Post for Julie Hagan

TSS Blog Entries
Julie Hagan

Roles and Responsibilities of Mentoring
In thinking of how I would go about mentoring a new teacher, I think the most important aspect to being a mentor is simply being available and listening to the needs of the mentee. My first year of teaching was difficult; I was assigned a mentor who never contacted me…at all. I was teaching 9th and 10th grade English and she taught on the other side of the school. We didn’t have the same planning periods and therefore, never even saw each other during the day. I struggled that year to find my way both in the curriculum and planning, as well as in the day to day procedures and policies. I remember thinking to myself that I would make sure to befriend a new teacher the next year and help them in the ways that I wasn’t helped. I have tried this year to be available to my mentee as much as possible, in the hope that I would help make her first year a great one.

Marcia Tate
Marcia Tate was amazing. Her zeal and excitement for teaching really re-energized me to go back into the classroom for the remainder of the school year. I found myself wishing I had heard her sooner! I really connected to her strategies for teaching vocabulary. I went back to my Language Arts class and used the strategy of completing the synonyms for each vocabulary term and the kids really responded to it. They even wanted to come up with some clues on their own for future vocabulary lists. I also used the jigsaw method with my Georgia Studies class. They worked in groups to prepare material and then split up to teach the concept to the other groups. I enjoy doing group work in my classes and keeping the kids moving so they don’t get bored, and this really seemed to engage them in the process. I think that Marcia is the type of teacher I wish I’d had!

Differentiated Instruction
I will take two things away from the workshop on Differentiated Instruction: the curriculum map and the learning styles test. I have tried to map my curriculum in the past, but always found myself bogged down with too much information. Jeanni Rottle’s maps were so easy to follow that I went up during the breaks and copied as much of the format as I could! I can’t wait to find out what I’m teaching next year and start making my maps. I also plan to use the learning styles test at the beginning of next year with my classes. I think they will find it fascinating to see how they learn best, and it will be a great asset to me as I plan my units! I look forward to seeing how it helps both me and my students.