Finding My Teacher Mentor #9

Help Me Mentor, Help Help Me Mentor

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash

The complexities of education, particularly teaching, are much, much more nuanced and complicated than many people realize—trust me on this. As “savvy” compulsory education participants (yes, attending school is a law), K-12 students decide every minute of each day whether to be passive or active partners in the learning process, choosing when and how to be involved (or not) in the classroom. Teachers, on the other hand, are “on” bell to bell, day to day, for the length of the 180 day school year (with no restroom breaks until class ends! Yikes!!). Consistently bad lesson plans or classroom management problems can be the ruin of an educator, particularly the vulnerable newbies to the profession. And with those realities in mind, I scoured St. Mary’s Academy faculty and beyond to find mentors who could guide and support me with the finer details of lesson planning, classroom management, assessment development, etc. I knew full well my foray into this new and exciting profession would turn ugly and come to a quick end without such help.

I tend to be a persistent, impatient, and overenthusiastic individual (just ask my friends and family) when there are things I want or need—annoying the hell out of people at times. The conundrum was I really needed help ASAP, but couldn’t afford to scare away the very people who could best guide me through the year. I also didn’t want to be that colleague people hide from when they see them coming down the hall. And so I had to approach potential mentors in a measured, calm, cool, and collected fashion lest I set off their internal alarms—totally hiding the panicked, stressed out internal state I was living in.

It was a mixed bag to start as I desperately took guidance from anyone with teaching experience and a pulse (including the former SMA science teacher I had replaced). Fortunately, educators are a kind and giving lot, and I soon found my core group of mentors I would lean on for the duration of the school year and beyond: (a veteran SMA faculty member down the hall from my classroom), Mr. R. (French IV and V teacher at a local High School whom I had met playing racquetball), and Sister Mary (chemistry teacher at an Albany parochial school who was recommended by the former SMA teacher I replaced). My A-Team mentors would be key to my survival as they empathically guided me through the year, answered questions and shared their best practices. I was, as Allstate Insurance would say, “In good hands”. Amen to that!

Lessons Learned:

Collegial support and guidance are keys to work life success, particularly in education. Fortunately, educators readily and happily share their ideas and best work with each another (logical given they are drawn to a profession to make a difference in the lives of children). I found you can’t be shy when seeking out that help, and to expand your search well beyond the school district you work in. I also learned the importance of joining and participating in state and national educator associations for ones respective teaching certification area(s) (In my case, Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)). To be your best self, you need to network, network, network and to pay it forward whenever possible.

Research:

1. Mentors and mentees both benefit from the teacher mentor process. This 2013 study¹ showed mentors' most impactful aspect of the mentor-teacher process to be reflective thinking on classroom practices while mentees' most impactful element being increased knowledge of class, school and district assessments.

2. One innovative way to look at mentoring is through a mentoring web of new teacher support involving principals, schools of higher education, P-12 mentors, and relationships with students and parents. This study² explores the various web components and their impact on new teacher development. The authors conclude the most effective mentoring program is one that encompasses a mentoring web model that

1. Mathur, Sarup R., et al. “Impact of a Teacher Mentorship Program on Mentors’ and Mentees’ Perceptions of Classroom Practices and the Mentoring Experience.” Assessment for Effective Intervention, vol. 38, no. 3, 2013, pp. 154–62, https://doi.org/10.1177/1534508412457873.

2. Gordon, Evelyn, and K. Alisa Lowrey. “The Mentoring Web – Coming Together to Make a Difference.” Improving Schools, vol. 20, no. 2, 2017, pp. 178–90, https://doi.org/10.1177/1365480216650310.