What Successful Mentors Do : 81 Research-Based Strategies for New Teacher Induction, Training, and Support

by Hicks, Cathy; Glasgow, Neal; McNary, Sarah

• ISBN13: 9780761988861
• ISBN10: 0761988866
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-11-17
• Publisher: Corwin Pr

Summary

Find mentoring strategies, research, applications and precautions in this state-of-the-art handbook. Theory and practice are synthesized to help mentors guide and challenge their new teachers.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Don Rizzi
Preface	xv
Acknowledgments	xix
About the Authors	xxi
Introduction: The Mentoring Process Is a Journey, Not a Destination	1	(4)
Choosing the Best Strategies for Supporting New Teachers	5	(22)
Don't underestimate the rigors of the ``induction'' period for new teachers	5	(2)
As a new mentor, be willing to exchange ideas with mentor colleagues as a means of professional development	7	(2)
Look at the mentoring process as more than a one-on-one relationship between mentor and beginning teacher	9	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to look at conflict and tension as opportunities for personal growth and change	11	(3)
Use site politics as an induction topic and a consideration in mentored relationships	14	(2)
Mentally prepare for special challenges such as late hires to the school or new teachers taking over classes mid-year	16	(2)
Be aware that beginning teachers in less effective schools are at greater risk for leaving the field than those teaching at more effective schools	18	(3)
Integrate the principal into the induction loop as a key source of support and guidance for the beginning teacher	21	(2)
Use job sharing arrangements to produce personal and supportive ``co- or peer mentoring'' relationships within the learning environment	23	(4)
Supporting New Teachers as They Interact and Collaborate With Students	27	(16)
Encourage beginning teachers to think about homework from the perspective of students	27	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to add humor to student interactions	29	(2)
Show beginning teachers how to lighten their own loads by training students to be tutors	31	(2)
Help beginning teachers and student teachers understand the full range of the nonacademic (just growing up) curriculum students bring into their classrooms	33	(3)
Help beginning teachers understand the factors that foster the avoidance of ``help-seeking behavior'' in the classroom	36	(2)
Help beginning teachers come to grips with the factors that influence motivation within their students and their classes	38	(5)
Supporting New Teachers as They Organize Classroom Management and Discipline Policies	43	(14)
Introduce beginning teachers to student perspectives on effective class management	43	(3)
Encourage beginning teachers to learn about youth culture and use it to engage students in learning	46	(2)
Remind beginning teachers to save their voices by engaging students in curricular conversations	48	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to recruit a teaching partner as a peer coach	50	(2)
Ensure that beginning teachers actively address negative behaviors in their classrooms	52	(2)
Help beginning teachers fit everything in by making realistic time estimates during lesson planning	54	(3)
Supporting New Teachers as They Develop Strategies for Managing Curriculum and Pedagogy	57	(22)
Encourage beginning teachers to define themselves as teachers beyond their subject matter or content knowledge	57	(3)
Help beginning teachers to establish scaffolds for complex skills and procedures	60	(3)
Support beginning teachers in expanding their use of rubrics as instructional tools	63	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to develop the art of questioning by building in wait time	65	(2)
Help beginning teachers to develop a variety of instructional strategies to stimulate student interest	67	(1)
Assist beginning teachers in using student peers to scaffold student learning	68	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to make the most of one-on-one student contacts	70	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to increase their understanding of student learning styles	72	(1)
Remind beginning teachers that less equals more when they are streamlining the content of their curriculum	73	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to use the opportunities provided by out-of-school learning environments	75	(4)
Supporting New Teachers as They Develop, Use, and Evaluate Student Assessment Instruments	79	(16)
Encourage beginning teachers to consider alternate assessment styles and instruments for selected activities	80	(2)
Emphasize the need for beginning teachers to give their students explicit, detailed feedback rather than just marking student responses right or wrong	82	(1)
Teach beginning teachers how to use assessment strategies to inform instructional goals for powerful learning	83	(2)
Familiarize beginning teachers with state and national standards to establish benchmarks for assessing student literacy	85	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to look beyond test scores to portfolios and a range of student work samples	87	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to use ongoing evaluation techniques to enhance student learning	89	(1)
Encourage beginning teachers to deepen their understanding of the wide range of specific factors associated with student underachievement	90	(3)
As beginning teachers grade student writing assignments, encourage them to consider what students are able to do well before noting what needs improvement	93	(2)
Supporting New Teachers as They Develop Personal Teaching Styles and Time Management Strategies	95	(16)
Insist that beginning teachers post an agenda before the start of class	95	(3)
Help beginning teachers manage the special challenges within block scheduling	98	(3)
Ensure that beginning teachers use a variety of instructional strategies	101	(2)
Remind beginning teachers that improving personal organization has a positive impact on student achievement	103	(1)
Encourage beginning teachers to not let everyday activities obscure class goals and long-term objectives	104	(2)
Assist beginning teachers in looking behind the scenes to establish context when assessing the teaching styles of others	106	(2)
Remind beginning teachers to become classroom managers before becoming content specialists	108	(3)
Supporting New Teachers as They Develop a Variety of Strategies for Helping At-Risk and Special Needs Students Succeed	111	(18)
Encourage beginning teachers to use a ``hypothesis and frequent reflection'' strategy when working with students who have special education needs	112	(1)
Advise beginning teachers to prepare general education students with instructional strategies prior to forming cooperative groups that include students with disabilities	113	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to be creative in designing ways to support and challenge students with severe disabilities who are included in general education classrooms	115	(1)
Encourage beginning teachers to use a reflective narrative model to facilitate behavior modification decisions	116	(2)
Suggest that beginning teachers consider increasing the pace of instruction rather than reducing it when teaching students with special needs	118	(1)
Suggest that beginning teachers facilitate their planning for students with special needs by using graphic organizers such as the Summary of Individualized Objectives (SIO)	119	(2)
Remind beginning teachers who refer students for special education assessments to consider all their students, not just the students with obvious behavior issues	121	(2)
Encourage co-planning, co-teaching, and team efforts to support the needs of challenged students	123	(3)
Recommend that beginning teachers use activity-based learning strategies when working with students with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)	126	(1)
Recommend that beginning teachers use project-based learning strategies when working with at-risk students	127	(2)
Supporting New Teachers as They Develop Strategies for Embracing and Celebrating Diversity	129	(30)
Help beginning teachers sensitize themselves to and embrace the diversity of today's classrooms	130	(2)
Foster site-specific awareness of diversity in the beginning teacher's school or district to support the development of culturally inclusive teaching practices	132	(3)
Be prepared to undo stereotypical beliefs and ideas that beginning teachers may bring from different social or cultural settings	135	(3)
Help beginning teachers see themselves through the eyes of their students	138	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to develop culturally responsive teaching strategies that align with students' ways of knowing, communicating, and being	140	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to develop multicultural connections in all disciplines	142	(2)
Remind beginning teachers that all cultures add value to schools and society and encourage them to reflect on and promote positive ethnic identities	144	(3)
Encourage beginning teachers to explore and reflect on their own individual beliefs about privilege, bias, diversity, and multicultural education	147	(3)
Remind beginning teachers to look beyond content to understand that English-language learners come with a variety of challenges and needs	150	(2)
Assist beginning teachers in recognizing and eliminating signs of subtle gender bias in the classroom	152	(2)
Remind beginning teachers that students (especially male students) sometimes treat female teachers differently than male teachers	154	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to be sensitive to issues affecting gay and lesbian youth	156	(3)
Supporting New Teachers as They Develop Strategies for Working With New Technologies	159	(14)
Remind beginning teachers not to let technology overwhelm subject matter	159	(3)
Encourage beginning teachers to use the Internet as a classroom	162	(2)
Remind beginning teachers that some students know computer technology better than others, and some may know it better than the teacher does	164	(1)
Familiarize beginning teachers with the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and its standards for student learning in technology	165	(2)
Insist that beginning teachers develop Internet-based literacy	167	(2)
Encourage beginning teachers to develop student assessment alternatives that move beyond paper to electronic file cabinets and digital portfolios	169	(2)
Introduce beginning teachers to reliable teacher support Web sites	171	(2)
Supporting New Teachers as They Develop Positive Relationships With Parents and Community	173	(16)
Help beginning teachers prepare for the specialized requirements of placement in an urban multicultural setting	174	(1)
Encourage beginning teachers to make an extra effort to recruit minority and culturally diverse parents into the educational mix	175	(2)
Remind beginning teachers to expect a wide range of working conditions, as all schools and school districts are not created equal	177	(3)
Remind beginning teachers to be prepared to help parents understand media coverage of educational issues	180	(1)
Tell beginning teachers what their teacher education program didn't tell them about parent-teacher conferences	181	(3)
Help beginning teachers examine the complex issues surrounding parent involvement in schools	184	(5)
Index	189