Communication: The key to successful mentoring
Building support systems begins with asking for help — and giving it.
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Each mentor-mentee relationship is unique, and I feel that I have been blessed both as a mentee and a mentor. I have tried to examine these situations to select what, in particular, made them successful. The common thread that runs through all of these partnerships is communication.
During my final years in the teaching program, before I began my student teaching session, I volunteered and observed in an elementary classroom. The teacher, Charlotte Hundley, was never "officially" my mentor teacher, but I turned to her for help more times than I can count, and I still call her up to discuss lesson plans and ideas. Charlotte was a wonderful mentor because she invited me to observe and discuss her ideas, units, and lessons. Another very important aspect of this mentor and mentee relationship was that I admired and wanted to teach as well as Charlotte. The time I spent observing in her classroom was very valuable. I continued to observe and work with her in the classroom even after the teaching program requirements for classroom observation were met. As I began my student teaching session I continued to turn to Charlotte with each obstacle and success. Charlotte was a wonderful mentor because she listened to me and because she shared her ideas and her classroom with me.
In my first years of teaching, I had an official mentor who helped me with great notes and surprise bouquets of flowers. Sandra Parker knew when I needed a pick-me-up, and she helped me with so much of the early teaching paperwork. Sandra did all that a mentor should do and more, but her classroom was up the hallway from me and Lynn Hutchinson was right across the hall. So once again I claimed another unofficial mentor, who probably got sick of my continuous stream of questions. Once again, I found someone whom I admired, who would listen and share, and who was within easy access!
Now that I am a mentor, I hope that I can help my mentee as much as all of my mentors have helped me. I try to listen and share and leave notes and flowers. My mentee was right next door to me this year. I think that close proximity is very important to a successful mentor/mentee relationship, because our schedules are all so busy.
Communication has made these partnerships successful. In my path to becoming a better teacher, I still have no problem with knocking on someone’s door or calling someone up to discuss a problem. I feel that my mentee does a great job with letting me know what I can help with, and I hope she knows that anytime she has a question that my door is open. As an exploring teacher, it is very important to go to the source and say that I need help! As we all work to become better teachers, we need to be open to creating great mentor and mentee relationships. We can start creating these support systems by knocking on doors and asking for help, and when someone comes to our door, we need to listen and share.
