Why and how are Mentors Important?

I have recently accepted a Lower School Head position at an independent school in Fauquier County Virginia. I suspect many of my blog entries will be dedicated to my transition to this new role.

Why and how are Mentors Important?

After sharing with a friend that I was taking on a new opportunity as the Lower School Head of nearby independent school, I asked her if she would like to celebrate with me. Her quick response was yes let’s celebrate now! And so just a few days later we were together having a long, leisurely lunch. When I confirmed our lunch date, I mentioned, “By the way I have just named you my mentor.” Interestingly enough, this happened to be the second time she has been my mentor – when I first set foot in Virginia she guided me down the path of being a proactive diversity practitioner. My mentor now happens to be a Lower School Head at another nearby independent school, so I knew she would have a lot of insight to share. But truly, what we both wanted was simply to catch up and enjoy each other’s company.

I don’t think I realized the importance of mentorship until I stepped away and reflected on all of her insights during a long, leisurely, insightful lunch. I am so grateful to have her expertise, knowledge and care. What are some of the takeaways?

• When you first accept a new opportunity you tend to think solely of all the positives; although you acknowledge the challenges you don’t contemplate the difficulties you will face – she ensured me that the difficulties will surface and helped me to be ready to confront them.
• When I mentioned I felt that many seemed to want miracles from my leadership, she responded, “Yes, they do want miracles from your leadership. So be prepared.”
• She helped me understand: How to enter into a new space; how to understand the different character types you will work with; and how to find networks of support.
• I left with a bibliography of reading material, a list of organizations to join, some quick tips, and of course a full stomach!
• But most importantly I left knowing how easy life seems when you love your job, and that the most important thing a mentor can do is to show how much they care about your success 

As I enter this new journey I have someone at my side who truly cares about this craft; I know as I become a mentor to the teachers I serve and support – the most important thing I can demonstrate is that I care about their success. What are your thoughts on mentoring leaders and teachers?

My First Edcamp, but Not My Last

INITIAL THOUGHTS

The open ended, flexible format of edcamp enabled me to follow my curiosities in both a private, reflective, as well as a public, collaborative manner, simultaneously.

My goals for the day were to become comfortable with something out of my comfort zone; explore an area of passion; find out more about something that intrigues me.

SESSIONS

You can find the schedule here and click on the links to review the notes in each Google doc.

15 Minute Film School – this was my choice to push me “out of my comfort zone,” I am very uncomfortable with video. @matthewfrattali provided great planning pointers; then I worked with 2 edcamp participants who introduced me to You Tube Editing. I now have what I need to attempt my first short video. I even have a topic. So readers out there, you may want to ask me in a month or so if got it done, because, this is something I will, can, may avoid – I am still out of my comfort zone.

Formative Assessment With or Without the Tech – Apart from the many shared resources, and an introduction to polleverywhere.com, what made this session special was knowing you were surrounded by educators who value, support and work on formative assessment. Personally, I know it is important but I don’t find it easy. Reviewing the importance of clear learning targets in student friendly language, and engaging in dialog about strategies to use for effective descriptive feedback was helpful.

Connecting to Each Other Globally – this was my choice to explore an area of passion. I am on a mission to incorporate more global initiatives into the curriculum for elementary aged students. I made a few contacts, and have a few more ideas. Check out the notes! The ideas fall like raindrops: Skype, shared wikis, simulations, shared virtual spaces, service learning. Dot Day, Read Around the World… However, I would like some feedback on how to ensure that this rainstorm of ideas does not turn into a disruptive storm. How difficult/important is it to interweave these initiatives into a curriculum. Would love some thoughts on that?

Mindfulness, Building an Empathetic Community - This was my find out more about what intrigues me session. And now mindfulness intrigues me even more! Here are a few things many participants seemed to agree upon:

Teaching Mindfulness skills will facilitate students’ ability to self-regulate and initiate a learning task.

Mindfulness is not a technique to be used to manage behavior, but a skill to learn to improve ones ability to be fully present for a learning/social experience.

Mindfulness techniques can be incorporated into the Responsive Classroom Approach.

As professionals, parents and in general adults who interact with students, families (our own and school), and colleagues, we need to model the importance of “unplugging,” downtime, and the importance of the non-digital moment!

FINAL THOUGHTS

I enjoyed this personalized professional development. I ended the day with 4 follow up goals:

Complete my short film.

Explore the global connections resources.

Fully embrace Evernote.

Look into Mindfulness training.

Well that’s a lot for one day of self-directed, collaborative professional development. Now I just need to reach my goals before I stumble upon another Edcamp!