Mathematic Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites

The workshop on Friday was wonderful. I enjoyed listening to and (learning ideas from) Mrs. Clower. As a Kindergarten teacher I feel that it is so important for the children to really enjoy their Mathematic lessons each and every day and I work hard to make the lessons and activities as interesting as possible. Perhaps by building a foundation at such a young age the children will leave kindergarten with a positive attitude about Mathematics and not be afraid of math or dislike math as they grow older (and the content area is much more difficult).

The first session was much more than I ever expected. Teaching is a second career for me, and I have been teaching now for nine years. I can remember my first day of school as if it was yesterday and I can tell you this, if it had not been for Emma Johnson and Harriet Robinson I probably would have walked out that first day. They took me under their wing before school started that year and they became not only a mentor but a friend, a protector, my life line and I love them both dearly. I can only pray that I can be as good as they were to me. My mentee is the art teacher and she and I already have a good relationship and I hope now that I can be her life line. The information I received on the first session is priceless and I know she will find ways to incorporate this information in her classes. I am so thankful that I was chosen to participate in this program. I pray I will become the mentor that every new teacher needs. I still remember that first day of school........

Reply to Question

First, I am really excited about being a mentor! I have thought about this sharing process and decided that support and resources are the most important thing you can give a new teacher. With all the demands and expectations of a first year (and even veteran teachers), duties can become very overwhelming. I think an open communication line and shoulder to lean on would be the one thing that a mentee needs. Resources also lessen valuable time and serve as a direction for the mentee. Veteran teachers have tons of great ideas, and they need to be shared. I will create a notebook of this ideas and "helpful hints" and schedule time for my mentee and I just to talk.

2010-11 Teacher Support Specialist Blog: Roles and Responsibilities of Mentoring

2010-11 Teacher Support Specialist Blog: Roles and Responsibilities of Mentoring: "After our first class and discussing roles and responsibilities of mentoring with your colleagues, think about your strengths as a mentor. A..."

The first TSS Mentor meeting really helped me understand my responsibilities as a mentor. Being a TSS Mentor is going to fun and a learning experience for me. I have already started to examine myself more, my procedures, my attitude, and my teaching style more frequently since the meeting. My strength as a mentor is that I am always to assist people that want to improve and love to share ideas, information, technology, and shortcuts in doing my job. About a week ago, I had the pleasure of demonstrating how to use the Scantron machine to my mentee. He was so thankful and so was his wife (smile). My poor mentee and wife had been grading his weekly assessments by hand! I apologized to him and her because I just thought he knew about the Scantron machine. Currently, I am working on a list of things to discuss with him and my other mentee so I won't be a "bad mentor" again. So the one thing that I am discussing with my new mentee is to discuss what to sort of expect for the next few weeks before the end of first semester and give a preview about the second semester expectations.

Mathematics Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites with Jennifer Clowers!

After hearing Jennifer Clowers and looking through your new book, Mathematics Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites, how can you use this information to help your new teacher(s) with instruction in this area?  How can this information transfer to other content areas?

Roles and Responsibilities

Wow! I felt inspired when I left our first TSS training. I was unsure of what to expect at this training but am now anxious to attend the remaining. Listening to others is one of my definite strengths. I did not have a mentor teacher when I first started teaching and I think the thing I wanted the most was just for someone to listen to me, let me talk and tell about how I was feeling without judging me. I am going to offer an open ear to my mentees for them to share whatever they feel they need to. As a mentor, another strength for me is my knowledge of the school's policies and procedures, etc. That was also one of the things that I felt I missed out on when I first started teaching. There was nobody to tell me how to do things. One of my mentees is not new to teaching, just new to the county so I believe she needs more of that from me than anything else. I need to be available for her to answer questions about procedures and other day-to-day questions.

Roles and Responsibilities

Okay, so I tried to comment on Betsy's post, but Blogger wouldn't allow me to do it. Instead, I am creating a new post in response to her post about the roles and responsibilities of mentors! Maybe I need a mentor for blogging! Anyway, my mentor/mentee situation is a little non-traditional, as I am mentoring my inclusion teacher. She is in the room with me all day every day. Although she is new to the county, she is not new to teaching, so her questions and concerns seem to be more process-oriented. We do spend a lot of time talking about how to best meet the needs of our students with special needs, and we focus on how to make necessary accomodations to help them to be successful fourth graders. But as a "mentor", I am not really sure how I am doing in that role since I view us as equal partners in the classroom. It was important to me that she felt a sense of ownership of the class, so I don't feel that I am necessarily fuflilling the role of a "mentor" with her. Sure, we talk about the ins and outs of "The River Road Way" because every school has its own way of doing things, and I check in to make sure that deadlines are met, but overall, we work as a team. Maybe that's what mentoring is for us--we are a team, and we help each other when help is needed, we remind each other when reminding is needed, but mostly we are just in this together.

Roles and Responsibilities

When working with my mentee I will need to make sure that I create the time to sit down and talk as well as listen to her. We are all so busy with our own teaching responsibilities that it can be challenging to think of our fellow teachers. I also feel that it will be important to make sure that I encourage the new teacher that I am working with, frequently. As we discussed in our last meeting, new teachers just need to know that there is someone ther to listen to them and offer them some support. The new text we received will also be a great resource to shar with our new teachers. There is a section dedicated to the beginning of the school year that I think would be especially helpful. I look forward to working with my mentee as well as all the memebers of our TSS class this school year!

2010-11 Teacher Support Specialist Blog

I would make sure that my mentee feels comfortable enough to ASK QUESTIONS - and that I will do my best to answer the questions and/or to find the answer. I would share with my mentee my new teacher experiences in order to help her realize that everyone was a new teacher at one time or another - and that we all have gone through what she is going through now. Building that trust (and comfort level) is the foundation of an excellent mentor/mentee partnership. I would also share with my mentee that often the picture that was "painted" throughout college (about being in the classroom) often does not look like what is actually going on in your classroom -- and that you will be successful and that things do get better. I remember reading a quote - something along the line of "if you fail to plan - plan to fail" -- and with that in mind I would stress the importance of OVER PREPARING for lessons each day.

2010-11 Teacher Support Specialist Blog: Roles and Responsibilities of Mentoring

2010-11 Teacher Support Specialist Blog: Roles and Responsibilities of Mentoring: "After our first class and discussing roles and responsibilities of mentoring with your colleagues, think about your strengths as a mentor. A..."

I will discuss with my mentor that she is not alone and that she always makes a difference everyday she steps in that classroom. The students need her and she has many great things to offer them. I will let her know that even though the growth may seem very small and sometimes nonexistent, every child can learn something! I will assure her that it is o.k. to ask for help!!! Lastly, I will assure her that although in the world of special education things are always changing, be willing to work as a team and we will all get through this together!

Roles and Responsibilities of Mentoring

After our first class and discussing roles and responsibilities of mentoring with your colleagues, think about your strengths as a mentor. Also, think about things you need to do in order to improve in order to become the best mentor. Given what you have learned about new teachers, what is one thing that you can discuss with your new mentee?