Monday, February 4, 2008
Teacher Mentoring
One of the things that I found interesting the second weekend of class was the discussion on mentoring programs. I feel that a new teacher, whether new to the district or a brand new teacher would benefit from this type of program. In our discussion, however, it sounds like several of the districts we talked about offer something of this nature but the follow-up seems to be very weak. In my experience, because I work closely with the person that I mentor, it seems to work well for us. Unfortunately, this type of program is more like an orientation program. In my opinion, I feel that most new teachers would benefit more from the performance improvement programs that are offered. This type of program would help new teachers gain knowledge about instructional and classroom management strategies and possibly make the first year a more positive experience.
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2 comments:
I agree completely with the importance of having a proper mentoring program in place that does more than just gives a quick overview of the school district. In my current school district when I started teaching I was required to go through a mentoring program for my first two years. The program required constant journaling, reflection on lessons, and the creation of a portfolio. At the time I found this to be a very daunting task but I was assigned a great mentor who was in constant contact with me and offered excellent advice. I truly believe that the mentoring process I went through during my first couple of years really made me a better teacher and made me feel much more comfortable with tasks that are associated with being a teacher. Therefore I am a strong believer in the positive affect a quality mentoring program can have on first and second year teachers if it is implemented properly and the proper staff members are used as mentors.
I too think it is very important for districts to have mentoring programs. Equally important would be admin mentoring programs and not just for new administration in the district. It would be helpful for a HS principal that transfered and took an elementary building in the same district to have another elementary principal as a mentor because the way each building runs and works is totally different.
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