge Reflection: does specific text evidence answer the strongest counter? A checked box names where to revise; “Met” means the link already works. This is not a grade.
The Reveal	From U2, the Weaver reads one anonymized reflection line after the debate. No commentary follows. U1 uses feedback and correction instead.
Hold the Tension	A short question about what the winning side missed. Students note the omission; mentors do not score it.
Forge Record	The Weaver's private record of roles, sides, vote shifts where relevant, and one criterion note per student. It feeds conferences and the Final Gift.
Fade	Mentors reduce visible help as students show they can run the room. Step back in for the function that needs help.
Forge Workshop	On the U2, U5, and U7 Taverns, a workshop follows a shorter Story Forge block and turns students’ lines into their Anvil.

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