In the thick of it...

In April 2013, I took the first step toward my action research plan in which I asked teachers on my campus to complete a brief survey concerning how we currently mentored new teachers and what they would like to see in the future.  Over the summer, I disaggregated the data from the surveys.  I then began my research of how I would set up the new teacher mentoring program at my school.  Since it had to be put into place by the beginning of this school year, August 2013, it was necessary that I do all of my research over the summer.  I spent a lot of time looking into different programs online as well as one that several of my colleagues had recommended call TXBESS (Texas Beginning Educator Support System).  I received two TXBESS training manuals which had to be at least five inches thick.  I did glance through them, and I even used several of the handouts; however, the most important thing that I learned from it was what I DIDN’T want to do, which is overwhelm the mentor and mentee with a huge training binder.  My main focus was to keep the program to the point and versatile, while still providing the mentee with what he or she needed.  While researching, I called the Region V Service Center and found that they use a training program called PACT (Performance-based Academic Coaching Teams) for their mentors in the emergency certification program.  It was developed at Texas A&M and is completely online.  It is also free.  I contacted the IT director for our district and had him set me up in the PACT system so that I could research its ease of use and subject material.  I found it to be very user friendly and uncomplicated.  After speaking with the Region V representative again, I also found out that any mentor who completes the four required modules will receive $300.  Since one of the issues I had with my plan was the payoff mentors would receive for volunteering their time, this was a huge and very exciting discovery.  I continued to research other school districts that had programs posted online.  I pooled some of the things I found together, along with my own ideas, to create a new teacher mentor training that would also incorporate the PACT website.  What I developed basically consists of a checklist for each six weeks that the mentor and mentee complete together.  Depending on whether or not the teacher is a first year teacher or a new teacher to our district, the topics may differ.  There are also classroom observations included for the first year teachers.  They will both observe and be observed to help them improve.  A couple of weeks before school started, I asked my site supervisor, our higher education coordinator, and a veteran teacher to look over the program and give me feedback.  I received some wonderful feedback and was able to implement the changes they suggested.  I also met with one of the mentors and went over the program with him earlier than the other mentors.  He too was able to give me some very useful feedback to improve the program.  Our district hosted a staff development day two weeks before school started in which teachers were asked to present.  I was approached by a veteran teacher who wanted to do a motivational presentation on how to keep teachers inspired from those “aha” moments in a teacher’s career.  She had heard about what I was doing and thought it would tie in well with her presentation.  I was able to present my program several times that day to teachers of all grade levels.  The next week, my site supervisor allowed me to meet with the mentors and mentees separately to explain the program.  During this presentation, I used a computer to show them how to navigate the PACT website.  I made it very clear that this was a pilot program and that I wanted feedback from both mentors and mentees.  I only developed the program for the first, second, and third six weeks periods.  I plan to use the feedback that I will be receiving from the mentors and mentees to create the fourth, fifth, and sixth six weeks at a later date.  I am very pleased with the results I have seen so far.  I have been told by at least three of the mentors that things are going very well, and they like the setup so far.  They have also said that this was a much needed program and were thankful to have some guidelines to follow.