Day 6-Effective Mentoring

Explain: What does a good mentor “do”?

This is a topic that hits home with me.  When I first started teaching I don’t think I had the best the best “mentor.” Then when I became a mentor (or a building buddy) I tried my hardest but ultimately it didn’t end the way I had planned.  The teacher left after that year.

The number one “do” for a mentor is to LISTEN.  Set aside time just to really listen to the mentee.  This is not the time for “well what I do” because what the mentor does might not be the best for the mentee.  It is not the time for advice or saying the great things the mentor has done in the past but just to let the mentee really talk it out.  

A mentor needs to visit the mentee’s classroom and not just one class all the time, mix it up.  Especially at the middle level, all classes have their own personalities.  The mentor needs to see the mentee in act in all the environments.  Then reverse, have the mentee comes observe in the mentors classroom.  After each observation, sit down with each other, discuss what was seen and what was not seen. The good, the bad and the ugly.

This is also the time when HONESTY plays the biggest role.  The mentor needs to reflect just as much as the mentee does (maybe sometimes more).  If both are really honest and open both can grow as educators.  

And finally the mentor should learn from the mentee.  In have experienced mentors that the attitude “I have been there, I have done that, and I know it all.”  With that attitude its does not give the mentee freedom try to things and new ideas. This type of attitude can suppress the creative nature of teaching.  A mentor needs to be open to new idea, let the mentee try new things. The mentor may learn something new….you can teach an old dog new tricks.

I wish my mentor my first year was open and honest with me, my mentor also had the “I know best attitude.”  As a mentor I tried to be all the above for my mentee, but the mentee was not as open as I was.