Mentors: Induction Program
Update #19 - May 30, 2023
Upcoming Dates of Interest
Monday, May 29, 2023 - Memorial Day All Schools and Offices Closed
Wednesday, May 31, 2023 - May Mentor Logs Due (Necessary to ensure mentor stipend)
Thursday, June 8, 2023 - Last Day for Head Start and PreK Students
Friday, June 9, 2023 - Two Hour Early Dismissal (Last Day for Students K-12)
Monday-Wednesday, June 12-14, 2023 - Professional Days (No Students, Professional Responsibilities)
Wednesday, June 14, 2023 - Last Day for 10-month Employees
Friday, June 16, 2023 - Mentor Stipend in Payroll (Final mentor stipend for SY2023 - dependent on completed/submitted logs)
MP4 Mentor Logs
Please be sure that you submit your logs for all of April and May. The weeks should include April 10, 17, and 24 and May 1, 8, 15, and 22.
Mentor Stipends will be released for the June 16, 2023 payroll based on the submission of mentor logs through the week of May 22, 2023.
Mentoring Through June
Please continue to meet regularly with your mentees through the end of the school year. However, I would like to provide the gift of time and effort by letting you know that you do NOT need to submit any further logs after the week of May 22, 2023!!!!
Your stipends will be processed using all of the information submitted as of May 31, 2023. In addition, your marking period 4/final mentor log reports will be completed based on the same information. If you require any further assistance or have a walkthrough planned after May 26, 2023, please email Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org to update your log information before the final report.
End of the Year Mentor Survey - Thank you!
The survey completion rate was 71% of mentors! I appreciate the time that many of you set aside to share your thoughts and experiences. I have several takeaways and highlights that I would like to share.
Classroom Management continues to be a frequent need for our new teachers with 89.41% of mentors indicating that this topic was often requested by mentees. Slightly higher than the mid-year mentor survey results (85.9%).
Student Engagement interactions also increased in the second half of the school year from 48.72% to 60%.
Mentor Updates - 90.59% of mentors indicated that they use the information in updates when working with mentees and 93.45% of mentors indicated that the information is timely and relevant. However, there were concerns expressed about information overload and the timing of the email reminders. Anticipated Changes: I will be working on streamlining the updates and placing most of the information on the SMCPS Induction site with links only on the updates for repeated items. Also, while I will publish the Updates for Mondays, I will delay the email informing mentors until the afternoon to separate it from the Monday morning barrage of emails.
Mentor Logs - Several mentors shared that they often lose track of their log links and that the form is a bit cumbersome to complete.Anticipated Changes: The Mentor Log links will be published on the SMCPS Induction Site because there is no confidential information in the actual form. I will also be revisiting the form to attempt to further streamline the process to balance the needs of the mentors with my ability to analyze the data that is collected.
Mentor Professional Development Needs - Mentors requested several types of PD including PLC time at their schools, ways to share activities with mentors in other schools, as well as mini coaching refreshers and resources or training on mentoring conditional and experienced mentees. Anticipated Changes: I have gathered the requests for schools to be shared with school principals and I can explore bringing back the Schoology Mentor Group to make sharing resources among mentor teams available. I will also plan options for PD sessions on working with conditional and experienced mentees and provide resources as coaching refreshers.
Some mentors included their names at the end of the survey and I have scheduled a meeting to discuss their ideas. If you are interested in having a brief chat regarding your mentoring experience, please email me! ~ Heather
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.
Current mentors, please share this information with others in your building who might be interested in becoming mentors!
Schoology Badge: Last Chance
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.
Articles of Interest
Coaching: Coaching Techniques that Empower Teachers by Jo Lein, ASCD
Student Engagement: Double Circle Strategy [Video] from Edutopia (Maybe try for a team meeting, too!)
Facilitation: What If We Taught Less and Facilitated More? by Aileen Hower & Lynne Dorfman, MiddleWeb
Planning: 4 Ways to Teach Students Backward Planning by Sarah Kesty, Edutopia (May help when teaching the process to new teachers as well!)
ICYMI: Looking Forward to SY2024 Mentoring
For those of you who will be working with non-tenured teachers during school year 2023-2024, it is not too early to begin considering how to make the mentoring experience meaningful to them and their needs. Last month, I offered a brief professional learning session to first-year with SMCPS teachers about how to make mentoring meaningful when you are an experienced teacher.
The session included the rationale and expectations of the induction program during the first three years with SMCPS, guidance for reflecting on your mentoring experience, and suggestions for taking the non-tenured teachers to take the lead in their mentoring meetings to better meet their needs.
The presentation slides can be seen HERE.
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.
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.
