Who am I as an educator and as a mentor?
What do I truly believe is important about teaching and learning?
How am I living these beliefs in my classroom, school, district and beyond?
In this glideshow, mentors in a variety of roles from across Canada share thoughts about their continuing learning journey.
Reflections from and for Mentors
Foundational Elements of Mentorship
As educators, we can be so hard on ourselves and we need to lift each other up to recognize and celebrate our success together.
"The mirror" was a strong visual for me as I read Connecting our Hearts. Mentorship truly helps the mentor see in themselves the things they want to foster in someone else. Growth is humbling, and I think extending compassion helps us be kinder to ourselves.
The phrase that really struck me was "de-privatization of practice"; teaching strategies and those things that make us good (great!) teachers should be shared, highlighted, celebrated, and demystified, especially for our new teachers.
De-privatizing our practice … holding the mirror up for someone to see the strengths of their own practice, which they can then leverage to keep going, stay positive and help keep the joy in the classroom.
Allowing ourselves to spend time reflecting on those quiet victories and bring that opportunity to other educators to do the same.
In Connecting our Hearts I thought about the importance of extending "grace" to our colleagues but that we need to first extend that grace to ourselves.
Going on a "treasure hunt" to surface and access the unique strengths of all colleagues.
I believe that students are part of my mentoring web. While creating a safe community in the classroom, I learn from them each day. A wonderful reciprocal relationship.
Placing students at the centre by always bringing the conversations and shared work back to the primary goal of improved student learning and well-being.
To be more present. Present in the moment with the students, mentees and colleagues. More listening and in turn more valuable feedback.
Continuing to build my capacity for listening, understanding and connecting with trust. My hope is to be someone that is trusted and listens fully with compassion and humility.
Having goal setting conversations at the onset of relationship building when beginning to work with educators next year.
I love the appreciative inquiry questions to guide mentoring teachers. I think it's gentle, caring and supports teachers in moving forward.
Being intellectually humble. It's so important to remember what you said in the video about there being lots of different ways of effective teaching.
I don't think the learning ever ends. Allowing ourselves a moment to listen, always leads to new learning.
The importance of supporting my administrators who are supporting their teachers. Jim asked the question, "who is supporting you as a leader?"
I love how the story of observing the teacher resulting in her rating her day an 8, but you had seen it as a very challenging day. When you realized she had those silent victories, it changed your perspective. Another teacher may have rated her day a 4 - for having only half her class bring their books. It goes to show...we may all be in the same storm, but not in the same boat.
This learning series has reminded me how important empathy is and how it helps to build lasting relationships.
I am rethinking some of the ways I interact with my students and colleagues (and even my own kids).
The importance of self-care and being patient with ourselves. We can't underestimate the degree to which we create the world we live in.