Wednesday, October 13, 2010
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.
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When working with my mentee I will need to make sure that I create the time to really sit and talk with her. We are all so busy with our own teaching responsibilities that it can be challenging to make sure we are thinking of our fellow teachers. I feel that it will also be important to encourage the new teacher that I will be working with, frequently. As we discussed in our last meeting, new teachers just need to know that there is someone there to listen to them and offer them some support. The new text that we received will also be a great guide to help with ideas to share with our new teachers. There is a section dedicated to the beginning of the year that I think would be especially helpful. I look forward to working with my mentee this coming school year!
ReplyDeleteOops. I meant to post this in a different section! I'm a little confused. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteI also think it is so important to share experiences with my mentees, and let them know that they are not the first (or the last) person to feel overwhelmed by the first year of teaching. One of the things I keep reminding myself is that sometimes mentees need advice and sometimes they just need a "vent buddy". There are quite a few new teachers in my school, and not many TSSs. Therefore, I get a chance to see a pretty wide variety of needs, and my strength is that I can separate these needs (usually). All teachers need encouragement, but I'm trying to drop in on my first year teacher most often.
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