Designing and Implementing a Mentoring Institute: Training the Mentors

Kim PaulsenDepartment of Special Educationp p

Peabody College of Vanderbilt University

Why a Mentoring Institute?Why a Mentoring Institute?

Mentoring teachers did not have an understanding of the program Mentoring teachers did not have an understanding of the program candidates completed.

Mentoring teachers were not providing candidates with appropriate feedback. feedback.

Mentoring teachers were not able to provide formal feedback to university personnel regarding the program.

Disconnect between what was taught at the university and what mentoring teachers were implementing in their classrooms.

Develop stronger relationships between K-12 partners. Develop stronger relationships between K 12 partners.

Logistics to ConsiderLogistics to Consider

Dates

Space

Available Technology

Computer Lab Access

Materials - Printing

Parking - Transportation

Food

Continuing Education Units

Paperwork

Selecting participants

Overview of InstituteOverview of Institute

100 t i t h ill b t i d 4 100 mentoring teachers will be trained over 4 summers.

4 presenters with expertise in areas covered.

5 days in Summer 08 with 2 follow-up days in October and January.

4 days in Summer 09 with 1-2 follow-up days in November and possibly March.

Selecting Mentor Teachers Selecting Mentor Teachers

Commit to the entire week Commit to the entire week

Summer 08 17 Pre-Student Teaching Mentors - General Education Teachers

Summer 09 32 Mentoring Teachers Veteran vs Novice Mentoring Teachers Veteran vs. Novice Mentoring Teachers Mentoring teachers in need of guidance 4 University Mentors

Topics Covered Topics Covered

Program Overview Program Overview Courses & Field Work Admittance to Teacher Education Program State and Professional Standards State and Professional Standards College’s Conceptual Framework Accreditation

Teacher Development Stages Effective teacher characteristics from a pre-service viewpoint p p

Topics CoveredTopics Covered

MentoringT f i Types of mentoring

Communication Formative assessments Roles of mentoring teachers

Feedback forms specific to our department Observations Observations Dispositions Performance Improvement Plan

Topics CoveredTopics Covered

Overview of IRIS Center

Response to Intervention

Assessment

Progress Monitoring - IEP

Classroom Management

Lesson Planning

Models of Teaching Models of Teaching

Working with Paraprofessionals

Approach to Presenting InformationApproach to Presenting Information

N d t t i f ti b t h t i Need to present information about what is taught at the university level without offending mentoring teachers. g

General information on mentoring not as sensitive as other topics.sensitive as other topics. Presented information Case studies

Approach to Presenting InformationApproach to Presenting Information

Each topic followed the same sequence: What we want our students to know

Difficulties and/or questions students have

Presentation of material Presentation of material

How mentoring teachers can help

Case studies

Importance of assignments/scoring of assignments

What We Expect Pre-Service Teachers to Know About Classroom Management

Essential Components of Classroom Management

How to manage more challenging problem behaviors

How to set up/physically arrange a classroom

To support different instructional formats

P bl b h i

How to monitor the effectiveness of a class-wide plan

How to identify students and student behaviors that need more targeted Prevent problem behavior

How to establish classroom rules

How to establish and manage daily

behaviors that need more targeted intervention

How to develop, implement, and monitor targeted interventions

g yroutines

How to teach rules and routines

How to use surface level management

How to conduct a functional behavior assessment (FBA)

How to develop a behavior intervention plan (BIP) How to use surface level management

strategies to prevent and stop minor disruptions (e.g., proximity, nonverbal signals, interest boosting, humor)

plan (BIP)

Classroom Management: Common Problem Areas and Questions

Using surface management techniques while teaching

Reviewing rules before instruction Reviewing rules before instruction

Hesitant to be authority figure or to establish themselves as teacher Collecting data and teaching at same time

Creating a class-wide plan that is doable

What do you do when kids aren’t attending?y g

What should you ignore – when do you stop/interrupt instruction to deal with a problem behavior?

Other questions that student teachers and beginning teachers have?

Classroom Management: Presentation

PowerPoint presentation PowerPoint presentation Basics of classroom management FBA BIP

IRIS Modules SOS: Helping Students Become Independent Learners Acting Out Cycle

Handouts What we expect, problems/questions, what mentoring teachers can do List of resources: websites, books, etc.

Classroom Management: How Mentoring Teachers Can Help

Encourage students to use the IRIS modules (see Resources).

T lk b h d l d i i h d k d h did h did Talk about how you arranged your classroom – decisions you had to make and why you did what you did.

Give your student teacher a copy of the school-wide and class-wide plans.

Explain any data collection procedures you use.

Model surface management techniques and then reflect with your student teacher why you did what you did.

Debrief with your student teacher after using correct consequences for problem behavior with students.

Observe the student teacher and give feedback on use of classroom management strategies. Point out what they do correctly and give suggestions for improvement.

Allow the student teacher to sit in on parent/teacher meetings with regarding behavioral issues and/or Functional Behavior Assessment team meeting (as possible).g ( p )

Other …

Classroom Management: Case Studies

Grace’s mentoring teacher has an effective classroom management Grace s mentoring teacher has an effective classroom management plan in place that he would like her to follow. Grace has a difficult time following through with consequences - she wants students to like her and they are testing her.

S h hi lik l d Steve approaches teaching more like a camp counselor and believes that everything should be fun. He has lost control of the classroom and cannot get students to focus.

In addition to get her license to teach Ellie is working toward her In addition to get her license to teach, Ellie is working toward her Behavior Analyst Certification. She has exceptional classroom management skills, what can be done to assist Ellie in developing her skills even more?

Classroom Management: Assignments

Provide mentoring teachers with assignment guidelines Provide mentoring teachers with assignment guidelines and scoring rubric for behavior change project.

Provide mentoring teachers with a good behavior g gchange project and have them score it using the rubric.

Provide mentoring teachers with a poor behavior change project and have them score it using the rubric change project and have them score it using the rubric and provide feedback they would give candidates.

Culminating ActivityCulminating Activity

Mentoring teachers will be given a case study of a Mentoring teachers will be given a case study of a student teacher who is having difficulty in a variety of areas. Data will be presented through the student teachers first 3 weeks of student teaching student teachers first 3 weeks of student teaching. Mentoring teachers will develop an improvement plan and compare it to what was actually done. Mentoring teachers will then be given data on final Mentoring teachers will then be given data on final weeks of student teaching and write a final evaluation summary.

Workshop Evaluation1-5 Scale

Overview of Program 5 Overview of Program 5

Teacher Development 5

Mentoring 5 Mentoring 5

Response to Intervention 5

Progress Monitoring 5 Progress Monitoring 5

Behavior 5

Assignment Review 5 Assignment Review 5

Workshop EvaluationComments

Very helpful. I wish I could have had this training before last year!

This was such an enjoyable week and very informative. I have not only learned so much about new things (RTI CBM etc ) but gained insight into what the pre-service teachers are going new things (RTI, CBM, etc.), but gained insight into what the pre service teachers are going through. This entire experience will make me a better mentor!

This was a great refresher for me in all ways of instruction & classroom management. I know I will be a better mentor teacher because of this workshop and I also know for sure I’ll be a rejuvenated classroom teacher this year due to this great nurturing workshoprejuvenated classroom teacher this year due to this great, nurturing workshop.

I want you to know how much I have enjoyed every aspect of this week’s sessions. Thanks so much for reminding me why I’m a teacher and how I can help these young teachers. Thanks so much - it was fabulous!!

I have really enjoyed this workshop and appreciate you putting it together. It has been greatly informative about the pre-service teacher’s experience with us and I have learned some really valuable information that I will definitely be using in my teaching. Thank you!

The workshop was fantastic. What we learned we can really take back to the class.

Loved IRIS! Thanks for showing us!

Workshop EvaluationComments

I really appreciate you guys doing this workshop!! I feel like you not only helped us understand this program, but you gave us an advantage over other Metro teachers, as far as RTI and other new stuff Metro will have us doing.

It was good to receive this information before school begins - because it would be overwhelming the first 3 days. Websites will be good resources to check during the school year. It was a very informative week!

Great job! Really have learned a lot of new techniques. Look forward to working with my student.

Computer lab was helpful; learning of helpful websites.

This was great for me to have training on how to mentor. Also, it was good review for me to check my own teaching, i.e., am I doing these things in my classroom? Thanks!

This week was very informative and helpful. Thank you! It’s good to see what all is expected/required of students.

Thank you! So valuable - every minute was worthwhile.

I really enjoyed this week. All four ladies were wonderful!!

Impact of Workshop on CandidatesImpact of Workshop on Candidates

Candidates felt mentoring teachers understood the Candidates felt mentoring teachers understood the requirements candidates needed to complete and were helpful in providing them resources and ideas.

Candidates felt mentoring teachers provided appropriate feedback - both positive and constructive.

University personnel saw an improvement in feedback provided, but would still like more.

How to Sustain How to Sustain

M t lik l ill t b bl t i t i 4 d f t Most likely will not be able to maintain 4-day format.

Shorter workshop format for new mentoring teachers.

Develop a website for new and continuing mentoring teachers.

For More InformationFor More Information

W h t h t i l If i t t d We are happy to share any materials. If you are interested please email Kim at kim.paulsen@vanderbilt.edu

Developing an Induction Program for p g gGraduates: A Work in Progress

Induction Induction

A majority of our graduates leave the area A majority of our graduates leave the area.

Need to provide candidates with resources during their first 3 years of teaching. y g

Over next 3 years approximately 40 graduates will be paired with induction mentors at their respective schools.

Induction website is being developed to be implemented in September.

Induction WebsiteInduction Website

M d l Modules All topics covered in mentoring institute

Materials from all coursework completed

Discussion Boards Bi-weekly meetings with graduates

Monthly meetings with graduates and mentors