Teacher Mentoring

Teacher Mentoring

Looking back, I can hardly believe I’m still a teacher. When I first became a teacher, it was sink or swim. It was back in a time when you were lucky if an experienced teacher took pity and gave a few pointers, “You need to establish yourself Aaron. You need to let them know who’s boss first and then later, much later you can show them your considerate, compassionate side.” At the time, there was little available aid from experienced educators that was anything more than trite comments meant to control a classroom. Of course those who gave such comments had good intentions, I know now that many of the suggestions were not very helpful in the long run.

My first couple years left me too tired and broke to do anything during those coveted summer months other than get another job. I was newly married with a brand new baby girl. I had little time, less money and even less energy. I had earned my teaching certification because, as many new teachers will tell you, I wanted to make a positive difference. It quickly turned from a charitable endeavor to one of a self-absorbed, manic-depressive nature. I would work hard all day until I felt as if I were half asleep in my classrooms only to find myself unable to fall asleep in the evenings. Anxiety plagued my mind. My heart would pound, my eyes would water, a sour, moldy taste leaked from the back of my tongue. I thought I was a failure.

Some teachers would chuckle after seeing the dark pouches under my eyes. It hurt at first, as if I were not part of the gang until I went through this ritual. However, as I look back on these moments, I realize there was something much more detrimental occurring than I had known. This was a tradition that seemed to be deeply entrenched in the teacher’s psyche. There seemed to be little camaraderie between the experienced teachers and the new teachers. Our teacher education programs prepared us little for the real thing. It is one thing to be introduced to Piaget’s or Vygotsky’s theories and then an entirely other thing to implement teaching concepts into the classroom.

I may have had my teacher certification. I may have entered and successfully completed a teacher education program, but there was certainly something missing, because I was not a very good teacher. How can anyone be a good teacher, if all they can do is have enough energy to show up at work and grade papers? I didn’t know it then, but there was a crucial link missing in education.

I almost hate to admit it, considering I believe President Bush has drastically under-funded the education programs he has made mandatory; but, these new accountability reforms have brought many issues, like the problems I faced when first becoming a teacher, to the surface. Many states are now implementing teacher-mentoring programs to help retain quality teachers and maintain continuing improvements in student achievement.

A few years ago, it was suggested I should look into gaining my master’s degree. I was told teacher education programs are much different from when I first earned my teaching certifications. It was one of the best things I have ever done for my fellow teachers, my students and myself. I was given a fundamental understanding of the reasons for changing some teaching strategies I practiced in terms of simple cause and effect explanations. Now, I am an experienced teacher who has a quality education and is mentoring a new teacher in my school. I have real solutions to real problems and I know that my knowledge is appreciated. I see it in the eyes of my protégé and in the eyes of her engaged students.


Aaron Llama
(contributing editor for Teacher-World.com)