Mentoring Matters Blog

Education is rapidly changing across the country in an effort to be more inclusive. Schools are changing names and mascots, evaluating curriculum, analyzing bias in textbooks, and creating committees to address diversity and equity. In some areas these changes are met with support and others there is strong resentment and anger, even leading to legislation that dictates what and how curriculum is delivered. Teaching has always been political and the tides are shifting towards a more equitable future. It may be an uphill battle, but I do believe we will be successful in this endeavor. As we press on, librarians are uniquely poised to be powerful changemakers within their school communities as we strive for greater inclusion and diversity. Books build empathy. Reading about another person's struggles and challenges allows us to understand something we ourselves have never experienced. Books also allow us to feel seen and affirmed. We must build collections that represent every type o...

When I approach the topic of goal setting with my mentee I want to be both honest and hopeful. As I indicated in my blog post, goal setting can easily become yet another hoop that we as educators are asked to jump through. I can recall many times in my career where I’ve had to go through the motions and participate in the tedium of various professional obligations. Trainings that are disconnected from our day to day teaching and initiatives that comes and go are a frustrating but constant reality of education. Goal setting is another of these predictable tasks, but one that we can leverage to advance our library programs. I will be honest in stating that we can’t escape professional goal setting, but share my hope that our professional goals, when supported by quality standards, can benefit ourselves professionally, our students, and our programs.  I plan to advise my mentee to allow the AASL Standards to inform and drive their professional goals. This task feels overwhelming and d...

Many times in the world of public education we are asked to jump through hoops. Some of these hoops are necessary and helpful, others seem only to function as a task to keep us nimble and exhausted. Goal setting and subsequent observations can have a big impact on professional growth and student outcomes when made genuinely and with sufficient support from administration, but when professional goals are treated as another hoop to jump through or a box to check off then the outcome is often meaningless for all involved. I have been fortunate in my current library position to be in a school that values authentic goal setting and have a principal who takes the time to scaffold not only the goal setting process, but also the progression of that goal throughout the year.  How do you identify possible goals to improve your school library, teaching and learning, or your personal growth as a librarian? When I set out to begin a new professional goal I often look around the library to see w...

 For this assignment I used a 20 minute teaching video from a third grade literacy class and took shorthand notes as I watched.  Domain 1: Planning & Preparation The teacher appears to be proficient under component 1a: Demonstrating Knowledge of Content and Pedagogy. She clearly stated her teaching point (making inferences) and asked students to think then turn and talk about what it means to make inferences. She then showed the class a prepared anchor chart with the teaching point  and a definition and examples. She continued to reference this anchor chart throughout the lesson. The lesson involved a read aloud of  Let the Children March, which was an engaging, grade appropriate book that connected to learning that was already taking place int he classroom during their social studies time. Students were able to activate prior knowledge and  learn across content areas.   Domain 2: The Classroom Environment The teacher is proficient in bot...

 The listening survey highlighted areas that I need to work on to be sure that I am an effective listener and mentor. In order to keep myself accountable to these goals I've made myself a simple tool to self assess myself in meetings with my mentee. I'm focusing on just one goal for now, staying present and not becoming solution focused. I know I am most likely to follow through with a tool that is simple and I've modeled this one after practices I've used both with colleagues and students. I've frequently been in staff meetings where we've been asked to listen to a partner and then share out what our partner said.  When you know that you are responsible for reporting what someone else said, you listen more closely so that you are able to communicate what they shared with you. I've included this strategy in my self assessment so that I can ensure that following my meeting with my mentee I am able to recall 3 points they shared with me. I've also included...

 I found the task of completing the listening survey to be really helpful. I've been in so many frustrating situations where I've felt dismissed or unheard because the person I was speaking with wasn't actively listening to me. Active, authentic listening can prevent so much confusion and conflict and establish a solid and respectful relationship.  What are some of your own listening tendencies? Going into the survey I would have said "I'm a pretty good listener", but as I went through the questions I realized that I can certainly improve. I was also reminded of strategies that I know are best practice but that I need to actively put in place (I'm looking at you, 'mind wandering to other pressing tasks.') I think I've learned to set distractions aside when communicating, or at least setting clear expectations, such as saying "let me finish this email, then we can talk" or "do you mind if I peek at my phone, I can hear it buzzing ...