mentors

I have several amazing mentors who helped me successfully complete my first year of teaching.

(Side note-- Some of these adults I don't call by their first names in real life, but I'm choosing to in this post so my blog won't pop up when their names are Googled. Yes, it would happen. So, don't think I'm being disrespectful to my 2nd mama, my supervising teacher, or my professor. It's just for privacy purposes.) :)

1. Kym-- She's my principal-chosen mentor, and I know for a fact God was totally in on that decision. Kym & I are complete opposites at times, but we work perfectly together. She tries my ideas with me. I observed her lessons the first week of school and was able to see a good Kindergarten class and try her strategies on my students. Kym is so patient with me. I would call her mad, upset, crying, happy, excited, or scared, and she would listen and fill me with good advice & encouragement. During the school year, we talked multiple times each day.

I think the purpose of principal-chosen mentors is to keep new teachers from feeling isolated & alone. I never, ever felt that way this year. Whenever something would happen, like... Open House night, 12 hours before the students arrived on the first day of school, when I was about to have a nervous break down over what on earth I was going to do with all of those school supplies, she was in my room boxing things up and shelving crayons and scissors. In no time at all, she was finished & making plans for us to eat at El Torro so I could get my mind off of being nervous about the next day. She was like this all year! If I had a bad day, she would not let me leave without talking to her about it first. So many times, I would just come in & sit for an hour after school and listen to her wisdom, and you can't leave her classroom without feeling better. Seriously, she can make you laugh and laugh until your sides hurt. She knows me better than I know myself, I think. She gives me advice beyond just teaching... advice on dealing with the family, relationships, and learning to prioritize my life. She encourages me to think outside of school, and I am prepared to put this into practice my second year of teaching. :) I don't think I would have survived my first year without Kym.

2. Rebecca-- She is another co-teacher of mine who teaches across the hall from Kym. She has amazing control over centers. Like, you haven't seen centers until you see Rebecca's class during centers. It's intense. She & I are known for being at the school late into the evenings together... mostly because we talk so much after school. She shared every single thing she owns with me this year. I was constantly coming in and snagging big books, word games, flash cards, cold Cokes, and Lakeshore games. I was able to be somewhat calm in the evenings after school because of Rebecca's funny stories and ability to listen to my rants so well. She is also my prayer warrior. I can tell her what's going on with my family, & she's talking to God before we're off the phone. I don't think I would have survived my first year without Rebecca.

3. Chryl-- She is my Amory mama. She wrote me a beautiful letter the night before school started last year telling me to give it to God. He would be in control of my first day of school. That letter is still hanging on my fridge, and I'll be rereading it in a few weeks when school starts back once again. She drives me to school when my car won't start, she has been known to clean my classroom for me when I have paperwork coming out of my ears, and she knows how to make me laugh at school and at choir practice on Wednesday nights when I'm absolutely exhausted. She knows when I'm weak and will "mama" me when she knows I'm not taking care of myself. I truly believe she held me accountable from sliding back into old habits that come when I get stressed, and for that, I am so grateful! I don't think I would have survived my first year without Chryl.

4. Paulette-- She was my fifth grade supervising teacher when I was student teaching. She laughs at my Kindergarten stories when we talk on the phone. She tells me her fifth grade stories in a way that almost makes me wish I were teaching upper grades again. (almost is the key word). She taught me everything I needed to know about classroom management & guided reading. She was the first teacher who let me teach whatever and whenever I wanted to under her guidance, and who has heard of a fifth grade teacher teaching Guided Reading? She did this ahead of the trend... I know this is the way TPSD is going now, but she was on top of it before it was required of 5th grade teachers!! She modeled good teaching, good planning, & good management of a wild group of ten year olds! They weren't wild in her classroom though. If I had not student taught under Paulette, I don't think I would have survived my first year as a teacher.

5. And finally.... the mentor who has been there for me since Fall 2008: Alice -- I'm getting teary just thinking about how I've grown in the time she's mentored me. She was my math strategies professor. I absolutely loved her class... she taught in a way that I had never seen modeled before. We (students) were in charge of our own learning, and she facilitated. I have used so many of the ideas from her class in my own classroom this year. It took me the first four months to get into the groove of school before I realized, "I'm not teaching math!!!" I was teaching some skills during Calendar Math, but I was missing a lot. Thank goodness, Alice and I talked it through & got it straightened out before the start of second semester. :) The January I started student teaching, we began e-mailing back and forth. She was willing to hear my stories about "teaching" and in turn, would e-mail me back advice & encouragement. Sometimes, she would send me lesson plan ideas, and she loaned me materials for some of my math lessons. We would get together to talk in person in the summers and during Christmas breaks, and she was the 2nd person I called when I was hired at EAES. Of course, I was hired a few days later for Kindergarten, and again, she was the 2nd person I called. (Mama came first.) :) I couldn't have asked for a better second person. She was as excited as I was about the jobs!

This year, I put our e-mails in a notebook, & that became my reflection notebook for my first year. Seriously, my stories from the year were intense.... everything from "my students don't know how to use a public restroom" to "HOW DO I GET IT ALL DONE????" to "I think I'm getting the hang of teaching.... " and the next day, "I was lying yesterday. I don't know what I'm doing!!!" I don't think I would have survived my first year without Alice.

Thank goodness for good role models and mentors. I'd love to be a happy combination of all of these women when "I grow up!" They are reflections of Christ in the way they live their lives, and you can hear Him in their stories & words of encouragement. At times this year, when I made teaching #1 & put God aside, I was encouraged by each of these mentors to make changes.... and I thank God for placing them in my life this year. He knew what I needed, and He provided.

"And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:19