Mentor Update 17 -
May 13, 2024
This update includes: (Click links to jump to topic)
Dates of Interest
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 - MSDE Licensure Information Webinar at 9:00 AM (Link below)
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 - Virtual Coaching Close-Out Session at 4:30 PM at the Forrest Center (Participants only)
Monday, May 27, 2024 - Memorial Day (All Schools and Offices Closed)
Thursday, June 6, 2024 - Two-Hour Early Dismissal (Professional Responsibilities and Last Day for PreK)
Friday, June 7, 2024 - Two-Hour Early Dismissal (Last Day for Students, End of MP4)
To subscribe to the Induction Program Google Calendar, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the blue box at the base of the calendar.
Mentoring Interest Form for School Year 2024-2025
The Mentoring Interest Form for 2024-2025 is now open!
If you would like to mentor non-tenured teachers next school year, please complete the form to share your information with your school administration. Information gathered from the form will be distributed to school administrators as they consider the needs for the next school year. Mentor assignments are made by school administrators based on the needs of the non-tenured teachers on site. In addition, mentors for pre-service teachers, field placement hosts, and Teacher Academy of Maryland mentors all selected from the list generated from this form. Please complete the form at your earliest convenience because mentor decisions may be made earlier than in past years based on feedback from non-tenured teachers.
Compensated Professional Development Opportunity
The Maryland Leads Grant is ending soon but there is an opportunity for teachers to be compensated for participating in optional professional development opportunities. The options include collaborative planning and iPad training.
Among the collaborative planning options are two that would make wonderful opportunities for mentors - crafting exemplary lessons to be shared with future new teachers and developing and video-recording a brief lesson for use in supporting new, non-tenured, and conditionally certified teachers. The details can be found in the information document. If you have any questions, please reach out to Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org or Sarah Lorek at smlorek@smcps.org.
Record Walkthrough Cycle: If a mentor-mentee pair would be willing to record a walkthrough cycle that included the pre-walkthrough discussion, the brief 15-20 minutes of the classroom walkthrough, and the post-walkthrough discussion, I would be happy to assist with the recording or classroom coverage. I would like to update the videos used in mentor training with new videos and this is a great opportunity to earn compensation for sharing your practice. The walkthrough experience does not need to be perfect, just two teachers willing to share! There is a form for compensation and the videos could be shared via Google Drive with Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org.
Additional details can be found in this folder.
Message from Heather - Reflection and Continued Growth
In the last update, I shared that DAA had some information they wished to share with mentors regarding grade books to assist them when working with their mentees. The information can be found in this document.
While May is filled with so many events like field day, testing, graduation, and field trips, it is important to continue your regularly scheduled meetings with your mentees. These one-on-one meetings provide the opportunity to structure and the dedicated time to focus on instruction. Consider the list of topics for the mentor meeting listed below. There are prompts for reflection, instructional planning, and forward-thinking opportunities. Help your mentees slow down and step back from the chaos of May and maintain their focus on instruction and planning - not just the lessons, but their workload. Prompt them to consider their growth and celebrate the little successes because, no matter their size, they are successes.
Also, please take the time to do the same for yourself. I often found that working with mentees improved my practice in the areas we spent time discussing and planning. Your growth is just as important for yourself and as a model of growth mindset for your mentees.
Have a wonderful week! And remember . . . You've Got This!
Heather
Remember that I support the needs of mentors just as much as the needs of the non-tenured teachers! Email if you need anything! hlhusk@smcps.org
Mentor Paperwork for Stipend
The Mentor Logs for Marking Period 4 will include the following weeks (listed by Mondays):
April 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
May 6, 13, 20, 27
While mentoring will continue through June, the logs will be processed for the release of the final installment of the stipend beginning the week of June 3, 2024. Failure to complete submitted logs for MP4 could result in a delay of your stipend.
Lead Mentors - All documentation for lead mentor work must be submitted no later than June 3, 2024, to be processed and submitted to payroll. The form must be sent to Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org for processing.
MSDE Licensure Information Sessions
You should have received the email from Human Resources about the MSDE-hosted information session on the new licensure requirements. Please take time to discuss with your mentees about the information session webinars and any questions that they might have. If you attend the session together and assist your mentees with understanding the changes, please note that in your mentor logs. This is valuable information for everyone and those of you with more experience will have more context to assist newer teachers in the system to understand. If your mentees still have questions after the session, please feel free to email me at hlhusk@smcps.org and I will happily pass on questions from new teachers at once.
The sessions and links are below and can be found as events in the Induction Program Google Calendar.
Friday, May 10, 2024 at 1:30 PM - Meeting Link
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 at 9:00 AM - Meeting Link - Next Session
Thursday, June 6, 2024 at 1:30 PM - Meeting Link
Articles of Interest
As you plan your time with your mentee, consider using these resources.
Instructional Coaching: How Instructional Coaches Can Use Co-Teaching to Support Teachers by Jo Lein, Edutopia
Highlights:
Benefits of Intervening in the Classroom
Risks of Intervening in the Classroom
Models for Co-Teaching
Note from Heather: Co-teaching can be an opportunity to model instructional strategies and can be used in place of a traditional walkthrough.
Instructional Coaching: Instructional coaching: 10 effective year-end activities by Donna Spangler, SmartBrief
Highlighted Phrases:
Showcasing best practices
Student feedback
Coaching feedback
Activities with other coaches
Note from Heather: This article may inspire your mentor team as you consider ways to wrap up the year with the non-tenured teachers in your building.
Recurring Items - For Reference
Mentor Discussion Topics - May
Topics discussed between mentors and mentees during individual and team meetings can vary depending on the needs of the non-tenured teachers. Non-tenured teachers are encouraged to direct their mentoring experience to their specific needs. However, mentors also want to be prepared to support their mentees. The list of topics and possible questions is intended to ensure that the mentees focus on upcoming and present needs in addition to self-identified ones. This list is not the limit of possible discussions.
Mentors - If you encounter additional topics this month, please share them with the Mentoring Schoology Group.
Elementary
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?
End-of-Year Reflection
Set aside time to reflect on your school year:
What is a memory from this school year that makes you smile?
What are you most proud of this school year?
What was most helpful in your mentoring interactions this year?
What would you want to change for next year? (That is within your control)
What are your concerns for the start of the next school year?
Do you have a goal that you want to revisit in August as you begin to plan?
Consider what you want from mentoring next school year:
What supports do you want to continue with your mentor?
How do you want your mentor relationship to grow and change?
What is one area in which you would like to focus your mentoring time? (ex: classroom and workload management, collaboration, lesson planning)
Secondary
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?
End-of-Year Reflection
Set aside time to reflect on your school year:
What is a memory from this school year that makes you smile?
What are you most proud of this school year?
What was most helpful in your mentoring interactions this year?
What would you want to change for next year? (That is within your control)
What are your concerns for the start of the next school year?
Do you have a goal that you want to revisit in August as you begin to plan?
Consider what you want from mentoring next school year:
What supports do you want to continue with your mentor?
How do you want your mentor relationship to grow and change?
What is one area in which you would like to focus your mentoring time? (ex: classroom and workload management, collaboration, lesson planning)
Mentoring Expectations
A comprehensive list of mentor expectations can be found on the Mentor Teacher Resources tab of the Induction Site.
Highlights of expectations:
Meet with each mentee for approximately 40 minutes each week. (Some meetings can include combined mentees, but individual times should be included.)
Participating in (at least) monthly mentor team meetings.
Mentors should collaborate to plan the topics and host the mentor team meetings.
If a mentee in your building is being mentored by a specialist teacher outside of your building, the mentor team should be sure to include the mentee in team meetings and school-specific initiatives that would not be known by an outside mentor.
Mentors working with mentees outside of their building are not responsible for attending mentor team meetings outside of their building.
Completion of weekly mentor logs. (Logs will be sent to mentor teams sometime this week and the links will be posted on the Mentor Log tab of the Induction Site.
Completion of Quarterly Instructional Walkthroughs with each mentee. Walkthroughs are brief, planned visits to classrooms with pre/post discussions. Substitute coverage is available. Details about walkthroughs and substitute coverage are available on the Mentor Resources tab of the Induction Site.
Attendance at two mentor training sessions for additional pay at the negotiated agreement rate of $40 an hour. The Fall training session will be in person in the BOE Meeting Room at the Moakley Offices at 4:30 PM on September 21, 2023. (A calendar invitation to follow.) The January session will be virtual during the professional day on January 26, 2024.
Mentor Schoology Group
Based on mentor feedback from last year, a Schoology Group for Mentors has been created. Mentors have been manually added to the group. If you have not been included, please contact Heather Husk at hlhusk@smcps.org. All group members have permissions to upload resources and discussions to collaborate and share. If you are a Lead Mentor, please share your team meeting agendas to provide ideas to other teams!
I hope that is resource is useful to mentors as they work to support their mentees.
