Beginnings

One can be drawn to the idea of needing the right words to begin. I'm going to put that aside and share what I can, with the best words I can find, about being a mentor to new teachers. After eight years of mentoring, as well as benefitting from hundreds of hours of professional development on mentoring, it only seemed right to take the time to share what has been shared with me. I will begin by acknowledging that most of what I have learned about being a mentor has been learned through the process of mentoring - through relationships with the teachers I've mentored - teachers who, from the first day, I always consider my colleagues. My gratitude extends to them for trusting me and for trusting the work.

So we begin. This week marks the beginning of a new school year. While we are probably accustomed to first-day-of-school jitters by now, for many of us, mentoring a new teacher may be an entirely new aspect of our professional life. For others, we are entering yet another year of mentoring - and we know just how much craft goes into doing it well! My goal in writing this blog is to offer succinct weekly insights about the art of mentoring a colleague. In some cases, I will share what I am doing in my own mentoring work. In other cases, I will offer a key concept regarding the craft of mentoring. On other occasions, I will draw from a book, article, or professional journal that may be of use to all of us. Lastly, I will write about a variety of mentoring tools we use in our work and align those entries to the time of year that we are most likely to use specific tools. I welcome your insights, feedback, successes, and challenges and hope this blog will become a place where we can support each other and share our best practices.

For this week, for tomorrow and the next day, the heart of our work is about getting to know our mentees - getting to know everything we can know about them. This is a time to build a relationship based on trust - one that is grounded in mutual understanding. Even if you are in your second year of mentoring a colleague, take some time this week to approach your mentee with "I don't know you" eyes. Find out something completely new about them, and avoid relating via assumptions. Operating on assumptions can lead us to guide our colleagues in areas where guidance is unnecessary, or to overlook pivotal areas of practice wherein reflection is key. Assumptions also create a relational block - what you are actually meeting via an assumption is your own idea about a person rather than who they may be. That makes the work about you, rather than the individual being guided. This breaks down trust rather than building it.

We want to build trust.

A central aspect of building trust is creating the space in our work to put ourselves aside and listen. Rather than walking through a mentee's classroom door this week with our own personal agenda about what they should do or what they need, the only agenda we should have is to sit down and ask them questions about themselves - and then listen. Where did they go to school? What brought them to teaching? What are they passionate about with regards to their content? What are their dreams for the coming year? Where do they feel confident? How are they unsure? Where did they grow up? What do they want to know about their students? What do they want their students to learn? Their answers to these and any other questions that may surface in the midst of the conversation will show you the way to the next "right step" for offering genuine support around areas of strength and need that you identify together.

Enjoy this week - and at the end of every meeting, I encourage you to say "thank you."

Thanks for reading - and welcome!

Alison.