Jennifer Armenia
EDUL 6016
Assignment 2
First
year teachers, teachers new to the school and teachers changing subject areas
need to have the opportunity to be provided adequate support so they can be
successful teachers. 50% of new teachers
leave the profession before completing 5 years of teaching. Many teachers leave education due to
frustration with student behavior, the amount of paperwork they are expected to
do and grading students work. Good
teachers leaving the school system not only hurts the school because good
teachers are lost, but the cost to replace the teacher is expensive. Rather than having to hire new teachers and
train them year after year it is necessary to provide a good mentor program to
help new teachers in the school system. One
way to help new teachers through their first year is to provide a mentor for
all first year teachers, teachers new to the school and teachers changing
subject areas.
Providing
teachers with mentors will take planning to ensure that each mentor and mentee
that is paired together will work well and have a positive effect on each
other. In order to make sure the
mentor/mentee will get along, it is important to have a pool of mentors
available to choose from. Teachers who
have had leadership experience will be encouraged to mentor new teachers. Teachers who have had 5 years of teaching
experience that would like to mentor will also be allowed to have a mentee if
interested. Teachers will also complete
a questionnaire that describes their personality and teaching styles to help
match mentors and mentees. Teachers who
have a mentee will receive a stipend for the extra days they work and the extra
time they put in to support their mentee.
To help the mentor/mentee relationship and so the mentee benefits from
the mentor as much as possible, the mentor/mentee will be in the same grade
level and be placed in rooms close in proximity. Teachers that are chosen to be mentors will
attend a mentor training session. Since
the mentor program will be year long, this training session will include
information on how to assist the mentee in the beginning, middle and end of the
school year. This day will also include
information on additional meetings the mentor/mentee will attend together.
Before
the school year starts the mentor and mentee should meet to discuss school
routines, the format for lesson plans, classroom management, grading policies, department
policies, class schedules, and to answer any questions the mentee has. During the school year the mentor and mentee
will have to meet each week to help with planning and answer any questions that
may arise. It is expected that the
mentor will document anytime he or she meets with the mentee. It is also expected that the mentor will meet
with the mentee at least 1 hour a week.
During the year there will be quarterly mentor/mentee meetings
held. These meetings will discuss
questions and concerns the mentor or mentee has with the program and provide
additional support for the mentee by explaining anything that may be coming up
in the next quarter. At the end of the
year the mentee will complete an evaluation sheet on the mentor to evaluate how
well the mentor helped the mentee. This
evaluation will be used when considering using the mentor again. If the mentee is a first year teacher, he or
she will remain in the mentor program for another year to provide additional
support. The second year in the program
will not demand as many meetings between the mentor/mentee. The mentor will help the mentee use what was
learned through success and mistakes the previous year and to make changes and
improve upon last years experience.