Reflect: What from the TedX video caused you to think more deeply about becoming a mentor?
- The part of the TedX video that caused me to think more deeply about becoming a mentor was the section about being encouraging, and the emphasis on the time commitment. One of the reasons that I am interested in becoming is a mentor is because I feel very fortunate to have had some really incredible mentors throughout the most formative years of my life. I think that I have spent a great deal of time honing my teaching and coaching practice, and have a wealth of information and encouragement to share. Because of this, I feel as though it is my responsibility to pass the baton on to the next generation - and encourage them to become the best version of themselves. I have been coaching cheerleading for over 15 years, and am going into my eighth year of teaching, and am very comfortable with giving positive, constructive, encouraging feedback.
The part that stands out the most to me about the self-assessment inventory was my reflection on one of my greatest mentors. She taught me how to accept people for who they are, take a step back when feeling overwhelmed, or emotional, and most importantly - how to hold both logic and feeling at the same time without diminishing my effectiveness as a partner, friend, and coworker.
Reflect: What do you believe you might need help with as a mentor in our school district?
Nothing comes to mind immediately when I think about what I may need additional help with - I feel very confident in my ability to navigate the building, my familiarity with all of the software that we use, and feel very comfortable coming up with solutions to problems if and when they arise.
“Have people stand on your shoulders so others can see further than you can see.”
We are at our best when we rely on the knowledge and wisdom of the leaders that came before us
- What do you think will be the valuable use of time with an intern? When can this take place? How might you hope to accomplish this??
spend lots of time with people
always takes more time energy and effort than you think it will to be a good mentor
if you're gonna catch a lot of baseballs - you have to go to a lot of baseball games
if you're going to impact a lot of people - you must be willing to give people a lot of your time
must be willing to invest lots of time
face to face - ideal
someone wanted to be better public speaker, needed to spend lots of time watching him at events
invite mentees into your life - have them observe you
come up with a plan - homework assignment with evidence/resources
plans should be based on what the mentee wants to learn, not what you want to teach
mentees goals should inform and govern the plan
be extremely encouraging
positive - compliment - praise - gratitude
regularly try to praise and encourage
don't praise talent - praise choices and work
whatever choices get praised and rewarded are choices that will be repeated
correction and instruction when needed
intentionally work hard to hand the baton to the next generation