Mentoring Newsletter
A guide to working with mentees at your school site
December 2022
Hello, BPS mentors.
I hope your Thanksgiving week was enjoyable. Winter break will be here in a blink of an eye! This is a really busy time of year for everyone, so please take more time than the "how's it going?" moment in the hallway to see how your mentee is doing. Before winter break, schedule a time to reflect together on the first semester -- what has worked and where things need to be tweaked starting in January.
Let your mentees know that January can be a clean slate for classroom management with regard to implementing and consistently monitoring policies and procedures. Every one of our new teachers needs to hear this before they leave.
January is also the start of the upswing in new teacher attitudes!
A few reminders:
- Monthly Lead Mentor Chat is Dec. 7 on well-being and mindfulness with April Kavanaugh.
- Please remember to check the Induction Roster and verify that all your new teachers are listed with a mentor. If mentors have changed, please note that. If any new teachers have resigned, please list their end date. Do not remove from the Induction Roster. If you have any questions, please reach out to Tracy Seibert at x11237.
1. Personal: Help new teachers be aware that conflicting priorities and possible concerns about money, family, and holiday arrangements are normal at this point. If your mentee is a young adult, this may be their first time balancing the possibility of all the holiday stress - the positives and the challenges.
2. Professional: Share the list of professional development trainings and certification information included in this newsletter with your new teacher.
3. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Explain that the days before the winter break have the potential to be lost instructional time. Guide them in planning meaningful and engaging learning experiences while being mindful of the conflicting demands on student family time outside of school.
4. Organizational Systems: Discuss the dilemma of the piles of papers that have accumulated on shelves, in boxes, and on the edge of desks. Give the gift of plastic garbage bags and help the new teachers figure out what to discard and what to file.
5. Students: A.) Advise your mentees that the holidays can be either joyful or stressful for students and that either emotion can negatively impact their focus on school and learning. B.) Instruct the new teachers to be sensitive to the religious and ethnic diversity of the students so that they will not make references to only the celebrations in which they participate. C.) Let new teachers know NOT to penalize students for decisions made by adult family members about school attendance. Help your new teacher navigate in this area.
6. Colleagues: Ask colleagues to assist in providing moral support to new teachers who are going through “the slump” and need personal and professional support.
7. School Systems: A.) Go over policies for holiday decorations, celebrations, and gifts. B.) Preview semester exam policies and procedures.
8. Parents and Community: Alert new teachers about the various religious holidays, rituals, and festivities, in which students, parents, and community members engage. New teachers from other areas of the country may well be unaware of all the significant religious observances that occur during this time period.
*Special Educators: Review systems for documenting student progress and assist in revision or refinement as necessary. Use student work to analyze actual student progress.
As always, thank you so much for your hard work in supporting our new teachers. Have a wonderful holiday season!
-Bridget Reed
reed.bridget@brevardschools.org
Breakdown and suggestions taken from Paula Rutherford's Just Ask Publications
*********************************************************************
⭐⭐⭐Don't forget to let your new teacher know how awesome they are before winter break! ⭐⭐⭐
First-year Sherwood Elementary teacher, Hana Miller, and her mentor, Shawncy Mordente
*********************************************************************
📝 New Teacher Trainings - Mentors, please share with your mentees
Assessment & Feedback
Dec. 8th, 5:00-7:00 pm (teachers will be paid since it is after hours)
Course #18395 Section#413887
Engagement Strategies
Jan. 12th, 8:30-3:30 pm
Course #15694 Section #413884
Learning Cycle &Differentiation
Feb. 9th, 8:30 - 3:30 pm
Course #18386 Section #414209
New Teacher Academy (new teachers AND those new to Brevard that have not yet attended)
Feb. 20th, 8:00 - 3:30 pm
Course #16443 Section #414231
If you have any questions on the listed courses posted above, please contact Tracy Seibert at ext. 11237 or seibert.tracy@brevardschools.org
CHAMPS -Classroom Management, Elementary
1/23 – 1/24, 8:30 - 3:30 pm
Course #17859 Section #414138
DISC/CHAMPS -Classroom Management, Secondary
1/25 – 1/26, 8:30–3:30 pm #17859 Section # 414139
If you have any questions on CHAMPS, please contact Lisa Stanley at ext. 11243 or stanley.lisa@brevardschools.org
*********************************************************************
*********************************************************************
✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Important Certification Information - Mentors please share!
Certification Newsflash: Temporary Certificate Expiring June 30, 2023
If your temporary certificate is expiring June 30, 2023, you must meet all requirements by April 3, 2023, in order to apply for your upgrade to a professional certificate and be eligible for re-appointment.
Certification has been reviewing your files -- and many of you have not even started taking your tests or courses.
Please refer to your Statement of Eligibility from the FLDOE regarding your requirements which includes your tests, education courses, professional education competencies and one year of full-time teaching experience.
Testing information for you to register for the subject area test, general knowledge test and professional ed. test can be found at this link: http://www.fl.nesinc.com/
If you need education courses you must get started now with those courses, which are available through any accredited college such as Grand Canyon University, University of Phoenix, and Florida Southern. This information has previously been sent to you from certification in email reminders with the college’s offerings and schedules.
If you have met all your requirements, you apply now to “upgrade” to your professional certificate.
https://www.fldoe.org/teaching/certification/on-line-application-status-lookup-site.stml