Mentor Update - April 6

Upcoming Dates of Interest

Mentor Logs 

Please take a moment to update your mentor logs for the month of March. There should be three weeks of entries that include the weeks of March 1, 8, and 15, 2021.  Logs will be reviewed this week.

Professional Development Update

Conscious Discipline Social Emotional Learning for Adults Online Training with Stipend is now open to PreK to Grade 3 and Unified Arts’ teachers who wish to participate in video training sessions led by Conscious Discipline creator, Dr. Becky Bailey. Participants will be paid $30.00 an hour stipend for 7 hours of learning.  Teachers must RSVP in order to receive a personal invitation from Conscious Discipline to register as part of the Team. More information is provided on the SEL Flyer.

Teacher Self-Care Reminder

We have talked a great deal about the importance of self-care to prevent teacher burnout and provide balance between work and home life. However, many expressed concern about teacher burnout in the mid-year feedback.

To address this concern, we will provide recommendations for ways to take some time for yourself with each New Teacher and Mentor Update!

Take Advantage of the Warming Weather

Hopefully you were able to enjoy Spring Break! The days are starting to get longer in these first days of spring and the weather forecast says clear skies and temperatures in the 60s. It is time to shake off the winter frost and start soaking in some Vitamin D!

Self-Care Reminder: Schedule time in the afternoon this week to get outside.

Social distancing and limited capacity indoor venues mean that we have spent the winter months very isolated.  You may still need a jacket, but the blistery winds are gone for another season and the outdoors offer more opportunities to get social and active.

Open you calendar and make some appointments with yourself or friends:

Or the easiest challenge for the week - schedule two days this week that you will leave school ON TIME and take the rest of the afternoon and evening for yourself without grading or planning!

When I think of spring, I think of this bit of Irish countryside I visited one April day. Think about what springtime view you look forward to seeing 

Articles of Interest

Literacy: Boost Literacy Learning with Podcasts by Kathleen Palmieri, MiddleWeb

Instruction: 3 Strategies to Help Students Move from Start to Finish in PBL by Michael McDowell, Edutopia

Classroom Management: 25 Elementary Brain Breaks to Beat the Slump by Jeanne Croteau, We Are Teachers 

Feedback and Assessment: Better Ways to Measure Student Progress by Matthew Campbell, Edutopia

Hybrid Instruction: A Hybrid Companion for Middle Level Teaching by Cheryl Mizerny, MiddleWeb 

Early Childhood: A Culture of Kindness in Early Childhood Classrooms by Michele Coulombe, Erin Zuccaro, Edutopia 

Quick Reference Sheet - Google Meets Fatigue

To use as a easily accessible reminder of the concerns and strategies, an additional Quick Reference Sheet has been added to the Resources section of this site as well as the Quick Reference Folder in the Mentor Schoology Group.

One-Pager Meets Fatigue.pdf

Quick Reference Sheet - Tips from Students for Hybrid Instruction

This sheet gives some ideas to consider while concurrent teaching from the perspective of virtual students.

One-Pager Student Tips for Hybrid.pdf

Mentor Support Sessions

The next Mentor Support Session will be April 16, 2021. This Friday is for site-based professional development. Heather Husk will be offering open office hours for mentors or mentor team who wish to brainstorm, clarify, or collaborate on their mentoring needs. Please email her at hlhusk@smcps.org to request a time that works best for you.

Asynchronous Options: There were questions about students and the return to school use of technology at the last New Teacher Seminar. Please access the Return to School Technology Q&A Sheet and review any concerns that have arisen among your mentees. In addition, the second round of observations for non-tenured teachers has been. Please take time with your mentees to revisit the feedback they received from their first observation as you work with them to prepare for their second. To assist you with guiding the discussion, please see this Preparing for Second Round Observations Nearpod task that was created for new teachers.

The last Mentor Support Session on March 19, 2021 was on the topic of the Evaluating Student Work Protocol and guiding a reflective discussion around student work.  The resources from that session, as well as the other sessions offered this year are located in the Mentor Schoology Group and on this website under the Mentor Resources tab. If there is a topic that you wish to be included in a Mentor Support Session, please let us know!

Capturing New Teachers in Action

Many mentors were able to send pictures of their mentees in action prior to Spring Break. If you have not already dropped into their rooms and snapped a photo, please do so over the next two weeks.* This can be during a planned walkthrough, a quick drop in, or enlist the assistance of your IRT or administration if your schedules conflict.

When you have a selection of images, please email or share the photos via Google Drive to Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org for use in an end of the year celebration.

*Share any photos of students with the new teacher to confirm photo release approval prior to using any photos.

Latest New Teacher Update

The latest New Teacher Updates was published this week. Please note any items that may be useful for follow-up with your mentees. TIP#14 - March 22, 2021

The next New Teacher Seminar was be held on April 7, 2021 and the seminar resources and topics are be posted on the New Teacher Seminar page.

Equity Corner Highlights

Have you visited the Equity Corner Site? The site provides resources for teachers  with a focus on Educational Equity in the areas of academic achievement, leadership and human capital, school climate and culture, and educator and staff capacity. The monthly updates appear in The Signal.

Schoology Badges from Mentors to Mentees - Celebrate Their Achievements

Based on feedback from mentors, we have designed three Schoology Badges that mentors can use to acknowledge the achievements of their mentees. The focus of the badges were collaboration, student engagement, and their learning environment. When mentors wish to award a mentee with one of these badges, complete this FORM.

The awarding mentor, the mentee, and the school-site administrator will receive an email notification as a shoutout when the badge is awarded. The form will be reviewed weekly for new submissions. 

Nearly 50 badges have been awarded so far and this form will remain open as mentors notice reasons to acknowledge their mentees.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

SMCPS employees has access to free, confidential referral and counseling services to balance home, work, and life. Employees can access resources to manage elder and child care, identity theft, and legal assistance. 

As we a nearing a full year with pandemic challenges, please be sure to share this information with your mentees and keep the resources in mind through the school year as the needs may arise.

I have added a quick screencast of where to locate the information on the SMCPS Website.

EAP Location.mp4

Mentor Schoology Group

The Mentoring Schoology Group page will house resources, links, updates, and a discussion forum. The bi-weekly updates to mentors are great for sharing system information, but we want to hear from you! The discussion format provides the opportunity to reach out to other mentors and share best practices. Mentor Support Session Resources are also available on Schoology.