Mentors: Induction Program
Update #15 - March 27, 2023
Upcoming Dates of Interest
Monday, March 27, 2023 - Superintendent School Visit at Margaret Brent Middle School at 3:30 PM (includes first-year teachers from MBMS)
Thursday, March 30, 2023 - Superintendent School Visit at Leonardtown Middle School at 2:30 PM (includes first-year teachers from LMS)
Friday, March 31, 2023 - Two-hour Early Dismissal - No School for Head Start and PreK, End of Marking Period 3, Professional Responsibilities
Tuesday, April 11, 2023 - School Reopens from Spring Break beginning of Marking Period 4
March Mentor Logs
Please be sure that you submit your logs for March 2023. The weeks should include March 6, 13, 20, and 27. A reminder mentor team email will be sent after Spring Break.
First-Year Mentee Support with April Asynchronous Activity
Reminder: All first-year to SMCPS mentees who attend the monthly Induction Seminars will not meet on the first Wednesday of April. Instead, they were given a list of activities to choose from to complete and submit a reflection in the Induction Schoology Course by April 28th. Several of the activities require some collaboration with their mentors. Please take time to discuss their activity choices to determine which will be most meaningful to them. There is some flexibility in the activities, but if you have any questions, please contact Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org. The activity sheet can be accessed HERE.
Mentoring for School Year 2023-2024
It is not too soon to begin thinking about mentoring for next school year!!!
If you would like to continue mentoring next year, please complete the form using the button below.
We are looking for mentors to support:
Classroom Teachers in their first three years with SMCPS,
Pre-Service full-year intern placements,
Pre-service Field Placements, and
Teacher Academy of Maryland (TAM) students.
Mentors are tenured teachers with an APC. Matches with mentees are determined by the administration based on the needs and availability at each school site.
There will be a Virtual Open House to provide the opportunity to ask questions about mentoring. It will take place on Friday, April 21st from 1:00-2:00 PM. Feel free to drop in for questions as your schedule permits. Current mentors, please share this information with others in your building who might be interested in becoming mentors!
Emphasize the Joy - A Message from Heather
This week, you have four more alarm clocks until Spring Break!! These past weeks without a break - not even an early dismissal or snow day - have been tough on all teachers. With a significant break on the horizon, please take some time to support your mentees with positive encouragement.
In the superintendent meetings this spring, many first-year teachers have expressed the great support that they have found in their mentors. You are always one of the first benefits mentioned when asked!
Please take a moment this week to boost the confidence, outlook, and mindset of your mentees. It can be a quick note on a post-it that you leave on their computer screen, a silly meme or GIF sent in Google Chat in the middle of the day, or even stopping into their classroom during your planning to offer a break, a refill of their water bottle, or just joining them if their students are in small groups. You could even award them a Schoology Badge! Be creative and share the joy this week.
For yourselves, find the joy in your days this week. Plan something fun to do with your students. Give out compliments like they are candy.
Most importantly: I encourage you and your mentees to leave your work at school on Friday, March 31st and enjoy your well-deserved Spring Break!
If there are any school-specific or mentor-specific questions you have, please feel free to email me. ~ Heather
Instructional Strategy - Graffiti Wall
In a recent discussion with a group of teachers and Dr. Smith, Amanda Michie, from Esperanza Middle School shared a recent success that she had engaging her students in discussing a novel they were reading in her class. The novel was Refugee by Alan Gratz. The students had struggled to participate in the discussions as they were reading, so Amanda set up her classroom whiteboard to become a graffiti wall to inspire students to share what stood out to them each day. The contributions have contributed to class discussions. She shared:
I made up a list of "rules" for the board including adding an image, word, or quote from the text, respecting the wall and the markers, and making sure our additions are school appropriate. They bought into the project and I'm so excited about some of the small details they are picking out of the text to add to the board (Hello there, Ninja Turtles and Angry Birds!). Engagement has been fantastic, and even my reluctant sharers are excited they get to doodle on the board. The only negative is that they are mad at me that we haven't done one for all our novels.
Thank you, Amanda, for sharing your activity!
If you are interested in sharing a successful activity in your classroom, email Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org to add it to the next TIP and Mentor Update!
Swivl Devices Available for Teachers
The Maryland Leads Grant provides more than the classroom supplies that your mentees received earlier this year! The Department of Strategic Initiatives (DSI) also purchased several Swivl kits to assist with recording classroom instruction for reflection and review. Many of the devices are being used by teachers working to earn National Board Certification.
However, if you and your mentee have struggled to find the coverage necessary for instructional walkthroughs, the Swivl is beneficial in providing the opportunity to record a lesson and watch it together to discuss and reflect.
Reservations for Swivls from DSI can be done through this FORM and can be reserved for one week at a time.
To view the available weeks, view this CALENDAR.
For more about Swivls, see this USERS GUIDE and YouTube Tutorial.
Graduate Program Offerings - Towson University
Towson University is forming new cohorts for Graduate Programs starting in Fall 2023. They are hosting webinars in April and May that can be accessed HERE.
They are also forming a Summer 2023 cohort for Gifted and Creative Education Masters.
Masters Programs include Arts Integration, Early Childhood & Gifted & Creative Education, Elementary Education, Instructional Leadership & Professional Development, Instructional Technology & School Library Medis, Mathematics Education, Professional Spanish, Reading Education, and Special Education & Autism. Details about these programs can be found HERE.
For additional information, contact Alyssa Zumpano at azumpano@towson.edu.
Professional Development Scholarship Opportunity
The Educational Systems Federal Credit Union is offering a one-time scholarship of $1,000 for educators for continuing education fees.
The Maurice Erly Professional Development Award Application is HERE.
Applications are due by April 1, 2023.
Please share this with colleagues throughout your building!
Articles of Interest
Mentoring and Coaching: How to Deal with Resistance to Coaching by Elena Aguilar, ASCD
Social-Emotional Learning: Laughing and Learning: Create a Culture of Joy by Rita Platt, MiddleWeb
New Teachers: A New Teacher's Tips for Surviving the First Year by Audra Lynam, Edutopia
Schoology Badges: Reminder
Do your mentees need to hear about their successes and have them shared with their administrator? Schoology badges are for mentors to "brag" about the work of their mentees!! Mentors can award Schoology badges to their mentees in the areas of collaboration, student engagement, their learning environment, and building relationships!
Simply fill out the form below with a description of their actions. The badge will be added to their Schoology profile and an email will be sent to their principal to recognize them. This is an optional method of encouraging your mentees while acknowledging their hard work.
Community Activity - 5K Run & Walk
The Jack and Jill of America, Inc. is hosting a 5K Run/Walk at Great Mills High School on Saturday, April 22, 2023.
The event begins at 9:00 AM and includes a Health Fair.
There is a fee to participate ($35 in-person, $25 virtual).
Registration is open from March 4-April 20, 2023.
Use the QR Code for registration and additional details.
Topics for April Meetings
Mentor Team Meetings
Mentors should consider the experience levels of their non-tenured teachers when planning Mentor Team Meetings. If your group is large, consider differentiating the meetings by providing different options hosted by various mentors. Also, consider providing opportunities for non-tenured teachers to share their experiences and knowledge rather than establishing a meeting pattern of unidirectional communication of mentors giving knowledge and new teachers getting knowledge. Open forum opportunities to share successes and instructional knowledge are valuable to mentors and mentees.
Both one-on-one and team mentoring have value but have different purposes. Mentor team meetings should take place at least once a month while one-on-one mentoring should occur weekly. If you have questions, please reach out to Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org.
In addition to the topics below, consider visiting the March Induction Seminar site or the April Asynchronous Activities to plan follow-up opportunities on the sessions and topics.
Elementary Classrooms
Critical Thinking
Have you been working with students to have them predict, question, clarify, and summarize before, during, and after their reading?
To what extent do you ask higher-order questions?
Assessment
Tell me what assessments your students have this month. (Formative and Summative)
How are you using the results of those assessments to redesign your instruction?
What questions do you have about MCAP?
Transitions
If you are providing recommendations for placement into a program or middle school, do you have the data required? Are the procedures clear to you?
Completing the School Year
Are you clear about your role with end-of-the-year responsibilities?
Classroom: Will it be used for summer recovery? What needs to be boxed or covered for cleaning?
Report Cards: Finalizing SBRC in TAC and Schoology
Materials: Inventorying textbooks, device collection, archiving Schoology courses
Do you have any questions about check-out procedures?
SLO/Final Evaluation
When is your final SLO meeting?
What data have you gathered to address your goals?
What have you learned from the SLO process this year?
Do you have any areas of focus you want to consider for next school year?
Lesson Planning
How are your long-range plans for after spring break?
How are you adjusting your plans to accommodate testing and spring events?
What is the latest hands-on lesson that you have taught that you feel like your students were able to collaborate with each other?
What are the skills/content priorities by the end of the school year?
What is an instructional strategy that you would like to explore or a topic that you want to find a new way for students to interact with the content?
Secondary Classrooms
Critical Thinking
Have you been working with students to have them predict, question, clarify, and summarize before, during, and after their reading?
To what extent do you ask higher-order questions?
Assessment
Tell me what assessments your students have this month. (Formative and Summative)
How are you using the results of those assessments to redesign your instruction?
What questions do you have about MCAP or EOY testing?
Student Failures and End-of-Course Expectations
How have you communicated with students in danger of failing your course?
Do students know what they need in order to pass your course?
Is your content requiring an end-of-course exam? When are you administering the assessment?
Have you set a date for any final projects so you will have time to grade them?
Transitions
If you are providing recommendations for placement into a program, accelerated courses, or high school, do you have the data required? Are the procedures clear to you?
Completing the School Year
Are you clear about your role with end-of-the-year responsibilities?
Classroom: Will it be used for summer recovery? What needs to be boxed or covered for cleaning?
Report Cards: Finalizing grades in TAC and Schoology
Materials: Inventorying textbooks, device collection, archiving Schoology courses
Do you have any questions about check-out procedures?
SLO/Final Evaluation
When is your final SLO meeting?
What data have you gathered to address your goals?
What have you learned from the SLO process this year?
Do you have any areas of focus you want to consider for next school year?
Lesson Planning
How are your long-range plans for after spring break?
How are you adjusting your plans to accommodate testing and spring events?
What is the latest hands-on lesson that you have taught that you feel like your students were able to collaborate with each other?
What are the skills/content priorities by the end of the school year?
What is an instructional strategy that you would like to explore or a topic that you want to find a new way for students to interact with the content?
Content Supervisor Updates and Newsletters
Non-tenured teachers have been asking for assistance with planning and access to content-specific resources. Consider how you can support your mentee to plan for their lessons using the available resources for their content. Mentors not teaching the same content can still support content discussions by asking questions and accessing the curriculum resources with their mentees. Talking through the process with your mentee will support reflective planning and the selection of appropriate strategies to use during instruction.
Secondary Math Newsletter Link
Secondary ELA Website (Updates posted in Secondary ELA Schoology Group)
Continuing SLO Updates
The Department of Curriculum and Instruction created a guiding document for teachers with various contents to use when completing their SLO documents. When working with your mentees, consider using this document. It is especially important to those of you mentoring teachers outside of your content area. If you have questions about the information in the document, please reach out to the appropriate supervisor.
Human Resources General Information Site
When working with your mentee, they may have questions about their professional responsibilities and other non-instructional aspects of their teaching position. The Department of Human Resources created a website for Certificated Benefits and Resources that is applicable to all SMCPS employees. You find something that you did not know as well!
The site was introduced to new hires at Orientation last month and a link can be found on the Home Page of the SMCPS Induction Site. The site includes information about calendars, HR contacts, EAC and email, EASMC, the negotiated agreement, insurance, retirement, leave, benefits, and FAQ. If you are not able to locate information that you believe should be included on the site, contact Human Resources at hrd@smcps.org.
Click on the icon above to access the Human Resources Certificated Benefits and Resources Site.
iPad Information
As you are familiarizing yourself and your mentees with your newly issued SMCPS device, please access the thorough SMCPS Staff iPad Information Site.
It includes information about:
Setting up your device
Recording the Serial Number in the event that you get locked out of your device
Available Apps
Best Practices for using the iPad
If you have questions about your iPad, email ipadteam@smcps.org for assistance,
SMCPS Induction Program Calendar
To assist with keeping track of the Induction Program events and deadlines, a system Google Calendar has been created. Information for Mentors and Non-Tenured teachers will be included in the calendar.
To add the calendar to your SMCPS calendar, simply click on the "+ Google Calendar" button at the bottom of the page and you will be able to view the events.
2022-2023 Mentor Stipend
In the coming weeks, mentors will receive an email from EPED to approve three mentor contracts. The contract is broken into three parts to accommodate the three payments that mentors will receive throughout the school year. Mentor Stipends will be paid in paychecks on November 18, 2022, March 10, 2023, and June 16, 2023.
Mentor Logs will be reviewed at the end of each month and a report will be shared with mentor teams and school administrators each marking period.
