At the start of Michenna Davis’s first year of teaching third grade at North Hill Elementary School, she was pleasantly surprised to discover an unexpected source of support — her mentor teacher was right across the hall.
“It was kind of comforting knowing I have a familiar face not only that I work with everyday, but also to do this kind of stuff with, because it can be a lot,” Davis recalled of when she first learned who her mentor would be. “If I have a question I need answered right away, she’s right there.”
The mentoring relationship is part of an Iowa-mandated program that pairs new teachers with experienced educators for their first two years of teaching. In the Burlington Community School District this year, 37 mentees are matched with 26 mentors, creating a support system designed to help new teachers master eight teaching standards.
A Structured Path to Success
Monica Mundt, the district’s Teacher Leadership and Mentoring Coordinator, oversees the careful pairing of mentees and mentors.
“I try to be very purposeful about that. I look at content and building, as far as pairings,” Mundt explained. “The main focus of the mentoring program is to help the beginning educator work through and show proficiency in the eight teaching standards, which leads to the beginning educator obtaining their standard license.”
These standards are:
- Classroom management
- Use of technology
- Content knowledge
- Planning and preparation
- Instruction delivery
- Monitoring student learning
- Professional growth
- Professional responsibilities
To become a mentor, one must have a minimum of three years’ teaching experience. They also must undergo two years of mentor training with Mundt and mentor trainer Christine Larkins.
“The bulk of our training is helping mentees become independent, reflective teachers,” Mundt said. “We tell mentors over and over again it is not our job to create mini us-es; it is our job to help them develop the skills to be independent.”
Mutual Benefits
The mentee-mentor relationship proves beneficial for both parties.
While Davis receives guidance and support in mastering the standards, her mentor, 40-year teacher Tracy Walding, gains fresh perspectives and new techniques.
“Having her as a team member has been very helpful,” Walding said of Davis. “She has some really good ideas, like with this new phonics that we’re going to that she’s already incorporated. She had training in college in it, which is something that the other teacher and I have not had, so she’s kind of a leader in that way.”
Mundt said throughout her years as a mentor, she learned as much from her mentees as she hopes they did from her.
“They’re coming out of college with fresh ideas and I’d see things and be like ‘that’s brilliant, can I steal that,’” Mundt said. “I loved that learning aspect, and teaching is about sharing ideas.”
Support System in Action
The program includes regular meetings between mentees and mentors, with required sessions two to three times per month. Additionally, all mentees meet together monthly, creating opportunities for peer support and collaboration.
“Being able to collaborate with other first- and second-year teachers has been very beneficial,” Davis said. “As a first-year teacher, there’s a lot of new things and things you’ve just got to figure out on the go.”
Mentors also meet regularly throughout the year. During one such recent meeting, mentor coach Larkins emphasized the reflective nature of the program.
“We help these young teachers come into teaching and we want to keep them in teaching even when they get to those frustration points or overwhelming points,” Larkins said. “It’s nice to have somebody help guide you through the learning projects, but it’s also nice to have a confidant to be able to talk to and confide in.”
More than half of BCSD’s current mentors started teaching before the mentor program was first put in place in the early 2000s, which helps them further see the value in participating in it.
“I would’ve given anything 28 years ago to have somebody to talk to when I first started,” mentor Sandy Dunlap said, recalling the anxiety she felt during her first-ever individualized education plan meeting with a parent and administrator.
Now, she takes pride in the fact that she can provide the same kind of support that would have benefitted her during that time to her mentor now.
Others, like Jenny Mehaffy, were inspired by their own mentors.
“Part of why I am a mentor is because I had a really good experience with mine,” said Mehaffy. “I had a really good experience and she was somebody who was really positive and optimistic. I started calling her my mom at school and she really guided me, so I’m fortunate to be that person that my mentee will come and find me when she needs me and she knows that I’m a person she can come to.”
Investment in the Future
The district provides mentors with a stipend — $2,000 for mentoring one teacher or $3,000 for two — but the real rewards go beyond financial compensation. Many mentors see it as an opportunity to strengthen the teaching profession while keeping their own practices fresh.
“Nobody goes into this for the money,” mentor Alex Cushman said. “We come in here because we love kids and we want to change kids’ lives. Teaching is really sacrificial, coaching is really sacrificial. You just come in and you do it for other people.”
For Davis and other new teachers, the support system has proven invaluable.
“I could not do this if I actually had to be on my own,” Davis said. “Having the support system I have here at North Hill I feel like has made it a whole lot easier with a lot less stress.”
That support system is sure to be something Davis looks back on next spring as she and her fellow first-year teachers prepare for the Colloquium, when they will present on key takeaways from their first two years of teaching. It’s an event that Cushman and other mentors look forward to each year.
“At the end of the two years, they have to do this presentation over what they learned in the first two years, and I always tell people I wish everybody got to sit in that room and listen to them and whatever their takeaways were, because it kind of makes you all kind of remember why we went into this in the first place.”
