What mentoring will teach you
I have a teacher whom I am mentoring this year. She is not a fully new teacher, but she is new to our district. And you know what this experience has taught me already this year?
We are expected to juggle so many disparate tasks throughout the class period, the day, and the grading period, it's unbelievable. There is so much we are just expect to know how to do. You have to know the secret process for adding in behavior grades to the electronic grade book, how to interpret the attendance codes, how to fill out the new behavior referrals, how much parental contact is expected, which principals one can rely upon and which principals are completely non-supportive and clueless, how to generate and finalize grades and reports, and so on.
I am learning as much as she is. Primarily, that the demands of this job can be bewildering. I've just gotten inured to it.
Labels: a new task a day keeps the teachers underpaid, teacher survival, technology, the teaching life
posted by "Ms. Cornelius" @ 4:35 PM
6 Comments:
Your mentorship will mean so much to this teacher. My kid is far, far away from your school, but I appreciate all that you do. (and that you are posting more often - gives me insight into the lives of my kids' teachers)
I mentored a brand new teacher last year and I learned some similar things. There are so many little things we do without thinking because they are things we're used to doing.
I also learned not to be so hard on/critical of our new teachers. Many of the veteran teachers were so critical of the teacher I was mentoring because of what he didn't know or what he didn't do. It's easy to forget that we were once in their place.
I'm having a similar learning experience with my student teacher this year. I've had 'em in the past, but this one has been more rewarding -- maybe I'm just in a more open and curious place.
"inured" - do you say that word, or just write it?
I've used it, but only in writing. Can't say I'm positive how to pronounce it.
Jonathan
Jonathan, think of some guy in the Bronx, irritated unjustly at someone in the subway car.
He might say "Up yours!" Substitute "in" for "up," and make it past tense.
Or think of the word "injured," and drop the j.
At least, that's the Midwest-West Coast version.
Heck, I wonder, what does the dictionary say?
Jonathan, I say it like "in-youred" but without so much "oo" sound. But let's remember that Okie accent that crops up every now and then in my speech. I think Ed's allusion to "injured" might be closer. ;-)
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