1. Design and Implement Effective Mentor Training

A prime opportunity for culture transformation and relationship building is the orientation and support provided for new teachers to the school. Mentorship programs progress through a series of stages which can be coordinated with the school year calendar. Mentor relationships can also be integrated into the collegiality of Learning Teams.

1. Program Opportunities
   Calculate the number of teachers new to your building each year to gauge the impact that an effective mentoring program can have in three years.

   Sometimes, school leaders take on this challenge directly by holding periodic meetings to provide a "do's and don'ts" list for new teachers. Such meetings may be administratively necessary, but they do not suffice as a mentoring process.

   An effective mentor must be an accessible peer teacher who can provide support information at the appropriate time and place it is needed. The effective mentor must be skilled at developing trust, sharing ideas, using helping behaviors, communicating, and negotiating. The mentor can also aid in transitioning the new teacher into a member of a Learning Team. Mentor candidates do not necessarily possess all of these traits and skills, but they can be assisted in acquiring them.

2. Stages of Mentorship
   Effective mentor training includes a sequence of stages by which the mentors can focus their assistance as they work through the year. For example:
   
   
   1. Trusting and Sharing Stage (September/October)
      Prior to the start of the school year, the mentor should provide all of the information needed to assist the new teacher with an orientation to the school and its expectations. The major focus of the mentor in the first stage, however, is to build trust and facilitate sharing. This is the only time window available to accomplish this important task. Buddy activities, e-mails before the first day, notes in mailboxes, lesson sharing, invitations to observe the mentor’s students engaged in a special activity, and especially activities outside the typical school day will build trust between the new teacher and mentor. The mentor’s goal is to know that the new teacher feels the mentor can distinguish between the new teacher as a person and as a practitioner. In this first stage, the mentor should take care not to be overly critical of beginning teaching mistakes, especially where safety-to-life issues are not involved.
      
      Actions speak louder than words. As new teachers observe the mentors’ students engaged in learning (perhaps collecting data on effective questioning strategies, for example), they will have the opportunity to witness effective instructional strategies being applied in a real-world situation and be able to learn by example.
      
      
   2. Negotiating Stage (November/December)
      Once trust and sharing are the norm, the mentor can continue to use helping behaviors and communication skills to negotiate those areas the new teacher may need to improve. The State of Florida Department of Education provides an explanation of Helping Behaviors and Mentoring Skills for working with developing teachers. They identify these skills as:
      
      
      1. Attending Skills (Attending Skills)
      2. Open-ended Exploration (Open-Ended Exploration)
      3. Paraphrasing/Clarifying Responses (Paraphrasing/Clarifying Responses)
      4. Focusing on Feelings (Focusing on Feelings)
      5. Self-Disclosure Statements (Self-Disclosure Statements)
      6. "I" Messages ("I" Messages)
         
         

      Effective counselors use all of these ways of listening to clients. In active listening, the speaker feels understood and encouraged to communicate more honestly. To facilitate communication between a mentor and a developing teacher, the same techniques may be used. Active listening is a method, which may be applied to any helping situation.

      These communication skills are so important that it is encouraged that the Learning Team itself spends time to hone these skills. The mentor may be the appropriate person to facilitate such a meeting due to inherent use with the skill set with the respective new teacher. It would also be an appropriate transition for inclusion of mentor and teacher into the Learning Team.

   3. Teamwork Stage (January/April)
      Integration of the new teacher into the Learning Team not only avoids over-dependence of the new teacher on the mentor, but it also signals to the new teacher "we are all still learning here." Both formal (Learning Team sessions) and informal (lunch, after school events) situations will offer opportunities to assimilate the new teacher into the collegial relationships of the faculty.
      
      If the new teacher sees collegiality and peer observation, as a natural process in the Learning Team to which he/she is assigned, professional growth will be accelerated.

      When a new teacher is asked to undertake a grade level or departmental task, the mentor should: review the steps required and discuss how best to approach the task; be available to support the teacher as the task is completed and; join in the team’s expressions of appreciation and thanks when the job is well done.

Next: 2. Develop Leadership Skills