Mentor Teachers
The most crucial part of student
teaching probably isn’t related to the subject you teach, or the school you’re
in, or even honestly the students you teach. What can make or break your
student teaching experience? Your mentor teacher and how you respond to them.
Some colleges and universities break up student teaching into two placements my
mom’s and my mentor teacher’s colleges were like that. Others keep you with the
same mentor for a whole semester and others stretch out student teaching over
an entire school year. Regardless of the
way your particular institution sets it up, given the fact that you are
spending a lot of time with this person, it’s crucial that you know some things
about mentor teachers.
They Like Teaching!
As I mentioned in a previous post
(Things I Wish I Knew Before Student Teaching LINK), being a mentor teacher is
difficult. While I recognized that my mentor had to teach me as well as his
students, I forgot that he had to intentionally hold himself back from
teaching. If you get a really good mentor teacher, chances are they actually
like teaching! This means that it’s
really difficult for them to just sit back and watch someone else teach their
class. Depending on your mentor teacher, this can come out in different ways.
It may result in you not taking over the classes as quickly as you would like.
They might give you an excessive amount of instructions because they are
nervous about having someone else teach the material.
All
Kinds
Just like there are different types
of people and teachers, there are obviously going to be a lot of different
types of mentor teachers. I admittedly only had one mentor teacher, but my mom
had two different mentor teachers, and since graduating I’ve talked with a good
number of student teachers as I work as a substitute teacher. Of course, while
in college, I also talked with the people becoming teachers in the same
graduating class as me about their mentor teachers. This has given me a good
sampling of the mentor teachers out there and even then I’m sure that there are
more. But here’s what I’ve come up with.
No Directions
Some student teachers I talked to
have said in one way or another that their mentor teacher gave them little to
no directions in what they were supposed to do. This has both its benefits and
some pitfalls. On one hand this really lets you experiment, try things out and
come up with things on your own; on the other it can be terrifying just
stepping into a classroom and not know what you are supposed to do. Some
student teachers also expressed that their mentor teachers would sometimes give
them instructions, but then they would be so vague that they were left
wondering, “What does that mean?”
Advice
First, if this describes your mentor
teacher, don’t be afraid to ask questions! They are there to help you out and
maybe they want you to show some initiative and not have to tell you
everything. I know it can be intimidating, but it’s definitely worth a shot.
Then they can either come back to you with some guidelines and you’re all set
or they can be vague/confusing with their response.
Again if something is confusing speak up,
but if you keep running into the same problem here’s a strategy to help you. Do
what you want and then ask for feedback. Sometimes it can be hard to explain
what you are looking for, but once someone has given you something to critique
most people are able to proceed and give clearer instructions from there. But
if they don’t say you’re doing bad, you might actually be doing great! Worst
comes to worse write down somewhere that you asked for feedback and their
response, then when evaluations come around if by some random chance the
teacher doesn’t think you are doing amazing, you have proof that you did at least
try to get some feedback ahead of time.
Lots of Directions
On the opposite side of the
spectrum, some mentor teachers give you so many directions that it can be hard
to keep track and/or you can quickly feel smothered. However, at the same time
it can be great because you always know exactly what you are supposed to do and
how you are supposed to do it. Maybe your mentor teacher gives you a lot of
vague instructions and all you can think is, “This is a lot of words, but I
have no idea what that looks like?” If this is the case, as I said above,
asking questions is always a good idea. But if you are feeling smothered and
overwhelmed here’s my advice.
Advice
Too many instructions can quickly
become overwhelming. Try when your mentor teacher gives you a lot say, “I’ll
definitely do my best to incorporate that,” and then focus on 2-4 key things
that you think are the most important/what they think are the most important.
Still do your best to hit on the other things as well, but then tell your
mentor that while you tried to hit everything you really focused on those 2-4
things. Ask for feedback on them. This centers their feedback, hopefully making
it more manageable, shows that your listening to what they’re saying and gives
them a hint that maybe they should pair it down to fewer things.
On the other hand if you’re feeling
smothered, most universities have a requirement that you teach so many
lesson(s) or make so many lesson(s) or unit(s) independently. If your mentor
teacher seems super reluctant for you to do anything on your own (they might
not know about it/it never hurts to remind them), mention that requirement and
ask how/when you are going to meet it. If they try to give you every detail,
you can voice that you appreciate the advice, you’re concerned that it won’t be
considered independent enough. Worst comes to worse you could always make it
and then say “Here’s what I planned when am I doing this/do you have any
suggestions for me?”
This also works with mentor teachers who don’t
give many instructions. Just throwing something out there, even if they haven’t
asked for it because their giving you everything or haven’t asked for anything,
is often better than waiting for your chance. It shows initiative and they will
probably give you an answer of we will do that in x many weeks. You might be frustrated
you have to wait that long, but at least now you’re guaranteed to do something.
Remember
Your mentor teacher is there to
mentor you. They are there to help. So definitely ask questions. They are
human, but most genuinely want to help you. Even if you don’t agree with
everything your mentor teacher does or heaven forbid you two really just don’t
get along if you’ve really put in an effort (and can prove that with
documentation) most university supervisors have your back. I personally had a
great mentor. Sure I had moments where I was confused or didn’t 100% see things
as he did, but he was amazing and I really appreciate all he did to help me
along on my career. My mom’s first of two mentor teachers expected too much of
her and her supervisor saw this and didn’t let my mom drown because of it. She
did have to stick out her time with him, but it didn’t end up reflecting poorly
on her. You’re only there for a short amount of time. It may seem long but
trust me it goes by fast. Hang in there and if you have a great mentor cherish
it.
What About You?
What is/was your mentor teacher like? Have
any advice for how to work with different mentor teachers? Did I miss some
types? I’m almost guaranteed to with all the types of teachers out there. Let
me know in the comments!
Notes:
Sources:
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