Comment encadrez-vous les enseignants à travers les défis d’enseignement?

It is important to know your mentee and determine what is going on in their life outside of the school or classroom walls. Perhaps they are facing other stressors that are hindering them from performing their job to the best of their ability. Having a trusting relationship based on care will ensure that you can support them as you move forward with any work-related challenges they might be facing.

Identifying the challenge first will help you know what solutions to bring to the table. After identifying the challenge, it's also important to find out how often the challenge occurs. Is it peculiar to a child or the entire class? Questions like this will give you the mentor a direction in proffering solutions.

Identifying the challenge: Determine if the mentee's struggle relates to classroom management, curriculum design, student engagement, assessment. Assess the frequency & severity of its impact on teaching & learning outcomes Gathering information: Employ tools like observation, feedback, reflection, surveys, & self-assessment to gather data. Observe classroom dynamics, review lesson plans & assess student engagement. Collect feedback from students & mentors, encouraging self-reflection Underlying causes: Engage in reflective conversations to explore potential causes. Consider factors like lack of training or experience, overwhelming workload, or limited resources. Create a supportive environment & identify challenges & develop strategies

When working with a new teacher it is essential to listen to them. You need to understand their issues and get examples of what they are experiencing. Then, ask them what they need or how you can help. Sometimes they just need to vent their frustrations. In that case, you can be a sympathetic listener, and assure the teacher that they are not alone. Sometimes they need specific advice and they will ask for it. Then you can feel free to offer your advice. Sometimes that want to be directed towards resources that might help such as specific teaching strategies, or suggestions for having a difficult conversation with parents. You can lead them to sources of further help while still empowering them to solve their own problems.

Recognizing the specific challenge at hand is an indispensable first step in mentorship because it sets the stage for all subsequent actions and decisions. Without a clear understanding of the issue, any advice or coaching is likely to be general and less impactful. Use focused intervention: Identifying the challenge helps in offering advice that is relevant and actionable. Resource Allocation: Knowing the problem helps you guide your mentee toward specific resources or training modules that could be beneficial. Psychological Relief for Mentee: Often, simply naming the problem can provide psychological relief to a struggling teacher, as it helps them understand that their problem is not unique and solutions exist.

While I agree with the importance of the feedback process while mentoring a fellow teacher, I think it’s also important to give teachers the option of being perfectly satisfied with the way a particular lesson went. I’ve been blessed to see some amazing teaching and often I feel that we educators have this mentality that nothing is ever good enough and therefore the need to set unnecessary goals for further improvement. Celebration of a job well done in and of its self is a type of feedback that should be respected as a valid form of feedback when it is warranted.

Providing constructive feedback is a crucial part of mentorship, as it helps the mentee understand what they are doing well and where there is room for improvement. Be timely, use the right tone and setting. Be Specific and Focus on Behavior: General feedback ("You're doing great" or "You need to improve") isn't very useful. Be as specific as possible about what the person did well or could improve upon. Point to specific actions or behaviors that you observed and try to avoid commenting on inherent traits or characteristics. Balance Positive and Negative Feedback: Using models like the Sandwich Method can be effective here.

Co-creating solutions with your mentee is an empowering process that encourages ownership and growth. At its core, this collaborative approach leverages the unique strengths and insights of both the mentor and the mentee. To start, use open-ended questions that provoke thought and self-reflection, such as "How do you see this situation?" or "What options are you contemplating?" Your role is to actively listen, providing a sounding board that can help crystallize their thoughts and ideas. Once the issue is clearly defined, you can offer tailored suggestions and resources. However, it's crucial that these are presented as options rather than prescriptions.

To do this the instructional coaches collabrate with teachers to get a picture of where their teaching is currently,identify goals choose teaching strategies to meet the goals,monitor progress and problem till the goals are achieved.

Once the main issue has been identified I would partner them with an experienced teacher whom they can watch do what they are needing to know how to do and have them debrief after the lesson. I would also remind them that teaching is a relationship between you and the students whom you teach. Like any relationship you must be vulnerable, open and invested. Like all relationships there will be times when you are hurt and want to distance yourself. I would encourage them to be courageous and stay vulnerable and open because a great connection will take place when you find yourself learning deeply and forget about the lesson, time and who the teacher is. This is when the learning magic happens but you must be patient and wait for it.

Scenario: Let's say your mentee, a high school math teacher, is facing challenges in classroom management. Students are often disengaged during lessons, leading to disruptions and poor performance. Together, you co-create a solution that involves interactive teaching methods, a new seating arrangement, and a system for tracking and rewarding participation. Methods of Tracking and Evaluation -Observation: Spend a few class periods observing how these changes are impacting classroom dynamics. Take notes on student engagement, disruptions, and overall flow. Reflection: What worked? What didn't? Why? Peer Review: Invite a fellow teacher to attend a class session and provide constructive feedback. Anonomous student feedback is informative.