Chapter 6: Empowering Teachers Through Mentoring

It was not until late in my college career that I discovered that I wanted to teach students with disabilities. During my third semester of my Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) in Special Education, the difficulty of the coursework and projects increased exponentially. The time in our practicum increased from two full days to five half days each week. I would not have survived without the other members of my cohort and my Professional Practice Partner (PPP)/mentor. What was more intimidating was the grade level and content area: middle school math and science! I was terrified, but my mentor welcomed me, introduced me to other school staff. She encouraged me and nurtured my development by allowing me to work directly with the students to build relationships prior to teaching lessons in her classroom. By asking thoughtful questions of me after observing her teach, my mentor increased my ability to reflect. This reflective process ensured that I understood why she did what she did, and how and why she altered plans mid-lesson. We discussed her lessons at the end of each day; these were valuable times in which she continued to probe, forcing me to process and develop my own understandings. When I noticed a behavior problem during lessons, I requested her assistance, but she assured me I could handle the situation myself. She was able to turn my lack of confidence into the development of my own behavior management system. My mentor later inquired about the linked assignments and pressed me to develop time-management structures to stay on track, offering her time and resources to ensure my success. Despite my mentor’s persistence, I began to decline assistance because I was overwhelmed, and I did not know where to start. I was able to pull together lessons at the last minute, but they were not coherent and more often than not, did not go well. My mentor often had to pick up the pieces of a lesson gone awry to ensure our students did not suffer from my lack of organization and preparation. By the end of the practicum, it was clear and my mentor’s/PPP’s evaluations reflected that I exhibited major weaknesses in the areas of standards-based lesson planning, punctuality, dependability, organization and time management skills. As a result, and despite her hard work and our growing positive bond, my PPP was obligated to fail me.