What should I be doing with a Year 1 mentee vs. a Year 2 mentee?

Essentially the same thing in terms of the use of the FAS coaching model - but with different content - the content gets generated by your mentee and the conversations you have together. At the start of the year we focus on building relationship, reviewing class data, getting to know school and community resources, choosing case study students (2 of them - one language learner student and one special populations student, ideally) and goal setting. By now, if you started with your mentee at the start of the year, you are probably moving into inquiry work - observing, lesson planning, and analyzing student work.

Observing

Observing in our mentee's classroom is one of the single most effective routes to learning focused conversation topics. Even spending only ten minutes in a mentee's classroom will ground us in a clearer reality of their situation - how he or she moves in the room, the names and faces of actual students, the nature of questions asked, how the time is spent, how often students are engaged, how the room is arranged - in truth, the list goes on and on. I encourage getting into every mentee's classroom at least once a month. Without this layer of experience, we are grounding our work in hypothetical conversation and planning, rather than taking it to the level of how the planning is being actualized with living, breathing learners in real time.

I've had the pleasure of co-observing with mentor colleagues in the last few weeks. In doing so, I've learned a bit about my particular observation style, which is to capture as much relevant data as possible to share with the teacher I'm observing. I always go in with an observation focus, and then keep my eyes and ears pinned on the words, phrases, questions, and actions - on the part of both the teacher and the student - that link to the focus. It's impossible to capture everything, so having a focus is essential.

I find that at the onset, I often sit at a table or desk and rely heavily on listening - focusing on the page I'm writing on (I never type) and what is going on between teacher and student verbatim. I look up to record the time, so there is data on pacing, and to get a snapshot of the nature of student engagement. In time I begin to walk the room, looking over shoulders, capturing what students are saying in groups or writing on assignments. I ask students questions. All of this ends up painting a picture of a class period with lots of specific details.

The beauty of this approach is that a mentee takes a look at non-judgmental, detailed evidence based observation notes and the reaction is always "Oh wow! That happened. I didn't realize. Instead of doing ______, I could try __________." Or, "This is really interesting to see how this group of students were working together. And I got to them 5 separate times. I'll bet that made a difference." Hopefully you get the picture - the notes are a springboard for them to SEE themselves and their students from a bit of a "distance" and to reflect spontaneously. I never, ever launch into a whole bunch of feedback about what I think after an observation. Rather, we review the notes together and the reflection begins to roll. Then, after the teacher has an opportunity to reflect, I add feedback as well as ask questions to push his or her thinking. In this way, learning happens.

I've been asked, "How do you manage to write all of that down?!" Practice. Lots of practice. The surest route to developing the skill of taking observation notes is by taking observation notes. It's certainly true that getting in to observe often enough to have regular practice, especially if you have only one mentee, can be a challenge. I'll put it out there that it may be worthwhile to look for alternate situations in your life where you can sit back and simply practice writing observation notes. Sit in a cafe and write down as much as you can, with a focus in mind, for 15 minutes. Try it at a sporting event, at a bookstore, at a staff meeting, at an after school program - you name it. Doing this in 15 minute chunks again and again will develop the skill set for capturing detailed observation notes. Why would we want to do such a thing? Because for each and every teacher I've ever observed, receiving detailed notes of their classroom in action is priceless. They rarely ever get it.

If you haven't had a chance to observe your mentee yet, pull out your calendar the next time you meet and find a few windows of time for you to observe. It will broaden and deepen your work together naturally.

Thanks for reading - more on observing to come!

Alison

Do you have a goal?

Today I attended a New Teacher Center leadership meeting, where a fellow mentor colleague shared the story of a successful year of mentoring with a first year teacher. Their work together resulted in significant student gains, with 80% of the mentee's students reading at grade level by the end of the school year. At the start of the school year, most of the students were reading well below grade level. These gains aligned directly with the mentee's professional goals for the year.

Here's the point for those of us in a new teacher mentoring role: the mentor had a targeted goal for her work that aligned directly with the mentee's goal. These aligned goals on the part of both professionals kept the work right on target. At the end of the year, they were able to celebrate the resulting student successes together, and they had an understanding of how they got there as a result of their weekly reflection on student achievement and learning needs. This is what our work is ultimately about, and there is great satisfaction in realizing a stated goal.

In the coming days, I'm going to be sure to write up a specific goal for my work with each of my mentees that aligns precisely with his or her professional goals. It will be interesting to reflect on the results at the end of the year. I encourage you to do the same - and to share your outcomes here.

Thanks for reading!

Case Study Students

In my work with my mentees, we are increasingly focusing on case study students at this time. We chose our case study students back in September, considering initial class data as well as each mentee's interest in learning more about particular students in their classes.

In the choosing of the case study students, I always pull out the Pre-Assessment Iceberg - a FAS Coaching tool that is an excellent guide for thinking and sharing about each student in a very holistic way. I find the use of this tool to be helpful for me as a mentor, because it facilitates a discussion that will generate information about the students my mentee is choosing, as well as information about what my mentee knows and doesn't know about pre-assessing student strengths, language levels, academic performance, and learning needs. The use of the Pre-Assessment Iceberg also opens up a variety of entry points for further mentoring - the range of questions and areas of interest are consistently wide. My mentees are led to want to know much more about their case study students - they decide to talk to them more, get to know them, ask them questions about their learning, phone their parents to find out more about their case study student's home life and academic history. We inevitably decide to do some reading and research about each student's particular learning needs - and it provides avenues for me to share resources or suggest veteran teacher observations or professional development opportunities. Yes - it's true - all from the use of one tool! If anything, the use of the Pre-Assessment Iceberg presents an excellent challenge for mentors - the challenge of strategically planning upcoming meeting topics with our mentees and having an awareness of when to create an entry point for timely new learning on the part of our mentee.

As a result of getting to know more about each case study student, the natural outcome of the pre-assessment work is to make come instructional decisions. As mentor, it is my job to ensure that each of my mentees comes to this place in the work. While we will continue to get to know more and more about each case study student over the course of the year through interpersonal relationship building, it is also essential to get to know them through inquiry into teaching practice. This is the juncture I find myself at with my mentees at this time. Each of them is making instructional decisions about specific instructional strategies, modifications, and interventions that they plan to take in their classrooms with their case study students in mind. Of course, this involves lesson planning. It also involves my coming in to observe the plans in action - and student engagement and learning within the context of the plan - as well as follow up conversations with my mentees about the efficacy of the instructional decisions and pointed next steps for pedagogical improvements. We will also look at student work, with a lens focused on the case study student work in particular. The process of analyzing student work inevitably leads to differentiated lesson planning - and thus, the cycle continues.

Lesson plan, observe, analyze student work, lesson plan, analyze student work, lesson plan again, observe, lesson plan, etc. The inquiry cycle is not linear. It is truly cyclical and we make choices about which component of the inquiry cycle would be the most beneficial for our mentees' reflection on practice in the interest of student learning. The key three processes in the inquiry cycle are: lesson planning, observing, and analyzing student work. When the time is right we can build in an Inquiry Action Plan - but that is another topic for another post.

This is a rich time of year for learning together with our mentees.

How do I get additional hard copies of the FAS Coaching Tools?

Hard copies of the tools - including the shrink wrapped packets of them - are in the Make and Take Center at the new NTSD offices - 581 61st Street, Oakland at the corner of Shattuck Avenue. Electronic versions of the tools can also be emailed to you - contact your NTSD liaison for further assistance.

Survival and Goal Setting

We've reached the "survival" time of the school year for most teachers. We've been working for several weeks straight without much of a break, and without one in sight until Thanksgiving. I, too, am finding that I'm spinning my wheels a bit - trying to keep up with a long list of tasks that seems to grow each day. This is what "survival" is like - going day to day and trying to keep up in a very momentary way. It is short-sighted, but also understandable - especially when we consider a new colleague and the steep learning curve that they face. Most of the teachers we are mentoring are probably in "survival" mode right now, and it is essential that we are aware of and responsive to this state of mind, as it can be stressful and difficult for a novice teacher to maintain for very long.

If goal setting hasn't crossed the table with your mentee yet - this is the perfect time to set aside a meeting to attend to it. Goal setting provides us with direction and clarity for our work. It also sets the stage for moving into the inquiry cycle (lesson planning, observing, analyzing student work, reflecting on case study students) with focus rather than a haphazard "let's do one thing this week and something else the next week" approach that is reactive rather than responsive. Ultimately, clarity around our work together saves time, leads to identifiable efficacy in the classroom, impacts student learning positively, and provides the groundwork for intentional weekly reflection.

What if my mentee already has goals written? Fine. Perfect. It's still essential to take the time to have a conversation about those goals and to identify how you are going to work with those goals together. Also, it's important to consider the language of the goals. Often, teachers will write goals in terms of student achievement. For example, "90% of all students will move by 1.5 points on the writing rubric this year." What can sometimes be left out are the specific steps the teacher will take to move in the direction of reaching that goal.

In my work, I consistently use the New Teacher Center's Individualized Learning Plan (ILP) for goal setting. I use the ILP even if the goal setting meeting is conducted for the purposes of getting mutual clarity on existing goals. With the framework of the CSTP to guide the conversation, we are able to take a very comprehensive look at the mentee's goals. We consider how engaging students, classroom environment, lesson planning, knowledge of content, assessing learning, and professional development will be approached with the goal in mind. While it can seem big, (6 goals!) it's actually manageable. This approach takes a big picture goal like "90% of all students will move by 1.5 points on the writing rubric this year" and breaks down the mini steps that will need to be taken to attain it. So the 6 goals are actually mini goals or supportive goals linked to an overall goal.

I can't emphasize enough how important it is to have a goal setting or goals-oriented conversation with each mentee we support. Taking the time to stop and consider goals in a focused way - with clear and manageable next steps for both our mentee and ourselves - helps to stop the spinning wheels. With a named focus in mind, it also sets the stage for us to name successes. It has been found that one of the single most important factors influencing a teacher's decision to remain in our profession is his or her ability to identify ways in which he or she has been successful in the classroom and successful in terms of student learning. Naming such successes, I would argue, hinges on a clear understanding of one's goals and how one is reaching them in an ongoing way.

Thanks for reading!

Alison

What is the Early Completion Option?

The Early Completion Option for BTSA provides exceptional teachers with a PRELIMINARY CREDENTIAL the opportunity to complete BTSA in one year instead of two. The candidate must have at least TWO YEARS of teaching experience at an accredited school and be BEGINNING the BTSA Program when he or she applies for Early Completion. Candidates must apply for this option. You will find all the details on the NTSD website: ntsd.ousd.k12.ca.us Open the BTSA link. Here you will find the link for the ECO application, as well as a link providing detailed information about necessary criteria to qualify. The deadline to apply for this year is October 30, 2009.

Give them Golden Time

I held a Mentor Forum this week. One of my mentor colleagues there shared her intention to offer her mentee an hour of "golden time" each week. By this she meant that she wants to attend fully with her mentee when they meet throughout the year. It can be easy for us to be swept away by our phones, emails, "to do" lists, and the hectic concerns of our teaching lives - especially if we share a common content-area prep with our mentee. Ironically, diving into such "to do" lists can often lead to our getting very little done.

My colleague realized that she needed to put all the "chatter" aside to provide her mentee with protected time to reflect on her classroom: her successes, her questions, her challenges -- as well as attainable pedagogical, personal, and professional next steps. In my experience, such focus in collegial mentorship does lead to concrete achievements on the part of teacher, mentor, and most importantly, students.

We are fortunate to have a simple tool to provide a clear architecture for our meetings - The Collaborative Assessment Log. This tool provides us with a straightforward means to support a focused, reflective conversation.

How do you use the Collaborative Log, and how does it support your work?

Laying out a Timeline

Need some ideas for possible next steps to take with your mentee? Not sure about how to think about your mentoring year in terms of “the big picture” month by month? Check out Laura Lipton and Bruce Wellman’s Mentoring Matters pp. 13-17. Here you will find an array of ideas for mentoring conversations that are appropriate at various stages of the academic year.

Lipton and Wellman identify the mentoring role in terms of three functions: As mentors we Offer Support, Provide Challenge, and Facilitate Vision.

Their calendar of options suggests appropriate monthly mentoring topics that align with each of these three functions. An effective mentoring relationship balances the functions – we keep the work challenging, with overarching goals and vision in mind, and we give support or guidance when it is needed.

Go grab your copy of Mentoring Matters and check it out!

Lipton, L. & Wellman, B. (2003) Mentoring Matters: A Practical Guide to Learning-Focused Relationships. Sherman, CT: Mira Via, LLC.

Coach Training and Orientation - What's what?

What is the difference between the "coach training" and the "BTSA or Intern Orientation"?

"Coach Training" is a multi-day training provided to introduce you to the New Teacher Center's Formative Assessment System. The first year of coach training includes a three day training on the foundations of coaching including goal setting, observations, analyzing student work, and understanding context. In the second year, the training covers coaching strategies to address equity, the learnin g needs of special populations students, and English Language Learners.

BTSA or Intern Orientation is a one-time meeting wherein the requirements for BTSA or Intern program completion is reviewed. It is important to attend the Orientation for the program in which your mentee is enrolled. BTSA teachers have a Preliminary credential and are obtaining their Clear credential. Interns are enrolled in a university program and are earning their Preliminary credential.

All coach training dates are now posted on the NTSD website. Look for the google calendar link at the top of the page. Please register for trainings.

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.

Calendar the Time

Why do we set aside a regular, weekly, calendared time to meet? Because it establishes a rhythm to the work we are engaged in with the colleague we mentor. It also establishes a core message -- you matter, I matter, and what we will learn together matters. It's that simple. There are other benefits. I have found over the years that meeting with a mentee every week at a set time results in the greatest growth in practice -- and growth in practice that our mentee can name within the mentoring relationship is a powerful weekly boost to professional esteem and energy. It also results in a habit of mind on the part of each of us to "show up" for reflection on pedagogical practice. Last year, a mentee said to me, towards the end of the year, "this time...our time together...this is the real work...this is where it happens!" That was nice to hear - but the real reason "it happened" was because he showed up. Every week. So I encourage you to get out your calendars this week - do it face to face with your mentee, or make a phone call - but do it. Set aside the time. Both you and your colleague will benefit beyond words from this simple action.

Thanks for reading.

Alison.

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.