Overview of Effective Mentoring

This information is intended to guide the mentors or cooperating teachers assigned to student teachers/interns during their unpaid, full-day field assignments in classroom of area school districts, private and charter schools.

An Effective Mentor should have these:

Qualities

• Committed to the profession of education
• Confidence in personal abilities as an educator
• Be an active listener
• Communicate in a non-judgmental manner
• Open to new ideas and willing to share personal experiences
• A model of professionalism
• Able to respect confidences
• Able to enjoy co-teaching and modeling of effective strategies
• Open Willing to share personal time to plan, observe and reflect with your student teacher

Qualifications

• Certified teacher in the area in which student is seeking certification.
• Minimum of three years (preferred, no less than two) effective teaching
  experience

Welcoming the Student Teacher:

Introductions

• Be sure your student teacher has met the campus administrators and the office staff.
• Tour the campus and introduce the student to colleagues, support staff, and special assignment professionals such as counselors, nurse, librarian.
• Locations such as the teacher work areas, the faculty lunch area, parking area and campus buildings such as the gymnasium, library, cafeteria.

Locations

• Media center, central office/ school district administration and professional development facilities.

Review Student Teaching Requirements

• Discuss what is expected of the mentor and the student teacher with the assigned university supervisor
• Review timelines and observation documents that will be used during the semester
• Work with the student and the supervisor in planning out of classroom observations (ex. Four hours of SPED for non-SPED student teachers)

Welcome to the Mentor’s Classroom

• Review the physical arrangement of the room
• Demonstrate use of the available technology in the room and resource areas
• Share and clarify the classroom/campus/district discipline policies and the strategies you use with your students
• Share teaching materials including accessing lesson plans, instructional manipulatives and texts

Record Keeping:

• Introduce to district on-line grading program
• Parent contact and conference guidelines
• As allowed, share information in a student permanent or cumulative record document, IEP (individual education plan) Behavior Modification plan, etc

Our campus expects teachers to:

• Be on campus by this time
• Teachers may leave at this time
• Faculty meetings are scheduled
• Dress professionally (be sure to make student aware of any restrictions such as no jeans)

Following is a document that addresses strategies, relationships, collaboration and addressing concerns. It also includes Five States of Student Teaching.