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  About myself                                                                  Hello! My name is Monica  Iuliana Ciubotaru. I’m from Botoșani , a  beautiful town in the north–east of Romania. My life here is quite calm and balanced between my duties at work and those of a mother and a wife.I love dogs and cats, flowers and technology.

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  About myself                                                                  Hello! My name is Monica  Iuliana Ciubotaru. I’m from Botoșani , a  beautiful town in the north–east of Romania. My life here is quite calm and balanced between my duties at work and those of a mother and a wife.I love dogs and cats, flowers and technology.

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Teaching context                                                                                                   I teach English for primary and secondary  classes (6-15 yrs old) at Școala Gimnazială Nr .10 Botoșani. It is a bit confusing teaching English to 6 yrs old and next hour to 14 yrs old, but I think I manage pretty well. There is not much technology available in school ,as  few classes have a computer and a projector .I often use my own laptop and speakers (brought from home ).Despite of this fact everybody in our school is doing a great job . Our school is for the second time awarded  by the Ministry of Education with the European School title and is part of Erasmus and eTwinning projects.You can find more information about our school here. https://sites.google.com/site/scoala10bt/

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Teaching context                                                                                                   I teach English for primary and secondary  classes (6-15 yrs old) at Școala Gimnazială Nr .10 Botoșani. It is a bit confusing teaching English to 6 yrs old and next hour to 14 yrs old, but I think I manage pretty well. There is not much technology available in school ,as  few classes have a computer and a projector .I often use my own laptop and speakers (brought from home ).Despite of this fact everybody in our school is doing a great job . Our school is for the second time awarded  by the Ministry of Education with the European School title and is part of Erasmus and eTwinning projects.You can find more information about our school here. https://sites.google.com/site/scoala10bt/

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Module 1-May 15th: The role of the mentor

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Module 1-May 15th: The role of the mentor

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So through this module, you will:

1-Understand different approaches to mentoring

2-Understand how working with newly qualified teachers is different (and similar) to working with more experienced colleagues

3-Understand how you as a mentor can facilitate your mentee to find their place in the school

4-Reflect about how you understand the relationship to your mentee

5-Reflect on your own mentoring practices

6-Reflect on the support you received when starting out and any extra support you would have appreciated

7-Discuss the pros and cons of doing summative evaluations of your mentees work

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Video 1 (US)

Jerry about his work as a teacher (first year): “A life coach, unlock their potential”

Problem of new teachers who quit (very difficult job, could feel like drowning alone in the ocean)

>High turnover of teachers> high cost! ($ + students)

Mentors in the US> selection of best teachers > training

OBSERVE / GATHER EVIDENCE/ DISCUSS IMPROVEMENT or WHAT WENT WELL/ PROVIDE THE PASSION / BE THERE, reachable, easy to contact (ex of cellphone number)

As teachers, we need to be lifelong learners (just like we want our pupils to be…)

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From a series of shorts directed by Davis Guggenheim (the director behind TEACH and Waiting for Superman) featuring The New Teacher Center's partnership program with Hillsborough County Public Schools (Tampa, FL), Mentoring New Teachers identifies the extremely high need for mentors for new teachers.

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How to share expertise? Mentors are also learners.

As a beginner, you don’t know what you’re doing: you do the work and learn it at the same time. So beginners shouldn’t be given the toughest classes. They need help, they can’ t be left alone.

The notion of Educative mentoring is important.

Mentors need to develop the skills of observation, analysisand productive talk about teaching.

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Mentoring - a conversation with Professor Sharon Feiman-Nemser

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Deborah Wansbrough of the Education Council talks with Professor Sharon Feiman-Nemser (Brandeis University, Massachusetts). They explore Professor Feiman-Nemser's research and expertise on educative mentoring and the ways in which mentors and teachers can work productively together.

This video was originally produced by the New Zealand Teachers Council.

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*Local guides - show mentee how things work

>Showing the “ropes”
*Educational companions - teachers of teaching, keep their eye on long-term goals of mentee’s learning
*Agents of change - create collaborative school environment where mentee can feel safe and supported across the school.

>Broader vision of responsibilities: create a more collaborative culture in the school.

In schools where teachers work together, where there’s a collaborative culture: people want to stay, feel more efficacious, satisfied. Mentoring can be a force for fostering that culture. Teachers feel jointly responsible for the quality of teaching or mentoring in school.

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1.3/Mentoring beginning teachers vs mentoring more experienced teachers

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1.3/Mentoring beginning teachers vs mentoring more experienced teachers

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Don’t categorize people, don't make assumptions about people's skills, abilities, knowledge.

New colleagues, student teachers te: enable them to gain insight into the setting.

Experienced: what do they make of that setting they know, what should the school priorities be according to them. How do they see their role into that setting. Not a blank canvas or clean slate...

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How is mentoring a beginning teacher different to mentoring a more experienced colleague?

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1.2/Getting started with a mentoring relationship

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1.2/Getting started with a mentoring relationship

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*What advice would you give to someone who is starting work as a mentor in School?

>Know about the framework of study/ programmes: know the range of expectation

>Thinking back to your experience as a mentee: drw from your own experience
>Find out the expectations of your mentee
>Be authentic

What would you recommend to do in a first mentoring session with your mentee?

Warm welcome, why the mentor has something to offer, create a situation where the mentoring relationship doesn’t feel like a test. Explain your insight of the school, your experience there, why you are in the position of the mentor, what you like about it…(common understanding of each other, what do I have to offer?)

Developing your own practice through the mentoring relationship.

Mentors can learn through mentoring. They are not always introduced to brand new ideas (although it’s possible) but they are being reacquainted with ideas from their own past professional training, learning…

Recreate curiosity/ read and learn together...try to show ideas in action in class for the mentors...Let go of routine.

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Help new teachers be part of the school community.
The mentors provide them with advice about issues they have, who to talk to...
Mentors should show them they show many roles in the school: be a role model in your school community.
Maybe you can rehearse with them some conversations that might be had: meeting parents,....anything that canbe stressful for a beginner.
>>>>THINKING AHEAD

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what role can a mentor play in supporting new teachers find their place in a school?

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In the video below Rachel outlines some practical considerations to help your mentee deal with working with parents and other school stakeholders, understanding school hierarchies and how to work best with school leaders, and developing a positive relationship with teacher colleagues.

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1.5 What to avoid in a mentoring relationship?

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1.5 What to avoid in a mentoring relationship?

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Don't fall into patterns of behaviours that aren't always helpful althought they seem to be!

*"Do it my way, use my ideas" to solve practical problems.
>You only know what works for YOU!
The mentor has to go beyond saying "simply do what I do".

*Some schools might have a set of fairly rigid routines
Mentors of new teachers have to try and help them develop skills taht will enable them to teach in different settings BUT of course this is made in a singular, particular setting. So the mentor has to help them adopt the practices they need in their first position, but also help them adapt those practices.

Help your mentee to stand on their own feet as a professional and not just in the context of their school.

Particularly true here in France as new teachers will probably have to start either in areas where teaching can be very hard (around Paris for instance), or they will start without a permanent position, as substitutes, going around schools in a specific area, usually knowing at the last minute where the school will be, or even what classes they are going to teach (it can go from age 11 to 18, including special need classes or vocational schools). So adaptability is really crucial I think. Because a mentor will never be able to show the "good solutions" for every possible teaching issue or context, so the best way to be a good mentor is probably acknowledging this fact and just try and provide the beginner with some tools to face new situations the best they can. (Again it makes me think of the first video with the new American teachers: important to say everyone can fail, it's not always easy to adapt, to find the right solution, the right approach, but it's important not to take it as a personal failure...it's rather just a challenge we might not be able to take upstraight away, but then something else must be tried out.)

*Avoid giving the impression you have finished learning yourself: Lifelong Learning! It can be reassuring to provide the new teacher with the impression that learning how to teach can be a "finished" work, but it's totally wrong and prejudicial on the long term.

*Avoid  bringing judgements into the relationship early on, especially summative judgement
Only formative judgement: to help progress, help decision making

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1. Understand the role of collaboration in a mentoring relationship

2. Understand the importance of mutual trust in a mentoring relationship and how to develop such trust

3. Understand the importance to scaffold, stimulate, and question in conversations with your mentee and some strategies to do so

4. Identify collaborative projects you could embark on with your mentee

5. Reflect on how to implement trust-building approaches in your context

6. Discuss an effective discussion and feedback approach for a typical mentoring scenario

7. Identify development goals and actionable steps to achieve those goals

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Identify 1 or 2 problems/projects/questions, which you think will be of primary interest to your mentee as well as yourself, and which you could address together in a collaborative nature.

Some notes on other people's ideas:
-When first meeting the mentee: present 3 situations that are difficult to manage in classes.
- Differentiation and Behaviour Management.

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Let’s understand better what collaboration and collaborative conversations are about and why they are so important in a mentoring relationship.

Collaborative conversation
Two or morepeopleworking together on a joint project, initiative or activity which they both value, they are prepared to invest time and energy in and which creates enough of a problem that requires some thinking/talking through.
Collaboration=
two people (or more) put the effort in together
+
create something together that they may not
have been able to produce on their own

Ideas start to merge.
Test eacher other's propositions out.
Give each other space to think.
Put stuff into practice, come back, think again...

Why are collaborative conversations important in a mentoring relationship?
> opportunity for learning within that space.
>Drawing upon the intelligence/experience of both parties
>Help imagine new practices= as a new teacher you feel you're being given permission to try something else= no judgement in that safe space (TRUST)
-sense of solidarity= trying to solve a problem together

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what do you understand as being a collaborative conversation?

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Listen to Rachel's perspective on this and think about how collaborative your own mentoring relationship and conversations are.