Successful Mentoring Essay

Teachers enter the profession with various levels of readiness and continue to learn on the job, especially in the beginning years. However, almost half of all beginning teachers will leave their classroom within the first five years of their teaching career (Phillips & Ingersoll, 2015). One factor contributing to this statistic is that many new teachers are not involved in a formal mentoring program (Grossman & Davis, 2012). This rings true for Tuscaloosa County School System. New teachers in Tuscaloosa County Schools participate in new teacher training that only consists of monthly meetings focused mainly on professionalism. Classroom management, discipline, teaching strategies, and implementation of Common Core standards are not a focus of this training, leaving new teachers just as uniformed as when they entered the classroom. This is evident in the school where I currently teach. New teachers are often given a set of keys to a classroom …show more content…
In addition to highly trained mentors, a successful mentoring program should include a focus on content and allocated time for mentoring (Grossman & Davis, 2012). Successful mentoring teaching programs include, but are not limited to the following: guidance, coaching, curriculum, professional development, and observations. Objectives for an effective mentoring program to be implemented in my school will include:
• Mentors will be trained on how to assess and meet the needs of new teachers.
• Mentors will be matched with novices based on fields.
• New teachers will be provided with support, encouragement, and guidance from their mentors, other colleagues, principals, and district