Building an InductionwithMentoring Program

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Building an Induction-with-Mentoring Program

• What you need to know

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Welcome!

• This presentation has been put together to help
  you prepare for your role in creating, or
  strengthening, an induction-with-mentoring
  program in your school or district.
• We will frequently reference you to the NH IWM
  toolkit -- so hopefully you have your copy handy
  as we move along.

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So, who are you?

• Induction and mentoring teachers affects just
  about everyone who works in, or for, a school.
  What role do you play? And why are you
  interested in learning more about
  induction-with-mentoring (IWM) programs?

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Lets start with some definitions

• We think about IWM as a system or a program that
  goes beyond just mentoring new teachers. It
  affects
• Hiring and orientation of new teachers
• Systematic mentoring of new teachers
• An ongoing culture of continual professional
  development
• You will find a glossary and explanation of terms
  used in the Toolkit in Section IV - starting on
  page 45

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New teachers

• We also use the term new teachers broadly. It
  might mean
• Teachers who have just graduated from a teacher
  ed program
• Teachers who have just started teaching through
  an alternative certification route
• But it can also mean ..
• Veteran teachers transferring to a new grade or a
  new school
• Veteran teachers working with a new curriculum or
  new programs

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Everyone benefits

• The purpose of mentoring is to provide ongoing
  orientation to professional responsibilities and
  to provide coaching and support for increasing
  required professional skills.
• Everyone benefits from mentoring.
• Mentoring is NOT a sign of failure.
• Mentoring IS a systematic way of ensuring
  professional growth.
• Induction is a system that supports professional
  growth for everyone.

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Your hallway speech

• Take a few minutes to think about how you can get
  your colleagues as excited about working on IWM
  as you are. What do you want to tell people?
• Why is IWM important to you?
• What do you want to change?
• What do you want your colleague to do?

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• Create three points (no more!) that you want your
  listener to remember.
• Write out, and practice, your speech.
• Keep it to three minutes or less.
• Use it! In the hallways, parking lots, wherever
  you can find a willing ear.

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Creating a team

• You cant do this work alone! IWM is a
  complicated task that affects many people. One
  champion for the program is good, many are
  better.
• You are also going to need input from many
  different viewpoints. No one person can
  understand the whole system.

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Who are your champions?

• You want to build a broad base of support from
  many different areas --
• Teachers
• Administrators
• Central office
• Students
• Families

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Build a working group

• Build a group of champions who are willing to
  work together to get things started
• A core group will emerge
• Ask participants to commit to this group for one
  year
• Use your hallway speech to recruit new members

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Anticipate your barriers

• Recruiting your friends will be easy. But think
  about the people or systems that are going to be
  harder to persuade.
• Who will your most vocal critics or blockers be?
  Making the time to talk things through with them
  early on will help.
• Consider inviting the blockers to be part of
  your committee. You might be surprised at what
  they have to offer. Minimally, you will hear
  their concerns while they are small and can still
  be addressed.

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Getting started

• Getting started is the hardest part, and keeping
  things going is the second hardest part.
• You may find an outside facilitator very helpful.
  Someone from the outside who is paid to pay
  attention to IWM can help ensure that time is
  allocated and tasks are completed.

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Pause and reflect

• Are you committed to working on this project, and
  do you have enough people on-board to get
  started?
• Your first group meeting(s) should address this
  question openly.
• Get specific commitments for time and set a
  schedule of meetings for the year, as well as a
  place to meet.
• Plan on getting together at least once a month.
• Providing refreshments for meetings helps
  participants feel at home and valued.

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Getting Started

• Youve gathered all your champions together - now
  its time to get down to business! Your first
  group task is to create a vision of success.
• What do we hope an IWM program will accomplish
  for us? Why are we interested in doing this work?

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• Everyone wants to get started on building -- but
  first you need to know WHY you want to build
  something at all!
• You will find the ARE YOU READY section of the
  Toolkit (page 10) a helpful guide at this point.

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A vision and purpose for the program

• Without a vision or articulated purpose, the
  program will devolve into a series of buddy
  relationships that may be supportive for some new
  teachers but yield little other benefit.
• This is a CRITICAL step and it may take several
  meetings to arrive at consensus.

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Knowing your destination

• Are you a skilled facilitator who can help the
  working group craft a vision?
• Some excellent resources to help you prepare are

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Some resources on creating a vision

• Collaboration Handbook, by Michael Winer and
  Karen Ray (2000)
• A great resource to help facilitate groups and
  committees
• Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations by
  Allison Kaye (2003)
• Includes tools to help with the visioning process
• The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge (2006)
• A resource to help build a learning organization

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Are we ready?

• In the front section of the Toolkit, you will
  find detailed information on the steps you should
  take to begin your planning getting ready to
  get started.

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Questions to consider

• Why do we want to have a program?
• What results do we want?
• What evidence will show us we have realized our
  goal?
• What do we have in place already?
• Who (or what) is driving this discussion and
  decision?

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Resources

• Do we have the resources (time, money) we need in
  place? Or do we know where to get them?
• Do we have the support of the school board and
  the larger community? Or do we have a plan to
  get them?

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Get set to go

• Communicate and build support
• Decide who will be served, and for how long
• Start building your structure
• Develop an evaluation plan
• Think systemically!

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Before you pick up the hammer

• Pause and reflect once again -- you are almost
  ready to really dive into the nuts and bolts of
  implementing a quality program

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Do you have the essentials?

• A vision or purpose for the program
• Authority to establish a program
• A program champion
• Resources for the program
• Mentor training available
• A knowledge source

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And the recommended

• Things to have in place that will contribute to
  the ultimate success of your program

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Recommended requirements

• A learning focused culture
• A design team
• A strong district focus on PD
• Standards for effective teaching
• Strong models of good teaching
• Involved administrators
• Leadership
• A mindset for sustainability
• A mindset for ongoing evaluation

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You are ready

• To begin building a high quality program. The
  IWM toolkit has been designed to be your guiding
  partner over the life of this program.

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Assess your current program or services

• Your design team should review each element of a
  quality program and decide how you might rate
  your current level of services.

• Section I of the toolkit will walk you through
  each element

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Discuss the evidence

• Discuss the evidence identified for each
  component. This will help you determine where
  your current program is strong and weak.

• This important steps helps lay the groundwork for
  your strategic planning.
• Tools in Section II will help you see the big
  picture across all the elements.

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Develop a short and long term plan

• Think of your program as a multi-year activity
• Choose areas or elements to focus on - dont try
  and do everything at once

• Remember to build on areas of strength. These
  might give you a large return on a small
  investment and help generate good feelings about
  the more difficult areas to tackle

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Use the toolkit

• The IWM toolkit is meant to be used over the life
  of your program. It provides, or points you to,
  most of the materials you will need
• Come back and self-assess periodically.
  Self-assessment is an involved process, but it is
  the best way to keep you on a path of continual
  improvement.

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Reach out and network

• Learn from and with other schools and districts.
• The LESCs are a valuable resource for you in this
  area.
• The NH DOE is a valuable resource.