Mentors are a Light!

Day 24 of #BTBC14

Who are/were your mentors?  Who helped you grow as a teacher?

     

     I really believe strongly in mentoring. I feel like, somewhere along the way, we all need support and guidance for the things that we do.  Having a mentor relationship with someone allows them to know that when they need help, you will be there (and vice versa).  I firmly believe that our best teachers will only be better if they took the time to mentor another teacher.  

     I loved this graphic because it doesn't really matter who is holding the light, as long as someone is.  We all stumble in the dark at times, and a light is all we need to make it through.  In the image, the second person could easily take the lantern.  It could be passed back and forth between them.  There just needs to be a light.  Sometimes the light is content knowledge, sometimes it is friendship, sometimes it is a coaching conversation.  The possibilities are endless.  Mentoring makes it possible for the light to shine.  

     I would love to mention all the people who have mentored me, both official and unofficial, but this post would go on forever.  The truth is, I have grown as a teacher because of many, many people.  I have 3 people who officially mentored me in some capacity. I have officially mentored 8 people as new staff, after being mentored by Kathy Ross when I was a first year teacher.  I mentored 6 national board candidates, after being mentored by Sue Butler as a candidate myself.  I have also worked with groups of 1st and 2nd year teachers, with the guidance of Marilyn McManus and the New Teacher Mentor Program.  I learned so much from all those relationship, regardless if I was the mentor or the mentee.  If the benefits of mentorship stop with us, then we are not paying it forward. Use what others have given you, and spread it like a gift to others.  

     The truth is, mentors are everywhere.  We just have to have our eyes open and see them for what they are.  A light!