The Way is Right Before You

The title to this entry summons a fairly commonplace Zen saying - "The way is right before you." As it is true in life, so it is true in mentoring practice. Our mentees give us countless opportunities to introduce new information or offer support in specific ways that are meaningful to their professional lives. In mentoring terminology, we call these opportunities "entry points." Come to mention it, this term has a bit of Zen flair to it, too. By paying attention, and then acting strategically in our mentoring role, we are offered the "entry" by our mentee colleague to focus our work together. In the last two weeks, I've come across plenty of entry points with my mentees. Among them: "I don't understand how teachers find the time to develop daily plans, link them to standards, and on top it all, write whole cohesive units. I don't know where to begin..." or "I feel very confident about what I'm teaching, it's finding the resources to make labs happen that's feeling like a challenge right now..." or "Our school is nestled here in this community, yet there is little parent involvement. I'd like to learn more about how to involve parents in the school community - I intend to start right here in my classroom." What are some of the entry points you have heard this week? How will your mentoring be strategic in terms of steering the two of you along the way? By acting on offered entry points, we simultaneously reinforce trust -- trust that is established as a result of our attention, integrity, skill, knowledge, and respect. Fortunately, we have a pretty hefty toolbox to draw from. I view our mentoring tools as the skeleton around which the heart of the work forms - meaningful, reflective conversation. Mentoring is the practice of guiding our colleagues towards actualizing their professional potential. Remember, it is always right before you.