How to Create a Teacher Mentoring Program
Teacher mentoring programs can help teachers realize their potential, retain their employment and promote student learning. Many students do not have the opportunity to student teach in a classroom until their last year in college, leaving them unaware of the challenging work conditions they may face in the workplace, sometimes without sufficient support. Many teachers leave the classroom in the first five years, which has a negative impact on student learning. In order to remedy this problem, teacher mentoring programs can be instituted to provide one-on-one support and assistance.
Instructions
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1
Evaluate what policies or practices act as a barrier to mentoring programs and how they can be overcome. Create a plan based on these barriers to deal with them firsthand.
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2
Determine who should be involved in creating the mentoring program, such as teachers, parents, faculty, direct administrators, retired teachers or others.
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3
Determine whether participation in the teacher mentoring program will be mandatory or voluntary, how long the mentoring program will last, and what the goals of the program will be.
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4
Create your standards for the teacher who will work as a mentor. You should have requirements for how long the mentors have taught and even the level of education they have. Also set out requirements for those who will receive mentoring: whether it is first-time teachers, teachers who are new to the state or district, those experience a change in what grade level they teach or even teachers who are experiencing difficulty.
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5
Develop a formal written agreement for the mentoring program and include which parties should be involved in signing the agreement.
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6
Create a mentoring program curriculum so that the school's mentors are trained to observe and provide constructive feedback. Also define what roles both the mentors and proteges should have. Determine how mentors should relate to the proteges, what they should share, what experiences, examples and strategies they should help the proteges develop and how they can help guide the proteges. Mentors should encourage proteges to work, ask questions, and reflect on their personal professional development on an ongoing basis.
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Identify teachers that can serve as good mentors based on the standards that you created, and identify which teachers will receive mentoring.
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Evaluate the progress of the mentoring program and each individual pairing on a regular basis.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider developing stages to focus on practical skills, like how a teacher should supply and organize the classroom, classroom management, and developing instructional (teaching) strategies.
References
- Photo Credit girl teach to write image by Julia Britvich from Fotolia.com
