Facilitator's Notes
People entering the education profession are a diverse group. Some enter directly after a university experience; others enter after years in a different career. Occasionally, new or beginning teachers come from the same background as their mentor and share similar personality traits; most times, however, new teachers are vastly different than their mentors in many ways. Because of the diversity of the new teacher workforce, experienced teachers must be aware of the ways that they are different than the person that they are mentoring.
Each scenario collected in this document presents a problem related to a new teacher. Each new teacher in these scenarios needs some type of intervention on the part of the mentor. In order for mentors to be successful in helping the new teacher, mentors must consider their own identities, their perceptions of the new teacher in question, and the culture of the school in which they work. The new teacher at the center of each scenario may be the same or vastly different from the mentor asked to role-play a solution. Depending on the background, personality, and experiences of the mentors, they will have differentiated approaches to helping the new teacher in question. In this way, these scenarios are open-ended with no clear cut answers; they can be molded to the group of mentors with whom you work.
After reading each scenario, mentors should be asked to consider two questions. This may be done individually or in small groups. Mentors should read each scenario carefully and respond using the two step process outlined below. Short answers may be used.
We encourage an introduction to the process before beginning discussion of the scenarios; specifically, explore the differences between the steps. A black-line master copy of the steps has been included on the following pages for your convenience.
- What is the key issue in this scenario?
- What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Mentors will have varying opinions. Some mentors will choose to advocate for their mentees, bringing other people into the process; others will resolve the conflict on their own. It is possible that the resolution to the problem could involve dissolving the mentoring relationship if all other options are exhausted; facilitators should know how this process takes place in their school.
After completing each scenario, mentors should complete the reflection scale provided. The reflection scale gives mentors the opportunity to critically evaluate their decision making. A black-line master copy of the reflection scale has been provided on the following pages for your convenience.
Based on the set of scenarios, how comfortable do you feel about your action plans? Using a scale of one to five, indicate how confident and comfortable you are about your plans.
Uncertain |
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Good |
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Confident |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Scenarios: For each situation, place yourself in the role of the mentor assigned to the new teacher described.
Janet is a 4th grade teacher with one full year of teaching experience in a previous district, but brand new to your school. At the conclusion of the first quarter, in an all school faculty meeting where different procedures were discussed, she informs you that the attendance process and lunch count procedures are not the way same as in her old district. She would like to have you, as her mentor, set up a meeting with the administration in order for her to inform them that she has a better way of doing every day procedures; she feels that she can greatly improve the efficiency of her new school based on her experiences from her previous district.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Carmen is new to your school, but she has 10 years of previous experience. Although she has expressly stated that she doesn’t need a mentor, you have been able to establish a professional friendship with her. You are able to give her guidance with school policies, but she is not open to feedback about her instruction or curriculum development. You have recently become aware that Carmen has some dubious grading techniques. A student that you previously had in class explains that she often does not give assignments back with feedback, but that she still puts grades into the grade book. When this student asked to see his graded work to verify his total points for the semester, Carmen dismissed his question and explained that her overall professional opinion mattered more than “numbers on paper.”
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Ken is going through a divorce, and the legal proceedings are beginning to interfere with his teaching assignment. Beyond the time out of class, he has begun to exhibit signs of irritability, and the teachers around him suspect that he has not been able to keep up with his grading and planning.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Cheryl is a 22 year old high school teacher in her first year of teaching. It is apparent to you that she has trouble maintaining professional distance from her senior students. She has given her cell phone number to students, opened her MySpace page to her classes, and will often meet students outside of school at local coffee houses and bookstores. Recently, she has been complaining to you about discipline issues in her classes.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Based on the set of scenarios, how comfortable do you feel about your action plans? Using a scale of one to five, indicate how confident and comfortable you are about your plans.
Uncertain |
|
Good |
|
Confident |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Scenarios: For each situation, place yourself in the role of the mentor assigned to the new teacher described.
Janine, a single mother of two, must pick up her children at daycare by 3:30; however, the new contract negotiated by the union stipulates that the official work day ends at 3:45. She could change daycare centers to a place with a later pickup time, but it would cost her money that she does not have.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Bill, a new teacher you have been working with since the beginning of the year, has just received his termination papers. Although you knew he was struggling a bit, you had no idea that he was going to be let go. You feel that as his assigned mentor, you could have provided more intervention strategies but feel that you were left “out in the cold” and not informed of the administration’s intentions to deliver a pink slip. You feel let down, if not betrayed by the administration, and you are now considering not serving as a mentor in future years.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Angelo is doing a very good job as a first year teacher. As a mentor, he has been easy to work with; he is proactive, open to feedback, and genuinely concerned with the success of his students. Lately, he has begun to complain that he feels underappreciated. In addition to that, he is constantly worried about his job security for the next school year; no one has told him he is doing well. It is clear that Angelo needs consistent praise in order to feel good about his performance as a new teacher.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
James, an Army reservist, must miss school one Monday a month because of his commitment, and he may need to miss up to a week of school just after spring break. Although he explained this commitment in the interview process, he fears that he will not find consistency with his classes with the amount of time he is out of the classroom.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Based on the set of scenarios, how comfortable do you feel about your action plans? Using a scale of one to five, indicate how confident and comfortable you are about your plans.
Uncertain |
|
Good |
|
Confident |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Scenarios: For each situation, place yourself in the role of the mentor assigned to the new teacher described.
Linda is a first teacher who had taken time off from the accounting world to raise her children. Rather than return to accounting she pursued a career in education. She taught sixth grade and followed scripted lesson plans and the book. She is a very static teacher whom did build relationships well with students. Parents had made numerous phone calls regarding the amount of homework assigned. During the school’s hour period Open House she presented a five-minute presentation during an hour a narrow view of the sixth grade curriculum and limited student work. of her new school based on her experiences from her previous district.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Miguel, a Math teacher, must use crutches to walk because of a genetic disease that affected his spine in childhood. This has never impeded him in his teaching assignment, but the building he works at does not have an elevator. His classroom and office is on the second level of the building with the rest of the Math department, and although he can use the stairs, it creates an unnecessary burden for him. He requested a classroom and an office on the first floor, but he has not yet been accommodated.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
At an end-of-the-year wrap-up session run by an outside consultant, all of the mentors and new teachers in your school are meeting. Sitting on one side of the room and discussing their roles is a group of mentors while the new teachers are involved in an evaluation discussion on the other side. One of the new teachers informs the discussion leader that her first year of teaching went so smoothly that she needed to create imaginary classroom problems in order to make her mentor feel good about helping her with her new teaching position. At the end of the workshop session, the discussion leader relates this troubling story to all of the mentors.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
As a conservative Jewish man, Ben will miss days of school in order to attend synagogue and family functions. He is worried that he will be ostracized because he is taking many days off as a new teacher, and perhaps because of his devout religious beliefs.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Based on the set of scenarios, how comfortable do you feel about your action plans? Using a scale of one to five, indicate how confident and comfortable you are about your plans.
Uncertain |
|
Good |
|
Confident |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Scenarios: For each situation, place yourself in the role of the mentor assigned to the new teacher described.
Betty is a high achieving perfectionist is a teacher’s aid Mr. James’s fourth grade classroom. Being an ambitious overachiever, she began taking courses toward her teacher certification. Mr. James was promoted to building principal and then hired Betty as his fourth-grade teacher. The principal regularly features creative and enriching activities in Betty’s classroom in his periodic staff newsletters while neglecting all other staff members.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Rajit has been experiencing some difficulty in his department because a teacher has taken to teasing him about his accent. Although he and this teacher started out as collaborative and friendly colleagues, Rajit feels that the teasing crosses the line, and other department members, though they don’t tease, laugh at the colleague’s jokes. He has approached the colleague, but has not had success resolving the problem.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Loretta is 45 years old. She and her partner have been married for 15 years. She wants to display pictures of their life together on her desk, but she does not know how tolerant her co-workers will be. She has been open with many of them that she is in a committed relationship with another woman, but she is still unsure how this will affect the office environment.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Vernon teaches math to sixth and seventh graders. He shows potential to be an excellent educator; he is meticulously organized, enthusiastic, and in his own right, he is a superb mathematician. It is clear, however, to one of his colleagues, that he may have a learning disability associated with his writing. The language arts teacher on his team noticed that homework sheets constructed by Vernon have multiple misspellings and grammatical mistakes that should have easily been noticed and corrected. Upon bringing this up with Vernon, he dismisses them because his area of teaching is math and not language arts.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Based on the set of scenarios, how comfortable do you feel about your action plans? Using a scale of one to five, indicate how confident and comfortable you are about your plans.
Uncertain |
|
Good |
|
Confident |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Scenarios: For each situation, place yourself in the role of the mentor assigned to the new teacher described.
Dante, a fifth grade teacher, is one of the most gifted new teachers you have ever worked with. He is a true professional in every sense of the word. His teaching methods are strong, his students genuinely like him, and he is a fantastic youth basketball coach. One issue that continues to be brought up by colleagues is about Dante’s personal hygiene and style of dress. His hair is often uncombed, and he doesn’t shave regularly. His clothes are mismatched, wrinkled, and often have stains or holes.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Victoria’s previous experience as an educator has been in a juvenile detention center. Although she has learned excellent classroom management skills, some of her methods are extremely stringent. She is clearly a gifted a teacher, but her students do not often require strict interventions. Victoria’s students have begun to complain to other teachers that they are being treated unfairly; colleagues have begun to describe her techniques as old-fashioned and bordering on cruelty.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
George is a first year chemistry high school teacher. George graduated from his university with the state chemical engineering award. He has developed strong relationships with students and he has proven himself successful with parents. Just before the winter holiday break, he was cited for a messy chemical storage room and obtained quotes from a chemical removal company. The principal felt George had overstepped his bounds by going over his head. What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Lydia has Crohn’s disease and sometimes suffers from intense stomach cramps. Her symptoms can be unexpected and so severe that she must leave class without warning. She is worried about classroom management and the possible embarrassment she would face from students and other teachers if she has to leave the room without notice.
What is the key issue in this scenario?
What specific strategies will you use in order to bring resolution to the dilemma?
Based on the set of scenarios, how comfortable do you feel about your action plans? Using a scale of one to five, indicate how confident and comfortable you are about your plans.
Uncertain |
|
Good |
|
Confident |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
