Mentoring Newsletter
A guide to working with mentees at your school site
Pre-Planning Mentoring Focus 2020
Welcome to the new school year! Thank you so much for your continued mentoring support in our district. If you are new to the mentoring team – we are so glad to have you on board! We had a great turnout for the virtual lead mentor kick-off sessions – lots of good questions and discussion of mentoring plans. Thanks for sharing that information with your school's mentoring team!
Professional Learning and Development did a spring 2020 survey of 456 administrators, mentors, and mentees regarding our new teacher support and I wanted to share with you some of the results. We use this data to monitor our PD offerings, to aid in recruitment and retention, and to share between departments and our stakeholders. Thank you for giving your input!
· 95.1% of mentees felt supported by their mentors last year! This is up from 94.3% in 2018/19 and 89.9% in 2017/18. Way to go!
· 60% of you are meeting 30 minutes a week, 23% are meeting an hour a week, and 12.5% are meeting 2-3 hours.
· 35.7% of the meetings are arranged by the mentor and about half are arranged by both mentor and mentee.
· 54% of mentees were observed by the mentor two or more times, 27.5% were observed one time, and 18.5% were never observed. We are hoping the ability to use video recording will help to increase these numbers by providing an easier way to observe in the tight time constraints. The observation feedback is so important for our mentees to strengthen their skills. More to come on this topic!
· 59.9% of new teachers feel strongly in their FEAPS competency and 38% state they have room to grow.
· 54.4% (the largest choice) of new teachers feel their greatest strength is classroom management BUT 64% of mentors state this is the single greatest challenge for their new teachers. This dichotomy is one, as mentors, we need to be aware of when working with our mentees. 77.4% felt confident in their mentor’s ability to support them in this area. I will continue to share ways to have conversations that get a mentee to move in positive direction in this area.
· 87.9% of mentees felt their PD was sufficient to improve their practice. This is down slightly from previous years. It could be related to going virtual at the end of the year though.
I have more data but don’t want to bog you down with it. If you have any specific questions about the survey, reach out to me and I will share.
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I have broken down the tips for this time period like I did in previous years. You do not have to do all – just pick a few on which to focus.
· One to thing to really target right now is your mentee’s lesson plans. We have many temporary certificate teachers who have never taught. They do not have the pacing down and a quick look at their lesson plans will let you know if they have enough going on to keep students engaged in learning. Even if they are a new graduate with a professional certificate, please check out their plans for any lapses.
· Go over your mentee's classroom management before the first day of school. Explain the best management program is a strong lesson plan! Model and practice a few protocols/procedures while no students are in the room – how to greet students at the door, how your mentee will talk about the upcoming year and expectations, how your mentee will go over the classroom procedures, voice, tone, etc.
1. Personal: Most of you will have already met and welcomed your new mentees to your school. If you have not, contact them as soon as possible to introduce yourself and our program. If signups for additional duties are still circulating the school, discourage your new teacher from volunteering – at least in the first semester. Remember, they don’t know what they don’t know!
2. Professional: A) Explain the induction and mentoring program. Include what the new teacher can expect from you and the new teacher’s responsibilities as well. B) Be a role model by always speaking professionally about administrative staff, support staff, and other teachers. This is such a crazy time and our mentees feed off our energy. If they sense you are really stressed out, they will be too.
3. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Debrief district and school curriculum meetings. Some terms and examples may have no meaning for the new teacher.
4. Organizational Systems: A) Set up a card file, three-ring binder, or online communication system to provide the novice teacher organization tips throughout the year. B) Discuss strategies for organizing the paperwork and emails to and from parents as well as school and district offices.
5. Students: A) Work with the new teacher to identify necessary procedures and routines. B) Discuss the importance of community building activities during the first week.
6. Colleagues: A) Explain the support services available and provide a list of the names of providers at the school and district level. B) Go over policies, possibilities, and the potential of going back into a virtual learning atmosphere.
7. School Systems: Review procedures for fire drills and school crisis plans.
8. Parents and Community: Explain the importance of early home contact and assist the new teacher in thinking through how to establish positive partnerships with parents. We are in an unprecedented time, with emotions running high, so going over how to establish professional discussions with parents may have to be modeled.
*Special Educators: Model and/or co-facilitate an IEP meeting.
Thanks and here's to a great year!
-Bridget Reed
reed.bridget@brevardschools.org
Focus area topics taken from Paula Rutherford's Just Ask Publications