For mentor teachers

designed by Jennifer Rappin and Valerie Struthers

Mentors can play a critical role in providing a strong start for beginning teachers. Mentoring, as proposed in this site, involves much more than offering a beginning teacher information, advice or even a friendly ear. Mentoring is a practice that involves facilitation in support of professional learning. Within this portion of the site you will find ideas and strategies to learn more about the practice of mentoring in support of beginning teacher learning and development. We believe that by engaging with such practices, you can impact a beginning teacher’s effectiveness with students and enhance your own professional repertoire. In exploring the questions listed below, you have the opportunity to consider whether you wish to be a mentor and develop knowledge and skills that will help you become a more effective mentor and teacher.

• Should I be a mentor?
• What can I offer a beginning teacher?
• How can I be responsive to a beginning teacher’s needs?
• How can I work with beginning teachers to foster their professional growth?
• I’ve decided to become a mentor; where should I go from here?

Tools

• Self-evaluation: Should I become a mentor?
• Moving toward educative mentoring
• Orientation handbook
• Some classroom observation techniques
• Mentor self-assessment

Sources of additional information

• Selection of mentors
• Support of mentors
• Educative mentoring