My first reaction to today’s goal at the 30 Goals Challenge was; ” there are SO many aspects and ways to look at learning, where do I begin”?
Tweeting with Lisa Dabbs today gave me the “handle” I needed – mentoring! She has a lovely post on it. I’d like to highlight a different aspect which is what the MENTOR learns from mentoring.
I had the experience of mentoring a brand new teacher, straight out of college, who at the same time also became my colleague, teaching the same pupils I do (we teach in the format of a learning center. I teach full time and she teaches part time in addition to my hours).
I’ve been teaching for 25 years yet I found I was learning a great deal from the experience. First of all, because she repeatedly asked “WHY?”. I had set into motion all kinds of ways of doing things, some of which I had been doing so long that I no longer remembered why I had decided to do them in this particular way. Suddenly I had to reexamine everything! Sometimes it was tiring, but it was always useful. Some strategies or practices I realized that I felt good about them because now I remembered why they were planned just so. Others turned out to be “dusty” and were tweaked or even replaced.
Of course, as a talented young teacher, she came with suggestions of her own which have enriched my teaching!
But the thing I thank her most for is helping me to continue THINKING about what I am doing and why!
Naomi,
What a great post! I love this piece:”Others (strategies) turned out to be “dusty” and were tweaked or even replaced.” This is so what I’m about as an educator. Get rid of the dead-wieght and by all means DONT pass it on to those you mentor! LOL 😀
I too have been mentoring grads out of college who have their BA and are working on their teaching credential. I love the refreshing convos. I look forward to tweeting and more convos with you,too! Thanks so much for the lovely comment on my blog. 🙂
I’m often asked how I can still be a teacher after so many years – this is one of the reasons!
I loved how truthful and from the heart your post was Naomi. I have been a mentor to a few new teachers from our Teacher Education Program and it has been mostly a very enriching experience. It’s vital for teachers – especially those like us who have been doing it for a long time – to find ways to keep looking at the practice with fresh eyes!
Thanks for a lovely post!:-)
Thanks for the support!