Mentoring Newsletter
A guide to working with mentees at your school site
May 2022
Hello, BPS mentors.
It's May -- we made it! Woo Hoo! Thank you for all of your hard work this year in support of new teachers and our profession. Not only are you solidly taking care of your own classrooms, you are building and molding new teachers -- impacting even more students' lives. We have received great feedback from our new teachers in our yearly survey. Please take a minute to complete the survey if you have not done so yet. I will share the survey results with you at the end of this month. Your input is incredibly important for strengthening our district's mentoring program!
New Teacher Induction Program: Administrator, Mentor, and Mentee Response 2021-22 - Google Forms
Some important dates:
May 2: Priority schools will advertise their openings for the next school year. Open to all applicants.
May 9: Openings will be published for all schools. Open to all applicants.
May 13: Final date on which all Mentor Logs, Induction Agreements, and Early Exit Forms are due to Lisa Stanley at ESF. Paperwork must be sent via courier -- NOT SCANNED in an email. Also, copies must be kept for five years at the school.
Suggestions for your area of focus right now:
1. Personal: Be sure that new teachers are invited to any end-of-year staff social events. Continue to support those teachers who, for whatever reason, are leaving your school.
2. Professional: Strongly encourage participation in the district celebration for first-year teachers on May 12th, at ESF! It will be held from 5:30-7:30 p.m. and promises to encourage reflection, inspiration, and preparation for the second year before getting re-energized over the summer. We have awesome guest speakers, and dinner will be provided! Sign-in is through ProGOE, Course # 16365 Section #412260
3. Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Provide strategies for staying focused through the end of the school year.
4. Organizational Systems: Assist the new teachers in identifying materials they will need for next year and making plan for obtaining or creating them.
5. Students: Continue to encourage new teachers to be positive about the how well students are prepared for both the content and the process of testing.
6. Colleagues: If there is a change in teaching assignment, ask colleagues with whom new teachers will be working next year to reach out to the new teachers to welcome them to the team and to share well in advance any instructional and assessment materials the team uses.
7. School Systems: Go over the end-of-year procedures for student and teacher check-out.
8. Parents and Community: Help new teachers identify ways they will let parents see the big picture of what their children have learned and accomplished this year.
*Special Educators: Facilitate the review of student work as a measure of student learning.
As always, Lisa Stanley, Linda Buffum, and I thank you for everything you have done this school year to support new teachers and this program. You are the Heart of Brevard! 💚
- Bridget Reed
reed.bridget@brevardschools.org
Breakdown and suggestions taken from Paula Rutherford's Just Ask Publications
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Mentors, please share this flyer with your first-year teachers! We want to celebrate their hard work!
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Lead Mentors, Don't Forget to Register for this awesome event!
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☀️☀️☀️Summer Trainings to Share with Teachers:
June 1, 8:30 - 3:30 at ESF, Course #16443 Section #412280
CHAMPS/DISC - a proactive and positive classroom management training
June 7 & 8, 8:30-3:30 at Sherwood Elementary, Course #17859 Section #412305
Strategies for Engagement - principles of cooperative learning to engage students
Two date options:
June 9, 8:30 - 3:30 at ESF, Course #15694 Section #412307 OR
July 18, 8:30 - 3:30 at ESF, Course #15694 Section #412308
Pathways for First-Year ESE Teachers - This course is designed to provide foundational knowledge of Brevard Public Schools’ Exceptional Student Education Policy and Procedures, data collection tools, classroom management, and instructional and behavioral resources. There are several different summer dates and sections. Course #17547
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✔️✔️✔️Mentors, please share! REMINDER – Certification/FL DOE!
Teachers who hold a Temporary FL DOE certificate that will expire on 6.30.2023 OR 6.30.2024:
As the end of the 2021-2022 school year is closely approaching you NEED to begin to meet the requirements set forth by the Florida Department of Education (FL DOE) and noted on your Statement of Status of Eligibility (SOE). This must be completed for you to receive a FL DOE five-year Professional certificate. Take this time to review your SOE, schedule tests you may need to complete and continue with your plan for meeting the Professional Preparation Coursework Requirements.
Here is the link for the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations: http://www.fl.nesinc.com/
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🧐 Attitudes of New Teachers - May🧐
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💚 Quotes for the End of the Year💚
As we get ready to close out this school year, it is important for us all to reflect on what a year it's been and to look around at how far we have come! Paula Rutherford's Just Ask Publications group put together some thought-provoking and inspirational quotes. Feel free to share with your mentees and students!