Meet the Teachers
by Camille Hedrick, Potomac Falls High School
Original text © 2004 Camille Hedrick
Mentoring Matters 2
The participants discussed teachers and administrators who had been supportive and given them practical advice. Nell described how another veteran gave her advice:
You know, to say, this is what you’re going to deal with. You know, that kid that is incessantly late, you know, walks through the door. How are you going to deal with that? …[S]ometimes if I had to call a parent and a student had an IEP, or 504, or whatever they had, I would go to Paula and I would say to her, “Paula, I need to call this parent, this is what I see, give me some words.”
The teachers described observing their mentors and being observed by their mentors, and that this provided valuable learning opportunities. When no mentors were available, or assigned mentors were less than supportive, these career-switchers found their own mentors. Katherine related:
I was here by myself and I came from a different state where the requirements were different. And you’re trying to address all these concerns, and I’m like, “Oh, my gosh, did I make the right decision?” But there was a counselor and he called me and introduced himself, and just kind of sat down with me and talked and took me to lunch. And he called me every day to check on me. And he said, “If anybody calls you and you have questions you can’t answer, just call me.” I think that was probably one of the things that kept me sane.
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