Solutions+Brainstorming+Page

This is in regard to the article I brought into our PBL meeting last Thursday. The article mentions how veteran teachers can benefit from mentoring as much as their mentee by allowing the veteran teacher to recover from the weariness, repetitive nature, and limited advancement opportunities that our profession provides. Teachers can emerge from the mentoring experience transformed, with an enhanced sense of professional worth and new directions for professional growth.

In the two schools where I have taught in - we had/have the same mentors every year. There is no sharing of this special responsibility, and it acts as a payraise to people who are in good with the boss for the most part. I may be blunt with that statement - but there is a lot of truth to it. Everyone has something special that they do and can share. We are cloning the same teachers every year. Part of it has to do with professionals not taking the Clinical Education course to be certified to be a mentor, I believe the class meets 3 times for a few hours to complete the course in our county. In order to take the course - your principal must sign off that you would be a competent mentor.

If a teacher has been granted tenure, I think they should automatically be enrolled to take the Clinical Ed course, and every year this duty should be shared amongst tenured teachers. Either rotate the teachers who take on the responsiblity as it is now, or change the existing system to have different teachers share the same responsibility. Why can't several teachers mentor a teacher and get paid?

We all know that many teachers help and only one gets paid. I have heard this phrase all too often over the years - "my mentor did nothing for me" or "__insert name here__ helped me a lot more than my mentor" This has to be a source of some of the hostility.

The principal playing favorites alienates existing veteran teachers as well as robbing them of opportunities to enhance their professional growth. It all adds a few more ingredients to the toxic brew of a school's failing culture.

 Rachael's ideas for solutions:
 * There needs to be some kind of team building activities that can bring people together.
 * A recognition program could help motivate some teachers. There can be a recognintion from administration to the staff and the staff can recognize each other as well.
 * Doug Reeve's Data Teams could be used during PLCs so that there is an exact agenda to be followed. This puts personal feelings aside. Educators analyze the data for strengths and obstacles. Teachers having students that are successful can model their strategies for the other teachers on the team.
 * Developing committees in areas of need can help empower the teachers. Getting key teachers to buy in to the changes is critical.
 * Quality professional development in areas of need.

Matt on 10/27: Rachael, I really like what I've read so far with your solutions and want to see how it will fit with everyone else's ideas. I'll see you tomorrow night at 5pm still right? Can you call me at 239-938-5076?

Rachael on 10/27: Yes, I will be there are 5.