Mentor Training 720 draft This video is posted online with the following chapter markers: Chapter 1. Common First-Year Problems Chapter 2. What are Mentors? Chapter 3. Styles of Mentoring Chapter 4. Email & Texting Tips Chapter 5. Stages of Mentor-Protégé Relationship Description of graphical content is included between Description Start and Description End. Transcript Start [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black. [Silence] Chapter 1. Common First-Year Problems [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Texas School for the Blind & Visually Impaired Outreach Programs Present Content: Mentor Training Presented by Cyral Miller, Outreach Director Chrissy Cowan, Mentor Coordinator Description End: [ Slide end: ] Cyral Miller: Welcome to this training for new mentors. Providing support to adults is a little bit different than teaching students and we wanted to provide you with a training that would give you tips, strategies, and some evidence-based research to help you get started on a solid footing. My name is Cyral Miller, and I'm the Director of the Outreach Programs at the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. We have had an active mentor program for VI professionals since 1998, which is kind of astounding. Chrissy Cowan: And I'm Chrissy Cowan. I'm the Mentor Coordinator here in the TSBVI Outreach Program. Cyral: We want to talk today about what it's like to be a first year teacher and discuss with you some effective approaches to mentoring people as they move into their new instructional positions. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Topics to Cover Content: • Common Problems for First Year Teachers • What are Mentors? • Connecting with Your Protégé in a Busy World • Stages in the Mentor-Protégé Relationship Description End: We're going to also talk about what is a mentor, what is the definition of a mentor, and some suggestions for ways to make it work, being a mentor, even though you have a very busy schedule and so does you protégé. We're also going to explore how your relationship with your protégé may change over time. It's a very dynamic relationship and I think it's both rewarding and enriching for you, and for the protégé. [ Slide end: ] And kind of exciting, that what we found out, is that it continues over years, way past your official mentor relationship. You might find yourself in a dialogue with this person who you've trained, who then becomes your colleague and it's a wonderful relationship. So, let's start thinking about these protégés. Maybe some of you have already started working with new teachers or have had interactions with new teachers recently. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Common Problems for First Year Teachers Content: To get us started: • Think about interactions you have had in the past with a novice teacher. List some of the concerns expressed by that person about his/her role as a novice teacher. • What are some questions you have about mentoring? Description End: I want you to reflect upon what kinds of interactions have you had. What is it that the new teachers are saying to you? Do you find them thinking, wow!, this is so exciting, I want to tell you all about it? Or do you find that they are really busy, and maybe don't have time to talk? Are they staying in their rooms, or at work at all hours of the day and the night? Do they tell you that the weekends are packed with getting ready for the job and yet they still don't have enough time? Are there some who duck when they see you coming by? Have you had a new teacher say to you, you know, "I just, gosh, don't think I'm cut out for this job?" There a lot of different reactions, or a lot of different kinds of conversations you might be having with them, where their asking you questions; maybe you had to prepare for an IEP meeting, maybe they've never been in special ED before and this is their first time doing that. Possibly they're looking for resources from you. [ Slide end: ] It's so important to remember that first time, that first year of being a new teacher in a new role and not necessarily knowing what to do, all the time. The other part of that is that you're a new person in a new role. You might be a very experienced teacher, and very comfortable with that role, nothing can rattle you, but now you're trying to respond to another adult. You're trying a new job, too. You're trying to help a teacher who seems overwhelmed. Maybe you're a little nervous about that. You're wondering what can I do to make their entry into this profession smoother, but you don't want to be overbearing, you don't want to help if they don't need help. It's a little bit tricky, and you might be wondering how do I even know where to start? So, let's look at this slide. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Phases of First Year Teaching Content: Look at the graphic on the novice teacher’s attitudes toward teaching. What has been your personal experience with these stages? Description End: There's a- a wonderful graphic that's called Phases of First Year Teaching. This is really, I think, one of my favorite graphics every, and I have to say, I have found it predictive of not only the first year of new teachers, but all us who are engaged in the educational world. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Phases of First Year Teaching: Attitudes Toward Teaching Content: center graphic: LIne graph of attitudes plotted over school year in months; August to July Description End: What we see is that there are natural cycles through the year. And in the beginning of the school year, the new teacher, and actually some of us as well, start out the year with fantastic anticipation, "Oh how exciting, this is the job I wanted. I went back to school to get this job. I've gotten trained. Oh boy, I get to go and do it!" And you see that blip, way high up on the chart at the beginning. Whatever it was that brought us to this point and starting a new year, it was great, we're excited. If you look at the chart, however, you see that for new teachers, at least, that excitement does not last long. In fact, it's not even a month before most new teachers are feeling like they're sinking fast. You see the curve and you see the word "survival." That's a strong word, but you see that it goes all the way down. There's not a little blip. There's nothing, it's going straight down. [ Slide end: ] This is... because teachers are suddenly recognizing that all those lectures and those practice evaluations, those lesson plans that they did for class, they even got a A maybe in their college courses; all those seem to have very little relationship to the realities of the job. They are frequently very overwhelmed, very anxious, very panicky and just trying to get by. This is the survival note on the chart. I think at this stage, mentors are tremendously important, and your intervention is going to make a huge difference for these teachers, but you'll want to be very careful about your intervention, as we'll discuss later. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide You're looking at the chart, you see that disillusionment down, down, down we go; October, November, December not looking too good. In fact, a surprising number of teachers, new teachers, go home for the winter holidays and do not return. [ Slide end: ] I... saw this in my own life, when my next door neighbor, who had been a college professor for a number of years, decided to go back to become a teacher for third grade. She wanted to make a difference, and I'm sure she was making a difference all through the fall, but it was exhausting for her. She was placed in a school... in the, this was in the Austin School District, that was very challenging. It had-- it was an underperforming school. There were lots of... lots of attention paid to that school, and to her classroom, and she was a new teacher for third grade. She was excited. She worked like a madwoman all through the fall. She was bringing work home. She was bringing students home. She was just trying to get by, very exciting, but on January 4th, the day before she was to go back to school, she knocked on my door and she said. "Cyral, I need your help. I can't go back. I'm just, I can't do it. I'm overwhelmed, I'm not doing a good job, I'm not up to this job." And she quit. I was astonished. I couldn't believe that actually happened, and after that time, I saw these statistics. At that disillusion stage, at that, "Oh my gosh, I can't make it stage," if she had had a mentor, I think she would have gone back and done a great job. So, I think this is a, this is why your role is so important, is to provide many different kinds of levels of support for those new teachers. Especially as they're going down that slope. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide Now, the good news is, you see the slope going back up. So, there's this spring, thank goodness is a little bit better. Everyone starts to see that the work they've been doing though the fall has taken root, some routines are catching on, the students are following some patterns, students are learning. Hopefully, they're making progress. We get excited. Even new teachers who don't think that maybe they're doing it all right, get excited, with only really a little dip towards the end of the year. I'm thinking that might be when all those IEP meetings are happening. The teachers start getting excited enough, so that they spend the summer getting ready, getting enthusiastic, and then they come back in the fall anticipating a better year ahead. [ Slide end: ] So, research has found that having supportive mentoring can make the difference, especially in that plunge to the bottom, and keeping teachers in the fields. And also, as importantly, even if you're protégé is on the upward swing, you might be the person who helps that teacher become most effective at this craft. So, you're their guide through that first very challenging year. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Different Stages of Professional Practice Content: • Survival - Unconsciously unskilled • Adjustment - Consciously unskilled - Consciously skilled • Mature - Unconsciously skilled Description End: There's been other research that talks about stages of professional practice and this one has been attributed to Leslie, we think Leslie Caps. Her original article was in 1972, but it's been quoted in-- across the literature, since that time. And what she did was divide the teaching of career into different years; sort of a broader context than just that first year graphic that we looked at. In her mode, there is a survival mode and it's really the first two years that in the first two years there is a way of going from surviving to discover and she used a wonderful term, I love this term which is "unconsciously unskilled." [ Slide end: ] The teachers don't know what they don't know. They are doing the best they can, but as novice teachers they are surviving, and learning, and trying to get by. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide The second level in this schema is called Adjustment, and this the years two to three, when teachers start to have enough experience to realize that some of the strategies they used to get through that first year, just to keep it together, just to make it, to get through the meetings that they weren't sure what they were supposed to do for, maybe those weren't the best practices that they want to use. They're becoming consciously unskilled. Another lovely concept where they're realizing, "Oh my gosh, I got through, but I didn't do the best, and I'm wondering what else there is to do." And they're willing to try out new techniques, and find out what's effective. This is called, in Dr. Caps's rubric, The Advanced Beginner Stage. [ Slide end: ] And then, we have the consciously skilled teachers with three to five years of experience, still in what she's calling the adjustment stage. These teachers have reached a level of mastery, and they have tricks, and they have techniques, and they have strategies that they can use over, and over, and in a lot of different... venues, or with different kinds of students. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide And by the fifth year, she's calling us Mature. So, by the fifth year, teachers approach proficiency, where they're able to analyze and deliberate, compare, contrast different techniques and strategies, these are skilled teachers. You are probably a skilled teacher. That's why you've been chosen or have chosen to become a mentor. Most mentors have been in the field, probably three to five, and more years, and you're probably an expert in your area of expertise. You're flexible. You're fluid. You can change strategies... at the time, just kind of case out the situation and go, "I don't think I'll go with that plan. I think I'll do something else." You can handle even very challenging students that in your first year would have just thrown you for a loop. But the funny thing that happens is that at this point, you are unconsciously skilled. [ Slide end: ] You can do things without really having to think about it. So, to become a mentor to a novice teacher, you are going to need to pull on that bank of experience and strategies, in a way that you can explain it to them. So, talking out loud about why you're changing your technique, and how you changed your technique, and what you're going to do differently, is kind of unpacking all those lightening quick decisions that you make, in a way that your novice teacher can understand it. So, that during or after or before a lesson, you can describe to them your thought process, before you get into that lesson. Maybe, they're observing you and wondering, "Gosh, how did you know to do that?" You're going to think, "Gosh how did I know to do that?" Your unconsciously skilled has become routine for you. Chrissy: Before we move on. Can I say something about these statements, as I'm thinking about them? Cyral: Please do. Chrissy: This was written-- Doctor Caps, I'm assuming doctor-- wrote these stages in relation to the preschool teacher, preschool teachers. And so, when I look at this model in relation to an itinerate teacher working with students with sensory impairments. Sometimes-- well, you know, I feel like I'm dancing in this mature. I've been teaching for thirty-some odd years. But then I'll get a student with a certain etiology-- Batten's or deaf/blind-- and I've not had students with that etiology on my caseload and it throws me right back to survival stage. Cyral: Absolutlely. Cowan: So, that's something that I think is unique for our profession. Cyral: It could be, although I think in classroom-- for classroom teachers that might be-- they've given them a new curriculum or new the grading system. So, I think we all go kind of through these levels. What's true though, is if you got a new student, you would, probably, have some tricks. You would probably have a place to start. And the novice teacher doesn't even have that. They are thrown for a big loop. But there's another way to think about this, and we're going- we're going to look at what's known as the C-BAM stages. These are described by Leslie Huling, and we were... very fortunate to get Dr. Leslie Huling, who at that time taught at Texas State University, to share her mentor experiences and research with us, as we started our training, and we've been finding it useful for this number of years. So, let's look at her stages. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Description of CBAM Stages Content: • Stage 0: Awareness/Unconcern • Stage 1: Informational • Stage 2: Personal • Stage 3: Management • Stage 4: Consequence • Stage 5: Collaboration • Stage 6: Refocusing Description End: She breaks down the survival, adjustment, mature levels into six stages, and she doesn't actually put years to it. And I think that probably reflects what you're talking about, where teachers go through different stages, and probably cycle in and out of different ones all the time. [ Slide end: ] If you get a new student, or you get a school system-- a new school system, or a new administrator who has a really different set of values, and you're trying to figure out what do I do now? You're thrown back into, kind of, those earlier stages or the lower stages. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide She has the earliest stage being, she calls it Awareness or Unconcerned, and really this is that survival, where they're just not worried about changes, new information, just getting through the day. That's that earliest stage. I almost think of it as a sort of a 'desperate stage.' She labeled it Stage 0, which tells you something, [ Laughter ] what she was thinking. Once through that-- and in the itinerate role it, again, it might be more student-dependent, than- than just the overall day. The teacher starts saying, "Okay, I- I know where the bathrooms are, and I know my routes to the different schools, now I need information. So, Stage 1 is the informational stage of wanting to learn more. Knowing there's information out there, and thinking, maybe, I have the time. Stage 2 teacher, has realized- has realized a little bit about, "This is getting very personal. I'm going to be evaluated on- on what I'm doing, and there's so much I don't feel on top of." [ Slide end: ] She labels it the Personal Level. And I-- this is where a teacher is thinking, "How am I going to be rated on this? What if I don't get through this? What- what happens if I'm late to the next school? Am I going to get in trouble? Why is the principal waiting at the door when I come in? Does that mean I'm in trouble?" So, all about, really, a kind of heightened level of concern, personal concern. Stage 3, Management is huge. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide I'm sure it's huge for classroom teachers, but I know for intenerate staff, teachers of students with visual impairments, teachers of deaf and hard of hearing, teachers of students with deaf/blindness; managing all those different students, typically across different schools, and often different districts, is a huge part of the task. And focusing on those tasks, and how to do it throughout the day, and how to become efficient, is a big problem. Stage 3 in this rubric. Stage 4, I think of... maybe in that- in that upward curve, towards the end of the year, as you're watching kids learn, and you start going, "I wonder how I could do better?' This is called Consequences. This is focusing on the impact of your teaching on students, and... determining how instruction is affecting your student's progress. [ Slide end: ] This is quite a successful stage, really, when you get there, it's not worrying about yourself as a teacher, but more about my instruction, and is it working. Am I good teacher at this point? Are the kids learning? [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide And then Stages 5 and 6 are a little more comfortable, I think. These are the areas of collaboration and refocusing. [ Slide end: ] So, this is when you are meeting with other teachers, exchanging ideas with other teachers, going to workshops, and saying, "Oh yeah, I've got something to contribute there." Or, hey, maybe deciding to be a mentor. So, we've reviewed a lot of the research about what's going on for new teachers, and... thinking about what they might-- what stage they might be in, for a reason. And the reason is that you're going to want-- we think-- research shows-- you're going to want to pair your intervention, and your approach to your protégé, based on what's happening for your protégé, at that time. And you could use these six stages. You might just think about that graphic. [ Laughter ] You might-- but we're going to try a little bit of reflection using the CBAM stages. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Pause. Reflect. Write Content: • Using the handout, “Descriptions of the CBAM Stages”, determine which stage(s) these protégé statements reflect: - “Everything is fine.” - “I want to know more about this new policy.” - “I have some ideas about how I can teach this differently for my students.” - “I’m spending too much time on planning, materials, and meetings.” - “How will this affect my performance evaluation?” Description End: So, we're going to have Chrissy be the protégé, and we're going to listen to her provide some statements, and then wonder, well what stage might she be in? So, if you hear, Chrissy: "Oh, um, everything's fine. Everything's fine." Cyral: And it's the beginning of a school year, and she's just started this very overwhelming job, you might be saying to yourself, "Everything's fine?" Um, I really wonder about that. I'm wondering if you are so overwhelmed, you can't even take space to think. And that will make a difference in how you're going to intervene with this teacher. This wouldn't be the time to say, "Hey, I've got three new books I want you to read," or, "Here's twenty-five things that you could do, that you hadn't thought of yet." You'll have to reel it back a little and think, "How can I support her? She's very much at that survival stage." But what about if you hear this? Chrissy: You know, I think I want to know a little bit more about this new policy? Cyral: At that point, I'm thinking this is somebody's who's in that informational stage. She's looking for information. Wow, that's great! She's reaching out. You could provide her information. She's asking for it. You can provide that. Chrissy: She's a little more ready. Cyral: A little more ready, yeah. Carefully still. Chrissy: And here's the third one. I-- you know, I have some ideas on how I can teach this a little differently. I wanted to run those by you. Cyral: Wow! Here's a teacher who's thinking about what's happening for students, and changing up her ideas. I'm thinking this is consequence, really looking at the impact of your teaching on kids. When you're at that level, I can help you at that level. I can tell you strategies that I've used. I can give you resources, because you are thinking it through. You're reflecting on your practice. Chrissy: Ready to learn. Cyral: Ready to learn. Chrissy: [big sigh] Oh gosh, I'm just, you know, I'm just spending too much time on planning, and getting my materials together. and all of these meetings. [sigh] Cyral: I'm thinking here's a teacher worried at that management level. And if you can't get the management piece right, if you remember you're early days, especially you're intenerate, if you can't get that right, nothing else goes right. If you can't get to the schools on time, and you miss meetings and you didn't get the evaluations done on time, it really is a mess. So, here's a place-- if I'm hearing that from my protégé, where I'm going to really think about, well what are the strategies I use for that, for managing my day? Do I have an iPad app that tracks things? Do I have a wonderful way of packing things in my... in the... back of my car, that would be really helpful? Do I have wonderful little containers to keep student folders in? Whatever great tips you've got that have helped you get through this kind of management phase, that would be the time to help them. Chrissy: I was working with a protégé. She's brand new. And we were working on the abacus, because she was going to be turning that around, and working with a student. And she was-- she needed a little bit of structure. And while we're working in her office-- and iPhones were new-- and there's a timer that goes off, and I said-- this is not her real name-- I said, "Mary, what was that?" And she said, "Oh, that's my alarm." And I said, "Oh, okay." And she said, "I'm supposed to be at school." [ Laughter ] Cyral: Whoops. Chrissy: That was- that was a perfect example of-- I should've kind of known, or we could have communicated a little bit better about this scheduling piece. [ Laughter ] Cyral: It wasn't going so well. Wasn't going so well. Which I would expect. I mean, scheduling. Chrissy: Right, right, right. Cyral: Is a perfect example and it took me a longtime-- actually... I'm still working on scheduling. [ Laughter ] So, when you really think about these stages, you know, it's not that you have mastered them. It might be that you have some tips that have helped you, and nobody's mastered at all. So, I think that's an important piece to keep in mind. And what if your protégé says something like? Chrissy: Oh, how's this going to affect my performance evaluation? Cyral: Ooh, so here's a person concerned legitimately. This is a brand new job, and they are going to get the same kind of evaluation that all teachers get; and, yet, they're new at it, and doing the best they can. I'm seeing this as a Stage 2 personal level. And if I see a protégé, or if I'm working with a protégé whose on that level, this is not the time for me to say, "I have resources to share with you." This is a time to tune in to the fact that they're thinking, "How does this affect me?" Maybe you're going to talk to them about, "How are you feeling? What is it that makes you the most nervous?" Kind of pulling out the emotional level that they're at, and then seeing if you can support them at that level. I think that might be effective. Do you have other ideas? Chrissy: Well, you know, I see- I see this a lot, because as an itinerate personnel they're going into a lot-- we're going into a lot of schools, and we're interacting with a lot of people. And sometimes you take comments, brusk comments, that those people are making very personally. When really, it might be a teacher or a diagnostician or a principal whose just as frantic as they are. [ Laughter ] Cyral: Yeah. Chrissy: And so- so that's where the mentor can step in and say, you know, and provide some insight on those kinds of situations. It's not, don't-- "Please don't take it personally" or, you know, those kind of comments might help. Cyral: I think that would be enormously reassuring and it's a very common experience. I think that's a good point. Chapter 2. What are Mentors? [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: What are Mentors? Content: Pause. Reflect. Write. If you had a mentor, what positive impact did that mentor have on your teaching practice? Description End: Chrissy: What exactly are mentors? [ Laughter ] And some people use the- the term "coach." We- we favor the word mentor, here, in this program. [ Slide end: ] We've all had a mentor. We've had many, many mentors, throughout our life. A mentor can be a brother, a sister, a mother, a husband, a coworker; and so I'd like you to just take a moment to pause just think about this and perhaps write down. If you had mentor, what positive impact did that mentor have on your teaching practice? When I started my first year, my mentors were... Cyral was one, my sister was one, who-- my sister is a little bit older and came into the profession ahead of me, and I remember that first call to her, what is American Printing House for the Blind? What is, you know? So, a mentor is somebody who is going to support you, and I think I need to say what a mentor is not. Cyral: Yeah. Chrissy: Here. A mentor is not someone who's going to evaluate you. So, in the- the Texas Mentor Program, we have... specifications that a mentor can't also be the person that supervises your program. A mentor is somebody that you learn to trust, and learn to confide in. Those personal things that we talked about just a few minutes ago, those issues will come up with someone, only someone you trust. They're not going to come up, necessarily, with someone who is also evaluating you, who's writing up some kind of plan for you. So, one of the things I did at the end of 2012 was... a protégé satisfaction survey, to figure out what kinds of things mentors did that... protégés found useful to them. So... this data was collected in the spring, at the very end of the school year, and there are two questions that I'm pulling out of this protégé satisfaction survey. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Protégé Satisfaction Survey Content: Data collected from protégés at the end of the school year • Q1: Do you feel like your mentor had an impact on the quality of service you were able to offer to your studentsQ • 2: What are some examples of this positive impact? Description End: The first one was, "Do you feel like your mentor had an impact on the quality of service you able to offer to your students?" And so, this is the colonel of a mentor program. In Texas, for the TVI role, TVIs can begin teaching after they've had two courses, and so they have not completed their training program. That's not true for the COMs, for the Certified O&M Specialists, but it is for the TVIs. And so, it is... crucial that they have a mentor there... to support them and to provide them with best practice. So, I thought it was interesting that on this first question, 82% said yes, a resounding 'yes' that their mentor had a positive impact on their quality of services. And then, yes, somewhat with 16%. So, together that's 98% of- of the respondents said that their mentor really did have an impact on the quality of services to students, and that's important. Cyral: That's a big question, you know, and what a- what a responsibility. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide Chrissy: The second question was, "Give me some examples of this positive impact." [ Slide end: ] And, oh my gosh, it was as if the flood gates opened. I got 42 statements from people, and... I'm not going to go through all the 42. [ Laughter ] Cyral: Darn. Chrissy: Oh, yeah darn. But here are some of them. And these are fairly-- and I picked these out, because their fairly classic examples of the kind of positive impact you will have on your protégé. "She gave me materials." We all love materials. [ Laughter ] "She assisted me when I had one of my students do her first solo walk-the-block." Now, when you think about that, you're a new O&M specialist, and you're out there on the streets with a student, and you've got your mentor with you who's giving you some guidance on, [inhales] Ughh! [ Laughter ] No not that, but-- Cyral: There's a lot of security to that. Chrissy: Yeah, there's a lot of security to that. Another one was, "She gave me the confidence I needed to complete assessments and evaluations." It- It concerns me, that for these new people, they are in a position to determine eligibility for a student through writing a functional vison evaluation, or an orientation of mobility evaluation. I always want the mentor to be overseeing those, and to-- even approving them before they're submitted to an IEP committee. So, I... I get this response a lot from protégés, is the role that the mentor played, in teaching them how to do those evaluations, because in school they do one. Cyral: Right. I think it's a perfect example of where a mentor plays a really important role, because those evaluations, those are legal documents, and those are professional documents. This is a point where if you have someone at the personal level, they-- this is a personal thing. It's your name that you're signing there, and if you have not completed even your whole course, it's terrifying. Chrissy: And... like Cyral said, they're a legal document. They could stand up. They need to be able to stand up, if anything goes to litigation. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: And you don't say that to your protégé. [ Laughter ] Cyral: But, it's true. Chrissy: I'm just saying that as a mentor- as a mentor, trying to place the importance on... looking at those. For-- there's assistive technology evaluations, as well, that... a lot of money is tied to those. If you make recommendations for certain pieces of technology, you need to be as accurate as you possibly can; otherwise you can- you can run into some problems there, too. Another- another comment is, "As a result of her advice, I constructed an AMD for a student." Now, an AMD is a mobility device that's... built basically out of PVC pipe [ Laughter ] or it used to be. Cyral: Very clever, yes. Chrissy: I learned how to teach math concepts in Nemeth, such as fractions, place value. And so, again, they're getting this in school, but they don't have to apply it. And I know, I graduated from college, and didn't get a job for a few years, and I had to relearn braille. Cyral: Of course. Chrissy: So, you know, you could go merrily along with a student and never have to teach Nemeth or Cyral: Right. Chrissy: Several different skills, and then boom! "My mentor helped me with my first vision assessment, and ran over my report, before I submitted it." And then here's another one, "I wasn't sure where my boundaries were with classroom teachers in schools." And so, that's a collaborative... issue and-- you'll find as a mentor, that working with another individual on how to be a good collaborator is difficult. Cyral: Yes. Chrissy: Because there's so many interpersonal skills we bring to the table that make us good or poor collaborators. Cyral: Well, and I think for new teachers they're focusing on doing their job, and even though a part-- a huge part of itinerate jobs-- sensory impairment professional job-- has to do with collaboration. They haven't mastered the techniques they're supposed to be teaching. So, to be able to handle both, is challenging, and I would want help. Chrissy: Going into a family's home. Cyral: Oh my gosh. Chrissy: Where's an infant, is a collaborative piece, as well. And I think some of the best advice I've ever given a protégé is, just listen; ask an open-ended question, "How's your day?" "Tell me about his routines." Just a-- and just listen. And for the protégé who has never stepped into a home before, or not worked with an infant before, that just breaks the ice. Cyral: Yeah. Chrissy: So, you're in a position to make those very simple suggestions. "What has worked for you?" My-- Oh, and this one's a huge one, "My mentor shared her schedule with me." And we talked about scheduling earlier, and where that was in that CBAM stage, somewhere in the middle there. Cyral: Yeah, management. Chrissy: Management. And... scheduling at the beginning of the school year-- and as you know, you're schedule is always being tweaked-- but sharing your schedule with someone is really potent, because, you know ,you're traveling from school to school to school, and you have to make things work. And this teacher over here says, "No you can't come at that time," but that's the only time you're in that part of town, etcetera-etcetera-etcetera. So, just helping them draw up a schedule. Cyral: You know what I remember, and-- it might have been your sister, because she was at the Service Center, when I first started-- and I was having a lot of trouble with the driving between different schools, and she looked at my schedule and said, "Where's your driving time?" I hadn't put that on my schedule. I had put, you know, 10 O'clock this student, 11 O'clock that student-- had just like magic-- I was going to materialize in the new school and that's-- it was throwing me for a huge loop. I had never thought of it . [ Laughter ] Pretty simple, in retrospect! Chrissy: And you know, that's that-- what's that very first stage, unconsciously unskilled? [ Laughter ] Cyral: Absolutely. Yeah. I thought I was doing pretty well to have a schedule, but just forgot a little thing. Chrissy: I'll do just one more. Let's see. Cyral: Okay. Chrissy: "She gave me examples of assistive technology." In- in their coursework... the teachers, and the O&M specialists, have an overview of technology, but as you know, different students need a different kind technology, and technology is changing every year, every month, as far as I'm concerned. So, spending a little time on- on this certainly helped this protégé. Part of this-- for this satisfaction... survey-- I also did... a question that was on the frequency of effective mentoring techniques. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Frequency of Effective Mentoring Techniques Content: • How would you expect these techniques to rate in value? - Organizational strategies - Modeling strategies - Collaboration strategies - Effective listening strategies - Guided problem solving - Provision of teaching materials Description End: So, if you look at some of these techniques, I'd like you just scan this list, and tell me how would you expect these techniques to rate in value? We have organizational strategies, modeling strategies, collaboration, effective listening, guided problem-solving, and the provision of teaching materials. [ Slide end: ] Think back to when you were a novice teacher, brand new, let's say, we're in October, here, when we're filming this. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: First two week, a few weeks of the job. What... what kind of technique could your mentor be using with you, that gets you off to a good start? So, let's look at the next slide. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Here are the results of this survey: Content: center graphic: Bar graph of survey responses, described by speaker. Description End: This is-- these are the actual results of how people answered. And guided problem-solving was the number one strategy. Guided problem-solving is a little different from, just regular problem-solving, in that, when I guide you to solve your problem, I'm asking leading questions. [Slide:] I'm not telling you what to do. So, I'm trying to get you to a point where you come up with a solution, rather than the solution coming from me. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide And then, effective listening strategies was the second-- almost right up there with guided problem-solving. So-- and we're going to spend a little bit of time on listening strategies. [ Slide end: ] Listening is an amazingly-- you would think it's a passive act, on the part of a mentor, but we're going to talk a little bit about some active listening strategies. But just listening to somebody, I- I had a protége who... she would call, and I would see her calling, and I'd let it go to voicemail, because 90% of the time she was sobbing. Cyral: Oh. Chrissy: And extremely distraught. And so-- and she would babble. So then I-- when I-- and I was driving too, but so I would-- when I got to my office, I would call, and that would be maybe an hour or two later, and she had calmed down, she could talk, I could listen; and I could get it into this guided problem-solving. But she was already there. Cyral: She had talked it out. Chrissy: She had talked it out. And so, I think that just listening to them, as they express their frustrations, or their concerns, or their worries... and just listening, is a very powerful strategy that a mentor can use. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide Then, the provision of teaching materials was next. You know, that this is a materials heavy profession. [ Slide end: ] There is a lot out there, and I want to add to that, materials we think of concrete things, but I'm also thinking of resources on the Internet. Pointing somebody into the direction, to say, Paths to Literacy or those wonderful websites that we have; Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. There's so much on those websites that just helping them navigate those, is a very valuable... amount of time that you can spend with them. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide Modeling strategies, and for modeling strategies I'm thinking of-- even modeling the collaboration strategies. I've had protégés follow me into... a classroom where I'm talking to the teachers. [ Slide end: ] And then we talk about later, what- what I, you know, I'll say to them, "Just take notes and we'll regroup." Also modeling... an evaluation-- conducting an evaluation-- I like the "I do it." What is it? "I do it, we do it." Cyral: We do it, you do it. Chrissy: Model. Modeling strategies of working with kids with some significant cognitive disabilities. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide The next one was collaboration strategies, and then organizational strategies. [ Slide end: ] I was a little surprised with the organizational strategies being low, but then this was done in May. Cyral: Ah, it was at the end of the year. Chrissy: End of the school year. Cyral: Interesting. Chrissy: Yeah. It would be interesting to see if I did this at the beginning of a school year, for a a second year protégé. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: If this would... Cyral: We ought to do that. Chrissy: If this would change? Cyral: What I was thinking about when I was trying to compare-- thinking about the first year teacher, the novice teacher in the survival... stages of the unconsciously unskilled stages, and then moving on into the novice stage, and kind of getting a grip on the job. And I was thinking about how is the mentor going to know where they're at. The guided problem-solving to me and active learn-- listening, kind of answer that question, because if you're open to asking questions, saying what's happening for you, and responding to that; which is a lot of what guided problem-solving is about, and active listening. Then you are tuning in, you're tuning into the- the protégé, and finding out what- what's really important for them, and starting there. And I think that's really what's common to both those-- the first two answers. Chrissy: You can't guide someone unless you listen to them. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: Yeah, yeah. I hadn't thought about it, in that way, but. Cyral: I think it works. Chrissy: Uh-huh, uh-huh. Chapter 3. Styles of Mentoring Okay, so now we're going to talk a little bit about the styles of mentoring. Those were techniques that mentors can use that are very effective. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Styles of Mentoring Content: • Direct • Reflective • Collaborative Mentoring Video Clips: http://ncipp.education.ufl.edu/videos.php Description End: There are different styles of mentoring and... Cyral and I, in our face-to-face training, we do a little personality; what would you call that? [ Slide end: ] Cyral: Inventory. Chrissy: Inventory. Where you kind of divide-- you answer some questions and you divide yourself out into a group of like persons. And in this one-- because it's kind of funky and kind of fun-- you're either a Grisly bear or a honey bear, a dancing bear or a polar bear. Cyral: Correct. Chrissy: And so, those-- based on your own personality style, you tend to lean towards a style of mentoring that is different-- but I've-- or unique to you. But I want to suggest to you [ Laughter ] that you can use different styles of mentoring that are going to be different depending on the situation-- they're going to be useful depending on the situation. Cyral: Right, and I think it goes right on back to that listening, and trying to figure out who, who it is you're working with and what it is they need. It has to do with what will be helpful to them at this time? Chrissy: So, the first one is direct mentoring, and it is exactly like it sounds. You're going to solve the problem. And you're going to do it fairly quickly and directly. So, the goal to this type of mentoring is to provide specific strategies to the new teacher. So, here's- here's an example of a statement that is a direct mentoring comment; "Well, one way I've dealt with determining when to introduce braille is by first conducting a literacy media assessment." So, that's a very. Cyral: The answer. Chrissy: That's the answer. Or, "I suggest you contact all the parents at the beginning of school year to introduce yourself." So, you're not dancing around anything, [ Laughter ] you're just cutting to the chase. Cyral: Pretty out there, yeah. Chrissy: So, now the next one is reflective mentoring, and it's used to help the novice teacher reflect on their own teaching strategy to develop and improve instruction. So, for example, my very first maybe second week of-- back in the day we had student teaching-- and I student taught here at Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and my cooperating teacher, Eddie was her name, watched me-- I prepared a beautiful lesson on... shapes. I had seven little blind children lined up in front of me. And... and I was talking about the moon, and the crescent shape and I said, "This is a crescent shape. It's the shape of a moon." And the little child-- bless her heart said, "What's a moon?" [ Laughter ] I was like, stunned. Cyral: Whoops. Chrissy: And so the lesson went downhill from there. I was using visual imagery with totally blind children. So, the kids went to lunch, and I sat down at my little desk in front of Eddie, and I went, "Oh, that just didn't go very well." And she just looked at me; she just looked at me and barely nodded her head and said, "How could you have done it differently?" And that's reflective mentoring. And she didn't have to say anything direct to me. I had already been beating myself up, but she did prompt me to think it through. Cyral: I had a similar experience. I had a-- when I was student teaching-- I had a, something with water and it didn't go well. And I thought water, "Everybody loves water!" So, this kid was supposed to put their hands in the water, I think find things, you know, it was... maybe they were supposed to-- that they were have trouble picking up items, and I thought, well, if you put them in water and they reach right in, and pull it out, wouldn't that be fun? What I didn't know was this kid hated water, so but I didn't know that. I didn't ask. I didn't know that, and I did this lesson and then the teach-- and the kid screamed. I had-- these were... non-academic kids, at that time, and this child just screamed and tried to run away, and I was just like you, like, "Oh no! Oh now what do I do?" And the teacher said to me, "What do you think? What do you think? Why do you think that student ran away?" It was a great question. Chrissy: Yeah. Cyral: It was a great question. Chrissy: Yeah, reflective. That's reflective. And so, here's... here's some examples of reflective... comments that a mentor might say. "If you could re-teach the lesson, what things would you do, the same, or what would you do differently?" Cyral and I were met with something similar. I like, I really like the, "What's going on with the student? What do you think's going on with the student?," too. And then, "What do you think you're next lesson should be on this subject?" So those are... examples of reflective mentoring comments. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide The third one is the collaborative mentoring and this is when- and this is... when the mentor and protégé have more of a partnership. [ Slide end: ] And I-- they have developed a strong relationship with one another, and they start to bounce ideas off of one another. They become coworkers, truly, in- in the "co" sense of the word. And I start to see this... towards the end of the year. Cyral: Wow. Chrissy: And... they don't... they don't want to leave one another. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: You know, they really feed off one another. And so, an example of a... collaborative mentoring comment might be, "That's a great idea. What about trying this, too?" Or, "Let's brainstorm some ways we might be able to work this out." So, you're seen as equal partners in the collaborative relationship, with a protégé. Cyral: And this is when it gets really fun, and I- I think it's what we're reaching towards when it's-- it's not maybe equal, you still have more experience and tips and strategies, but this new person has developed, and has new ideas and new background as well, and you put those two together. So, you're really helping everybody. Chrissy: Well, and you know the-- when-- for mentors who come through the mentor training, the fact-to-face mentor training, they fill out a mentor application form. And the very last question is, "What do you-- why do you want to be a mentor?" And, I-- it is amazing-- probably 99% of the people write, "I think I will learn something new from this person." Cyral: And it's true. Chrissy: And it does happen. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide If you want to learn more about the styles of, these styles of mentoring, there is, on your handout, for the PowerPoint, where it says mentoring video clips, there's a link there that will take you directly to, about six different examples of-- or two of each of these direct, reflective and collaborative, for you to watch mentors and protégés practicing these kinds of mentoring styles. [ Slide end: ] Cyral: It's kind of fun to watch them, and try to figure out what's going on, and would you do it that way? Chrissy: Remember on the... frequency of effective mentoring techniques, I- I talked about effective listening strategies, and... active listening is a little bit different from listening [ Laughter ], in that, for active listening you are actually acting on... on what the- what the talker, or communicator, is doing. We've also heard of active listening in regards to, say sitting in a class, and listening to a lecture. And if you don't act on that lecture in some way. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: It's gone. So, even note-taking can be an active listening strategy. But, I'm going to talk about some just-- and active listening as a study is huge! I went to-- [ Laughter ] but I'm going to compress it to one- one slide, here. Cyral: [ Laughter ] The field of study. [ Laughter ] Chrissy: I went to... the Texas AER Conference in 2015, and we had a speaker, Kevin O'Conner, who... talked with us on listening. And- and he was talking about from the perspective of... educators talking to parents, and so-- but I-- it struck me how this really does relate to- to talking to a protégé. And so these were just some tips that he gave. And the first one is to paraphrase. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Active Listening/Coaching Content: - Paraphrase - Rephrase their question in your own words. Shine a light on the person; sometimes we are judgmental, give advice, placate, quiz. - Consider their questions before you draw conclusions - say, “that's interesting” - Affirm what you heard that you liked; give them encouragement - Ask, “Do you want my opinion?” Watch this video: It’s Not About the Nail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4EDhdAHrOg Description End: And so, paraphrasing is just re-phrase their question in your own words. And he- he said, "Shine a light on the person." You know, sometimes you're listening to people, and you can be judgmental, or give advice, placate, quiz, do all kinds of stuff. [ Slide end: ] You just jump right in. But really. [ Laughter ] Cyral: That's not active listening. Chrissy: That's not active listening. That's active dancing around. [ Laughter ] So, just... re-phrase the question. Like for example, if I were to come to you and say, "You know, I think my, I think my boyfriend's running around on me!" [ Laughter ] Cyral: And I might say. Chrissy: And you might say. And you know my boyfriend, and hate him; but you might say. Cyral: You think he might be running around on you? Chrissy: Yes, you know. I checked his text messages-- blah-blah-blah. So, all Cyral had to do was re-phrase and it got me to talk more. It got me to give more information, maybe perhaps, listen to myself, and it gives her-- buys her time. She doesn't want to blurt out, "Leave him!" [ Laughter ]. Cyral: Yes I do. Yes I do. Chrissy: At this point. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: But, it gives- it gives the listener time to kind of get to that guided- that guided advice kind of thing that we were talking about. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide Then... consider their questions before you draw any conclusions. Say "Well, that's interesting." [ Laughter ] [ Slide end: ] "That's interesting." And I may be that they, that I have just said something that you find offensive, or you find idiotic, or you find anything, and you don't really want... to judge it. So, you said, well that's interesting. Cyral: So, you want to really neutral kind of a response that keeps them talking? Chrissy: Exactly, exactly. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide Then, affirm what you heard that you liked, and give them encouragement. So, when you allow a person- a person to talk-- [ Slide end: ] let's take that protégé who is having problems... really just getting along with a certain individual. Maybe it's someone on campus that- that they're just at loggerheads, and the protégé is- is functioning at a very personal level. But in their... in talking to you, they have said, "And I think maybe I-- I think maybe I forgot the piece of paper that I was supposed to bring." Cyral: Hmm. Chrissy: Well, that's where you can kind of step in and say, "Oh gosh, has it been hard for you to be organized, then? That sounds like, maybe-- can I give you some pointers on organization?" And maybe with that, it might help you with those kinds of situations. So that's- that's where you give them some encouragement. You affirm what you heard. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide And then the last one is, ask, 'Do you want my opinion?' You want to talk a little bit about this one? [ Slide end: ] [ Laughter ] Cyral: Yes. This doesn't come from that TAER conference, it actually comes from my daughter, who has a very rich and complicated life, with many people, some of whom I appreciate, and some of whom I don't ,and she knows that. And so she was having trouble with one of the people that I- I don't necessarily appreciate, and... and she was saying all these things, "Oh he's doing this, and oh, he's doing that." and I wanted to shout. I really wanted to shout, "Leave him, you know, get away from that guy! He's no good for you!" I have all sorts of opinions. But we've kind of been down that road before and it hasn't really worked, for one thing, and so what I said to here was, "Do you want my opinion on this?" And she said, "No." [ Laughter ] She just wanted to talk. She really just needed to talk. Other times she has-- I've used that strategy, but again, "Do you want- do you want an answer from me?" Because I think this goes back to that- that piece where people need to talk, to get some ideas out, and that is so important for them to do, and maybe they don't have a safe space to do it; and you might be, you might be the one. The person who called you, and you let them talk on your answering machine. It's that process of letting go of something that's bothering you. You don't necessarily want something back. So, that's what I figured out with my daughter. She doesn't-- I- I would like to keep giving her advice, but she would not always choose to take it, or even want it. So, it turns out to be a very effective technique with people who sometimes just want to talk. Chrissy: And so, a comment you might make, in addition to do you want my opinion, is "Do you want to know how I would handle that?" Cyral: Right. Chrissy: And... and still knowing that if you can guide them to their own solution. Cyral: Right. Chrissy: If you could have guided her to her. [ Laughter ] Cyral: If I could only have. Chrissy: You could only have. It's going to be a stronger. Cyral: Absolutely. Chrissy: Solution. Cyral: Yeah. Because you're not imposing, and I think the whole trick to this active learning and-- active listening and coaching, is that you want your protégé to come up with their answers. You're not there all the time, in fact, that's one of our challenges that we're not there all the time. They're dealing, on the fly, all day long, with crises or problems, and you want them to feel confident that they can solve it themselves. And so, the more that you're doing the "Hmm, you're saying this? You're trying that?," and- and they go, "Yes, and...," then they're thinking it through, they're getting more competent. It's very effective. Chrissy: Okay, so one of the-- there is, there's a video that actually goes with this, too, that's on your PowerPoint... that I'd like you to watch. It is- it is hilarious. Cyral: It's worth watching. Chrissy: And worth watching. It's very short. It's called "It's not about the nail." And Kevin O'Conner used it in his training, and it's kind of shocking at the end, but it drives home this point perfectly, so watch that video called, "It's not about the nail." And if this link doesn't work for you just Google "It's not about the nail," and it will come up. It's very popular. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: EASING Acronym Content: left-side text: • Check your Emotions • Ask for permission • Be Specific • Use I statements • Keep it Neutral • Show Genuine curiosity right-side graphic: stick figure walking a dog in park with thought bubbles; one filled with items, the other only the park Description End: This... this next slide has... something called the EASING acronym on... on it. The EASING acronym came up in a training that we did, here at TSBVI, on... as educators, as people who work with children, we were required to go through a training for... child abuse. Correct? Cyral: Yep. [ Slide end: ] Chrissy: And... there was a segment that came up on... talking to children, talking to parents, talking to others.And... this acronym struck-- me the EASING concept struck me as being so wonderful, that I cut it up, and I put it above my computer, because it helps me in situations where I'm on the phone, and things are heating up, or- or getting complex. I can just kind of glance at it. So, what I like about this, is it's a quick way to- to help you guide your listening. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide So, first check your emotions. Listen to what's going on as people are talking to you. And sometimes... a protégé might say something that I actually find distressing, and so I have to, I have to check my emotions. [ Slide end: ] For example, I... I went to an infant training, and my protégé followed me out the door and said, "I have no intention of working with infants. I don't think it should be our job." Cyral: Oooh! Chrissy: And so, you know, "Them's fighting words!" [ Laughter ] but I-- I'm the mentor and I had to- I had to check my emotions, and just note them, and be... be very careful with how I responded back; just take that moment. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide Then, ask for permission. And we talked about asking for permission. Be specific. If that's what the situation calls for, be specific. So, what's the... S is about. Use I statements. "How I might deal with this is..." Not, "What I think you should do is..." And then keep it neutral, and then show genuine curiosity. [ Slide end: ] So, those-- that little acronym, I think, can help you a whole lot. Chapter 4. Email & Texting Tips Cyral: We want to talk a little bit about logistics, and I think, earlier, kind of alluded to the fact that everybody's busy and running around, and doing the best you can, and one of the very hardest things is to connect. If you're not in the same district, or even if you are, but you're caseloads have you all across town, in different parts of town, it's very hard to get together. And so a lot of people are using email, of course, or texting, of course. And that's fantastic. Emails are fantastic! Texting is great! So immediate, it's just right there! Unless it's not so fantastic. Unless you've sent, maybe, an angry, emotional note to your best friend named Kathy. But it turns out that the superintendent's first name is Kathy, too, and you just got the wrong Kathy. So, I would love for you take a moment and think about some of your email mistakes. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Connecting with your Protégé in a Busy World Content: • Pause. Write. Reflect. Tell us about an email mistake you have made before. • Writing Better Emails Description End: We've all made them, or near mistakes; sometimes you're about to press "send" and- and stop. And I- I think it's important to reflect, as you're getting into this new relationship, this mentoring relationship, on how you're going to handle email, and how you're going to handle texts. [ Slide end: ] And the most important thing to start with is, that districts have legal policies and you are bound by them. If you're mentoring somebody in another district, and you're not familiar with their policies, let's make sure that you're protégé finds out. Especially, policies regarding emails or texts with students, and with family members. What I know, despite not knowing all of your policies, what I know to be true, is that anything that you write, especially on your work email device, but even on your personal device, anything you write about a student, can and will, be... available. You must share that if there's ever a request for public information. Everything! Some of it will be silly little notes, like, "Did you get the homework?" But others, could be more loaded. So, you don't want to be in the position of... coming in front of the principal, or the superintendent or, oh gosh, please no, in front a judge, and having to explain why you used that slur to regard-- to talk about a teacher, or a student. So, really this is an important area to be very, very careful. Now, you probably know that. You've probably made one-- that one mistake, but your novice teacher hasn't gotten there yet. So, maybe you want to talk to them about, let's see, "How are we going to communicate?" Of course as professionals, this is a-- everything we're doing has professional repercussions. We want to do it in a professional way. You have a handout called Life Guide; How to Write Better Emails. And it has some, I think some very good... con- conversational things for you to bring up with your novice, and also talks about some email mistakes that you could help them not make. One of those that I really took a while to learn, and I don't know about you Chrissy, this idea of CC and BC, especially blind copies. When you're copying others, and they can tell that they're copied, it's a little bit better, but really you want to think about why are you copying them, and mention it that they're on that email for a reason. More dangerous, I think, are the blind copies, and perhaps you haven't had this unfortunate experience, but I have; where I was sort of writing something fairly emotionally loaded, and I was blind copying somebody else, just- just so they knew. But they didn't realize it was blind copy, and they "replied all." Oops, everybody now knows who has gotten this email, and they didn't before, and that does not go well; bad conversations, hard conversations. So, really limiting your use of blind copying, I think, is a good thing to know and, again, to talk about with the novice teacher. Chrissy: You know one way I use blind copy, is if I'm sending out... something to a lot of people, and I don't necessarily want anyone to know all the people on that list, I'll address it to myself, and everybody is blind copied so that when you receive my email-- everybody's receiving my email Cyral: Right. Chrissy: But you don't see who else is receiving my email. Cyral: But, I am aware in some way that you've sent it to a lot of people, right? There's some way I know. Chrissy: There's a, it's a group. Cyral: It's a group. Chrissy: Uh-huh. Cyral: Okay. So, in that situation, my guess is that you're very careful what you send. Chrissy: Oh, absolutely. It's informational. Cyral: Exactly. And- and that makes sense. So, yeah that's true. There are times when you might to use blind copy, but certainly not for information about a student, that's sensitive, that maybe you don't want everybody to know. Be careful about it, I think. The other thing that happens, and this happens a lot, is you start a topic, perhaps with another teacher, and you start out talking about the White Cane Day that's coming up on Wednesday, and then it sort of changes. And, "Oh yes, White Cane Day, but my student didn't their glasses, yet. I wonder if you've seen their glasses?" "Oh, yeah, I had a conversation with the parent." It goes back and forth. Well, you're way off of White Cane Day, but the subject matter still says White Cane Day. A couple things happened with that. One, you can't find that darn email later, because... by that point it wasn't really about that, you can search by subject. It gets- it gets hard to find. And for the other, you're veering off, you're getting into side conversations, and you haven't quite corrected your- your direction yet. You know, you want to keep it clean. You want to keep it simple. Also, thinking about if you're ever asked, did you have an email about this student? You can track it down. The other thing that I think is... touchy about emails, and texts, and who know,s in the next year or so, there will be other different ways of connecting electronically, I think it's good to have an agreement with your new teacher, with the protégé, about how you're going to communicate. I have-- I'm part of a group-- supporting a group of parents of student-- of children with visual impairments, and these are very busy... moms and dads, and we had some rough times when a few of the folks were relying upon email for very urgent messages. So, there would be an email and it would say, "I really need your answer, fast, on this." Some of the other parents don't necessarily check their email throughout the day, compulsively, like professionals at schools maybe have to do. And so, days would go by, before they got to it, and there was some upset about that. And what we did, is we made a rule-- we had a discussion-- and we made a rule that if it's something urgent, text. If it's not urgent, use email. And it has simplified communication in that group. I would recommend you have that same kind of conversation with your protégé. "How do I-- if you need to get ahold of me right away"-- because you know, some of these issues, like the personal issues, or the crises that come up. Those teachers might need you pretty fast. And I'm not saying everything is like that, but if something's like that, you're going to want to know. You're not going to want to wait until, you know, the end of the day. "I'm not going to check email, tonight, I'll,"-- you want to know if there's something urgent. So, an agreement, with that, would be very useful. Chrissy: One of the mistakes I see... protégés making, in regards to email; remember I talked earlier about looking at reports, any kind of report Cyral: Right. Chrissy: That's going to be submitted to the IEP committee, or ARD committee, those reports typically are sent through email. Well, they need to be scrubbed of any names. Cyral: Right, right. Chrissy: And so, be careful with-- if you're going to be looking at those reports, and the report is coming to you via email, that you let your protégé know, you know, no student names. I even like to remove... doctor names, teacher names, parent names, names. No names! Cyral: Take names out. Chrissy: Take names out. Cyral: Yeah. And again, the district might have policies, or rules, about how you can exchange that kind of information. That's a very good point. The- the last thing I want to mention about emails, and there's more... suggestions on the handout, is... this all caps business. I'm sure you don't do that. I'm sure you don't use all caps, unless you're really, really mad. But if you're really, really mad, then perhaps you don't really want to send that email, right? Maybe don't put a "to" in the line, just write, write, write, write. Delete it. Now you're calm. You've gotten it out of your system, and you write a more professional email. Because really, it comes back to the fact that you are a teacher, you're a professional, you're hired for your professional expertise, and your written communications are part of your work. So, you might text your friends, you might post notes on Facebook, or other social media sites, you might use, you know, different acronyms and you might use some Emojis, they're a lot of fun. But if you're corresponding with a colleague or a family member and this is information that becomes part of a student's file, or potentially could be, or it could be on the front page of the public newspaper. That's what I always put in my mind. If this was in the newspaper, how would it look? It's worth taking an extra moment, before you press send, to determine whether you'd be able to defend this written comment before an administrator, or a parent, or perhaps, in the worst case, a judge. So, be careful about your emails. It's great, electronic communication, oh boy! It's great, but use it wisely. Chrissy: And so texting Cyral, if you're texting back and forth, I- I understand that those messages, too, can be. Cyral: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. Chrissy: Okay. Cyral: Any written communication is-- could be part of an Open Records Act. Chrissy: Okay. Cyral: And we've had that here. Chapter 5. Stages of Mentor-Protégé Relationship Chrissy: Our final- our final slide for this mentor training. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Stages in the Mentor-Protégé Relationship Content: • Stage 1: Initiation stage - Getting to know you • Stage 2: Cultivation stage - Negotiating roles • Stage 3: Separation stage - Meeting needs • Stage 4: Autonomy stage - Redefining the relationship Description End: It's about the stages in the mentor and protégé relationship. I know we used the words "stages" and "phases" a whole lot, but here, what we're talking about, is the relationship between you and the protégé, and how that's going to start out and how it's going to end up. So, the first stage is the initiation stage. It's the getting to know you stage. [ Slide end: ] Sometimes mentors are assigned a protégé, and they really don't know that person. Often times, a new, a novice teacher will approach an experienced teacher and say, "Will you mentor me, or support me?" But regardless, it takes the first couple- couple of months-- they're in an initiation stage, and... you know, this can- this can last through to... the winter break. They're building trust. They're getting to know styles. How you want me to send things to you? Cyral: Right. Chrissy: What's the best way to communicate with you? It's- it's just the getting to know you kind of stage, and it's going to lay a foundation for a strong- a strong relationship, based on this initiation stage. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide The next stage is called the cultivation stage, and that's-- you're cultivating a professional relationship. And it's a very rewarding time for both the mentor and the protégé; [ Slide end: ] and the trust is getting stronger, you have ways of communicating that are working with one another, the-- you feel a little more comfortable with challenging one another's ideas. That's the cultivation stage which is negotiating roles. Then there's the-- what starts to happen, I think the middle of the spring semester, is the separation stage. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide The protégé is getting better at some things, and building confidence, and you're finding, as a mentor, that you can pull away, you can step back from a more formal relationship. [ Slide end: ] Often times, in an educational situation, spring IEP meetings are coming up, and you're both frantically busy, and so this is a good time for this to start to happen. And then the last stage is the autonomy stage. [ Slide start: ] repeat previous slide And that's where the relationship starts to redefine itself. [ Slide end: ] Both parties start to regard one another as equals. And so, they continue to have-- you'll continue to have some form or interactions, though now it's more casual. I- I want to add too, that during the year as you mentor somebody, going to meetings together, going to conferences together, is... is really going to help with- with this cultivation stage and the separation stage. You start to... to trade off ideas... and the relationship just... becomes-- you're more collaborative coworkers. It's not uncommon for [ Laughter ] at the very end of the school year-- since I'm the mentor coordinator, it's my role to determine at the end of the school year, does a mentor-protégé match-- is what I call them-- continue into next school year? And that depends on a lot of things. It depends on is the protégé finished with their coursework? Where are they in their coursework? Do they feel comfortable in their new role? Is the relationship, the mentor-protégé relationship working, because sometimes it's- it's a little rocky? That's not a common scenario, I'd like to add, fortunately. So, I make those judgments at that time, and I'll ask both, separately, what do you think? You know, do you, "Are you ready to fly solo?" I'll say to the protégé, that's fully certified at this point, and has had, you know, this wonderful mentoring relationship, or do you want to continue for another year? And it's interesting to me, many of them want to continue, and they formed this bond, and they want to- they still want to maintain some connection. Sometimes the protégé has many coworkers around them and they say, "You know, I have a-- I've developed a support network." And they'll say this, "I don't feel like I need the formal mentor match anymore." And that's fine. That person, their mentor has become, you know, part of the team. They are part of a team now. Cyral: That's success. Chrissy: That is. Cyral: Yeah. Chrissy: That's wonderful. And then-- so my decision to maintain that match... depends on those factors. And I ultimately, my bottom line is, I want to do, and I hope yours is, as well, as a mentor, I want you do what is supportive for that protégé. Cyral: I wanted to mention the initiation phase, because we have a lot of discussions with-- in mentor training about what's appropriate there, and I was just coming back to that graph of the beginning of the year. You're just getting to know each other and your protégé is in survival. I don't care what they call it-- the, you know, depending on your phases or your levels or you stages, it's tough. The beginning of the year is tough. I- I think it's important for you, as a mentor, to offer that a very personal... kind of support. A lot of people talk about going out for, you know, a cup of tea or a cup of coffee or a drink after work together. Something that's just like, "Whoo, let's talk about how it's going." I think that could be a very important piece in terms of laying the foundation for that relationship. Chrissy: And some mentors are mentoring more than one protégé, and they tell me that they like to get together at Starbucks or someplace like that. Cyral: As a group. Chrissy: As a group. Cyral: Makes sense. Chrissy: And they have their little very informal meetings with one another. And I love that. Cyral: Yeah. Chrissy: That's a great idea. We've come to the close of this mentor training, and we hope that you've gained some insight on this fabulous role of being a mentor. Never underestimate the impact you're going to have in this role. And I do believe, because I see it every year, that mentors play a huge part in teacher retention, improved teacher performance, and most importantly, the trickle-down effect of impacting services to students. And so... I hope that you're rewarded by this. I think you will be... and... have- have fun with it. And, you know, there are a lot of resources available for you on the TSBVI web- webpage. There's a mentor... a mentor site there for you. And there-- with this training, there is a group of handouts available that when this is posted on our website, those handouts will be available, that are a companion to this training. So, thank you for joining us. Cyral: Thanks for volunteering or being volunteered into this incredible role. I think you'll enjoy it almost as much as you enjoy teaching. [ Slide start: ] Description Start: Title: Thanks for Joining Us! Content: Mentor Training Cyral Miller millerc@tsbvi.edu Chrissy Cowan cowanc@tsbvi.edu Description End: [ Slide end: ] [Silence] Fade up from black. Animation: Text for TSBVI transform into braille cells for TSBVI. Fade to black.