Helping young teachers learn the ropes
For a multitude of reasons, 17 percent of the beginning teachers in Tennessee leave the classroom every year, something some school officials fear could one day result in a full-blown teacher shortage.
To fight this troubling possibility on the local level, Warren County Schools is developing its first formal teacher mentoring program. The program’s broad goal is to not only retain the system’s newest teachers, but to help them grow into model educators.
“Our aim, basically, is to get, keep and help new teachers in any way we can,” said mentor trainer and high school teacher Nancy McNeal. “We want to retain and grow them into exemplary teachers and not let them flounder. This, in turn, will improve our students’ learning, which is the bottom line.”
Because of need, McNeal said, all county schools have had an informal mentoring program for years, with experienced teachers doing what they can to show new teachers the ropes, so to speak. While this new program will incorporate this type of activity, she said as a formal program it will be structured and documented, which should provide more lasting results.
Beginning this school year, every county school will have at least one teacher who will act as a mentor to novice teachers. These mentors, McNeal said, have been selected by their principals for their skills, knowledge and experience in the classroom. And unlike in years past, these mentors will receive a small stipend, made possible by Title II federal funds.
For this money, the mentors, who have undergone training to do so, will counsel the novice teachers in their respective schools for at least one school year. In this time the mentors will assist their prot?g?s in a number of aspects, from obtaining supplies and learning state and federal standards to advice on maintaining classroom discipline and delivering instruction.
“You can only learn so much in college,” said high school mentor Julie Wood. “As mentors, we’ll be there to help fill in the gaps. We’ll also be there just to listen. We may not have all the answers, but we’ll be there just the same.”
Said Eastside Elementary School mentor Ann Smith: “I think new teachers will really appreciate this. I know I would have appreciated it when I first got started.”