Mentoring

I think that my mentor relationship has by far been the most reliable and strong relationship I have at my PDS. I have had a wonderful experience gaining insight and suggestions from my mentor teacher, and I hope I have extend new techniques and different strategies or technologies to her classroom. Many times we will both construct a lesson for a day that I visit my PDS, and we will collaborate by fusing our lessons together or choosing which lesson the students are better prepared to learn. She has also set up an account on the site Delicious that allows both of us to bookmark useful websites and share them with each other. I believe this type of practice is extremely helpful in a mentor and student relationship; it extends outside our meetings together and outside the classroom, but still allows us to connect our ideas. I also believe my mentor teacher is extremely receptive to what I would like to do for a lesson and allows me the freedom to teach my lesson. I have never had felt stepped-on while I am teaching a lesson when she is offering more information. Many times I will help my mentor teacher decide what unit is best to cover next. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to have a say in the material and feel like more than just a pre-service teacher in the classroom.
I am also appreciative of the respect that she demands from the students when I teach a lesson or I am briefly in charge of the class. It is often extremely difficult to gain respect from students when they know you are young and inexperienced to some degree. It seems at times it is students' only goal to take advantage of their student teacher's authority. Every single time I have had difficulty maintaining my classroom, my mentor teacher has helped by reminding them of my authority. I am so thankful for this support, as I believe it really has contributed to my development as a teacher this year.