Mentoring Newsletter
A guide to working with mentees at your school site
February 2023
Hello, BPS mentors.
I hope your 2023 is off to a healthy start! I have packed a lot of helpful information into this edition, so thank you for taking the time to read it. District-wide, you are supporting 899 mentees at this time -- 277 of them on temporary certificates. Wowza, that is impressive!
Update: this will be my last time authoring this newsletter. I am passing the torch to Tracy Seibert who is our district's content specialist for induction. She has taken on her new role with gusto, and I know she will rock the newsletters and take them to the next level! Thank you so much for your support over the years as this newsletter has evolved. I have loved getting your feedback and gathering your tips and ideas to share with others in our county. I will still be in my position at the district and will continue to see you out and about in schools!
Suggestions for your area of focus right now:
1. Personal: Celebrate Valentine's Day with a card, a cartoon, or a candy bar. Just pick up something at the grocery store and toss it into your book bag! This little token will mean a lot to your new teacher.
2. Professional: Assist in planning for your mentees upcoming formal observations. If the observation has already occurred, discuss the feedback and celebrate the progress and share strategies for improvement if needed.
3. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Explore strategies for checking for understanding. Discuss how bell work, openers, and anchoring activities provide opportunities to revisit concepts and information.
4. Organizational Systems: Concentrate on the use of time -- instructional and time management beyond the classroom.
5. Students: Review the learning profiles of students and identify those who might need to be referred for special services.
6. Colleagues: Encourage new teachers to build-in time to meet with their colleagues to examine student work to strengthen and solidify grading calibrations. Help them decide what student work samples to bring to the table. Bring your principal up to date on how the mentoring process is working.
7. School Systems: Be sure that the new teachers are well informed and have accurate information about scheduling and teaching assignments for the upcoming school year as soon as it is available. Be mindful that rumors may start circulating around this time of year about possible changes.
8. Parents and Community: Advise your mentee to keep parents informed of the learning that is occurring in the classroom. Remind them to keep parents in the loop of changes in student work or behavior. Suggest that they make at least as many positive parent contacts as they do negative contacts.
*Special Educators: Inform the new special education teachers of their role in the preparation of the master schedule for the next school year.
As always, thank you so much for all you do! 💚
- Bridget Reed
reed.bridget@brevardschools.org
Breakdown and suggestions taken from Paula Rutherford's Just Ask Publications
We are on the upswing in the teacher's first year!
Please share this information with your new teachers.
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Our next Induction Roster update is due Feb. 24th!
Remember, the Induction Roster is a live document, so you do not need to wait to add new teachers to it.
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To access the roster: Go to BPS>For Staff>Share Point Site Map (sign in)>Induction Roster(sign in again)>
To add a new teacher: Go to top left of Roster and click on NEW (Please be sure to choose your school in the drop-down).
If a teacher is terminated or quits, click on their name, and just add the END DATE. Do not delete. Please make sure your induction rosters are accurate and up to date! We could not have the success we have without your commitment to the mentoring and induction program.
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Important Dates and Trainings:
Lead Mentor Chat- Feb. 2 with Anne Skinner, BPS district Grant Coordinator and ESOL contact.
Topic: Lead Mentor Chat
Time: 5 p.m. Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://brevardschools-org.zoom.us/j/89529663560
New Teacher Academy - Feb. 20 at the Cocoa Educational Facility (former Clearlake Middle)
Registration begins at 8:00 am (breakfast 8:00-8:30am) and the training runs until 3:30 pm.
New Teacher Academy will be focused on classroom teacher training for those on a temporary teaching certificate, new classroom teachers having less than 3 years of teaching experience, or teachers new to Brevard County. This training is designed around instructional strategies for the classroom, classroom management, teaching diverse learning, educational technology and blended learning. If a teacher has previously attended New Teacher Academy, they do not need to attend again.
Upcoming trainings for new teachers:
Learning Cycle & Differentiation - Feb. 8
Viera Elementary School 8:30-3:30 pm
Course #18386 Section #414209
Assessment & Feedback - March 7
District offices Training rooms 5 & 6, 5:00-7:00pm (will be paid)
Course #18386 Section #413888
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GEAR UP! Mentor/Mentee Symposium
We could not have made it happen without the support of Community Credit Union, Florida Gulf Coast University, I Am Organics Holistic and Alternative Healing, and Viera High School either. Thank you to all who attended and the PL&D team!
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**** Challenging conversations ? **** Create a Third Point
As mentors we are often called upon to provide feedback. So how do we do this in a respectful and meaningful manner? Creating a “third point” can greatly assist as it helps shift the focus away from personal to external. Here are some proven tips from the Ontario Ministry of Education's new-teacher program:
Thinking about our scaling questions example may be helpful:
- How did you do this morning? – personal
Instead try:
- From 1 to 10, how was the lesson? – external, third point
Practical Ideas
Collaboration vs. “Face-offs”
If you and your colleague are sitting down for any planning, reflecting or problem solving conversation, position the chairs at 45 degree angle rather than directly facing each other. This is also a great set up for parent – teacher interviews where you can sit in this collaborative stance with student work on the table in front of you both as the third
point.
Similarly, using hand gestures you can metaphorically place the problem or challenge in the physical space in front of you both during a learning focused conversation.
Observation vs. Impression
Often when we provide feedback without meaning to we imply judgement. Here is an example:
- The students were out of control – perception, implies personal judgement
Instead try:
- During the lesson four students left their seats – observation of behavior, third point
Avoiding “You Should”
As mentors we are often called upon for input and advice and certainly based on individual needs this is an important component of the consultant stance. That said, if there are two words we strive to avoid using in mentoring conversations they are “you should” – for example:
- You should make sure everyone is listening and paying attention before you begin the lesson – feels like a command
Instead try:
- Something that worked for me was using a signal to focus students before giving instructions – feels like an idea