Do

At this point I’ve only been able to implement the planning stage of my capstone as school hasn’t started yet and teachers are not required to be back to school until August. However, I have been talking to two of the new teachers that I do know and have already started building relationships with them.

I haven’t yet implemented my plan since school hasn’t started yet; however, I feel confident that it will address the need for some kind of support system. I’ve already started building relationships with a couple of the teachers that I do know and both seem excited about the kind of work we’ll be doing.

Adult Learning - I’ve had to do a lot of reading about adult learning. I’ve also read several articles on mentoring new teachers, how to help with teacher retention, and mentoring in general.

Interpersonal Effectiveness - While I don’t yet know all of the teachers I will be working with, I have created a Google Classroom for us to have ongoing conversations and build a shared community for student benefit. I’ve drafted emails and surveys that I will send out to start building relationships with the teachers as soon as I can.

Collaborate Purposefully - Through our practices and goal setting I hope to create a shared vision and create opportunities for all teachers to contribute their individual knowledge skills, and perspectives. I’ve done reading on mentoring different generations knowing that I’ll be working with teachers of all ages and experience levels. I plan on sending a survey asking what strengths or interests they have that they might be willing to share with our group.

Facilitating Collaborative Relationships - I’ve collaborated with those in my district and outside to create a new program to help give new hires support. Through this work I’m connecting and supporting colleagues to meet their developmental needs. I’m sending out a survey to determine what those needs are. Through our Google Classroom I’ll be facilitating collaboration that can bridge gaps of time and place.

The biggest obstacle I’ve encountered is that my district doesn’t have any kind of formal mentorship program at this point. I’ve had to start from scratch. I’ve also found it difficult to plan without knowing the teachers I’ll be working with. Reading about effective mentorship and talking to stakeholders who are involved in mentorship programs have helped me to get an idea of where I am going and how to get started.

Given that my project won’t start until this fall it’s hard to make changes to the plan of action as it is; although, I do wish I would have started sooner. I didn’t come up with my idea for my Capstone until late in the school year, and it probably would have been easier to plan with others while school was still in rather than waiting for the summer.