Mentors

     Today was our district mentor training PD, where a new group of teacher leaders made the choice to give the gift of their time and talents to the betterment of the education profession.  They became official mentors!  About 20 D100 teachers came to the training today so that they could help a teacher begin their profession with support.

     As I sat down to blog about this topic, I remembered my post from last year about the importance of mentoring.  You can read it here.

      There are so many roles that a mentor can play in the life of a new teacher.  Every new teacher brings his/her own fears, struggles, and strengths, and mentors are trained to help them where they are to guide them to where they are going.  +Marilyn McManus had us talking with each other about our various roles and how we can best support our newest staff right from the start.

     After some time talking, we came up with many different roles that a mentor could have.  One was that of an advocate.  I find this role to be very significant, as we are truly looking out for them during their first days as a teacher, but also indirectly their future in the education field.  If we advocate for our mentees now by listening, and finding them the support and resources they need to grow, just think about the number of students we can actually influence.  To be an advocate, you don't need to have all the answers.  We are a team, supporting our teachers together, and becoming the village that it takes to educate a child.   

     We also had them identify the things that a high quality teacher says, thinks, does and feels.  What would we hope to see in our new teachers by the end of the year?  I felt like the group really did a nice job of summing up not only what I hope for all our new staff, but also what I hope I represent myself every day of the coming school year.  

     Thanks for giving up a day in your summer to talk with Marilyn and myself about mentoring our new teachers!  +Terese Prendiville +Sally Mc Cormick +Jennifer O'Brien +John Bertoletti +Kirstin McGinnis +Rachel Parker +Katie Henry +Brittany Baldassano +Christine Wilhelm +Elizabeth Iverson +Nancy Elia +Jodi Pasowicz +Scott Miller +Meg Hanisch +Heather Castorena +Shauna Toolan +Rachel Guel

(I hope I didn't miss anyone!)

Day 30!  One more day to go!