Mentoring Expectations
UCI Expectations for Mentor Support:
Allow the student teacher to help with instruction and planning
Invite the student teacher to participate in meetings (PLC, departmental, faculty, etc.)
Provide consistent feedback on instruction and on any curriculum the student teacher develops
Collaborate with the student teacher on assessment strategies/guidelines
Complete 10 hours of required professional development outlined by the CTC (UCI provides several online modules and attending UCI virtual meetings counts towards the hours - Mentor Teachers have from August to the end of January to complete the hours - district trainings and professional development also count towards the hours). If a Mentor Teacher has mentored student teachers within the past 5 years, or served as a BTSA/induction advisor or support provider, they do not have to complete the 10 hour requirement. You would just indicate this on the survey when the link is sent during spring semester.
Allow the student teacher to observe/review aspects of the Mentor Teachers’ instruction when possible
Consult with the student teacher in order to provide appropriate support to particular students (IEP, 504, GATE, etc.)
Complete three brief online evaluations of the student teacher at the end of each quarter (fall, winter and spring quarter)
Give permission to UCI Supervisors to observe instruction (e.g., livestream through zoom, videos, collaborative meetings)
Complete the Mentor Teacher Survey administered by the CTC each year (UCI coordinators will send a link)
*Please note: UCI Supervisors will provide our teacher candidates with support throughout the school year. Mentor Teachers are encouraged to contact program coordinators if they have any questions or concerns.
Mentor teachers are responsible for completing the following during the school year:
A mentor teacher professional development survey at the end of January. The PD survey link will be emailed to ALL mentor teachers.
Three short evaluations of your student teacher at the end of each quarter - Fall Quarter (December), Winter Quarter (March), and Spring Quarter (May). The evaluation link will be emailed to you by the Single Subject Coordinator. Please review the evaluation with your student teacher and email them a PDF copy (you can download the PDF copy once you complete the evaluation). Student teachers will be asked to upload their evaluations in their fieldwork seminar classes (ED 302, ED 307).
A short evaluation of the student teacher's supervisor at the end of May. The evaluation link will be emailed to you.
(optional) Attend an IDP meeting at the end of the school year (by the end of May) to discuss the candidate's progress related to the Teacher Performance Expectations (TPEs) with the Supervisor. During the meeting, an Individual Development Plan (IDP) that student teachers complete will be reviewed.
Mentoring Practices and Tools
From the UCI MT Modules: https://sites.google.com/uci.edu/uci-mentors*
*Each module counts for 1 hour of PD for new mentor teachers.
Making your thinking explicit
Analyzing student work together
Co-planning with feedback
Pre-briefing and Debriefing
Modeling the work of teaching
Co-teaching
Adapted from the work at the University of Washington, College of Education
Explain your reasoning behind decisions you make, or the ways you respond in professional situations.
Discuss your decision making process for both planned and spontaneous decisions.
Discuss alternative decisions and consequences.
Share what guides your decision making process.
Analyzing student work together introduces your student teacher to formative assessment.
Together you are able to uncover patterns in student learning and discuss how this data informs future planning.
Allow your student teacher to participate in the planning process with you.
Discuss your learning goals and how you backwards plan.
This is a great way to talk about aligning assessments, time management, student engagement, etc.
Student teachers benefit from short conversations before and after teaching (or observing) a lesson.
This applies to lessons taught by the mentor or the student teacher.
What are some "invisible" instructional routines or practices you use to support student learning? How can you make these "invisible" practices "visible" for your student teacher?
Explain how you (some examples)
monitor all students while answering one student’s question
give shy students or ELL’s time to rehearse when speaking in groups
give both oral and written reminders
Two teachers working together to support student learning. Co-teaching includes planning, teaching and assessment and may take on different forms.
One teach/one observe
One teach/one assist
Parallel Teaching: each teacher works with a small group
Team teaching: both actively engaged in instruction and management