TM
TM
Valdosta State University
College of Education
Mentor Teacher
Information, Schedule, and Forms
Research clearly indicates that the mentor teacher has the most influence on the student teacher during the student teaching experience. Your role is demanding, but also rewarding, as you guide the student teacher through the transition from student to teacher. Much of what the student teachers will learn during this experience will be modeled after you, but it is important that you encourage them to know and try other alternatives.
The mentor teacher packet includes the following -- orientation for the student teacher, planning/teaching expectations, evaluating the student teacher, closing activities, and the honorarium payment for serving as a mentor teacher. Attached to this information are the evaluation forms to be used for the student teacher and VSU supervisor and instructions on how they should be submitted. If you have any questions, please call Dr. Earl Swank 333-5925.
Orientation for the Student Teacher
The orientation is important to help the student teacher know the procedures you use with students, your teaching schedule, school policies for teachers and students, and much more. The orientation activities will take place over the first few days of the student teaching experience and should include:
Planning and Teaching
You should be encouraging the student teacher to assist you as much as possible in classroom procedures and activities which will help him/her be prepared to assume some teaching responsibility. How soon the student teacher assumes teaching responsibility for a class is dependent on his/her performance during this time of assisting you. Has the student teacher become familiar enough with the materials, curriculum objectives, and students to take responsibility for panning and teaching? How soon this takes place and which class or classes should be a collaborative decision between you and the student teacher.
Delegate Instructional Responsibilities -- This transition should be planned in such a way that student teachers feel confident in assuming an increasing amount of responsibility. Pupils should always be given first consideration to ensure that any changes do not adversely affect them. Other factors to consider during this transition of teaching responsibilities are:
Formal Feedback for the Student Teacher
You will be providing feedback to the student teacher constantly as you work together and as the student teacher begins to assist you with various classroom activities. Most of the feedback you provide to the student teacher will be informal, but you are expected to complete three formal evaluations and share that data with the student teacher and VSU supervisor. These evaluations are collected by VSU to provide information about the overall performance of our student teachers.
First Evaluation -- This should occur soon after the student teacher has started accepting any teaching responsibilities. The first evaluation establishes a benchmark and allows you and the student teacher to measure the improvement as the student teaching experience progresses. The scoring on this evaluation may be low since the student teacher is just beginning. Share your initial evaluation results with the student teacher and VSU supervisor.
Midpoint Evaluation -- A second formal evaluation should be completed around the midterm point. The results of this evaluation can be compared to the initial one to determine growth and to identify areas for additional growth. Again, the emphasis is on promoting growth, not determining a grade. Discuss your evaluation results with the student teacher and VSU supervisor. Solicit feedback from the VSU supervisor regarding his/her evaluations of the student teacher.
Final Evaluation -- The last evaluation should be done near the end of the semester as the student teacher completes his/her teaching responsibilities. It should provide the focus for a discussion with the student teacher and VSU supervisor regarding the overall student teaching experience and the assignment of a final grade. This data is important in helping VSU identify overall program strengths and weaknesses so please make sure that your student teacher returns this evaluation form.
Evaluating the VSU Supervisor and Mentor Teacher
VSU requests that each student teacher provide feedback regarding the support and contributions received from his/her mentor teacher and the VSU supervisor. The VSU supervisor has a strong support role for both the student teacher and the mentor teacher and a form has been included in this handbook to collect information about the support provided you as the mentor teacher.
Note: Please complete the mentor teacher evaluation of the VSU supervisor and enclose it with the student teacher evaluation form in a school envelope with your signature on the sealed flap. Give the sealed envelope to the student teacher to bring to the final student teaching seminar where it will be collected and compiled with others. This information will guide our efforts to improve our support to you and the student teacher in this important experience.
Student Teaching Honorarium
An honorarium is provided to each mentor teacher for his/her participation in this important activity. The honorarium is $250 if the teacher has the Teacher Support Specialist (TSS) endorsement and $50 without the endorsement. In neither case does the amount indicate the contribution and work that the mentor teacher puts into the student teaching experience. The money for these honorariums is sent to the board of education where it is distributed to individual teachers in their regular monthly checks. If you do not receive your honorarium in the month after the student teaching experience is completed, please notify Dr. Earl Swank at 912-333-5925.
Questions
If you have questions regarding this information or during the student teaching experience then please call Dr. Earl Swank at 912-333-5925 or email to
eswank@valdosta.edu
.
Attachments:
Student Teacher Evaluation Instructions and Form
VSU Supervisor Evaluation Form
Mentor Teacher Checklist
1999 Spring Semester Student Teaching Schedule
| Preplanning - Opening School Experience Opening School Experience Debriefing Spring Semester Orientation First Day of Student Teaching First Evaluation of Student Teacher Midterm Evaluation of Student Teacher Final Evaluation of Student Teacher Spring Holidays Last day in schools End of Semester Seminar Graduation *Depends on Individual student teacher's teaching schedule |
TBA September 4 at 1:00 January 11, 1999 at 9:00 January 12 *January 2- - February 10 *March 1 - March 26 *April 5 - April 23 Follow Local School Schedule April 30 May 3 May 11 |
Mentor Teacher Checklist
As the mentor teacher, I:
____ Provided orientation activities to prepare student teacher -- school policies, materials, classroom procedures, established work place for student, etc..
____ Discussed with student teacher -- lesson planning, format, and deadlines for plans to be submitted.
____ Began involving student teacher with the students and in assisting me.
____ Met with VSU supervisor for orientation session.
____ Discussed beginning of teaching responsibility for student teacher -- which class and when.
____ Asked the student teacher to do a self-evaluation soon after he/she began teaching and to discuss the results with me.
____ Did the initial evaluation and discussed it with the student teacher. Continued to encourage the student teacher to reflect on his/her performance.
____ Maintained regularly scheduled interactions with student teacher about planning, teaching, discipline, ....
____ Scheduled solo teaching schedule (minimum of three weeks) and reviewed expectations for content, classroom management skills, etc., that should take place during this time.
____ Continued to encourage student teacher to reflect on his/her performance.
____ Did mid-term evaluation and discussed with student teacher.
____ Discussed student teacher's progress with VSU supervisor and solicited his/her feedback.
____ Discussed with the student teacher his/her activities after the solo teaching period - this could include shared teaching, team teaching, student teacher observing other teachers such as special education or at other grade levels.
____ Completed final evaluation and discussed with student teacher. Met with VSU Supervisor to discuss overall performance of student teacher.
____ Enclosed student teacher evaluation form and VSU supervisor evaluation in a sealed envelope with my signature and gave to student teacher to submit at end of term meeting.
Student Teacher Evaluation - Mentor Teacher
Directions for Ratings: Descriptors for each conceptual framework principle are used to evaluate how well the student teacher demonstrated that principle. A four point rating scale, as listed below, is used to indicate the level of performance on each of the descriptors.
__ Blank rating indicates it was not applicable
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Applications or relevance of content was established.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Pacing and sequencing of lesson was appropriate.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Lesson closure was provided.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Initial lesson focus stimulated student interest.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Instructional time was optimized - no delays or wasted time.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Instruction was varied to meet different learning styles.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ A positive, appropriate learning environment was provided for all students.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Needs of individual student exceptionalities were addressed.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Various instructional roles were used by the teacher.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Teacher modeled and solicited higher-order thinking skills.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Activities involved all learners.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Hands-on or other high involvement activities were provided.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Student participation was monitored and reinforced.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Classroom rules/procedures were clear and consistently reinforced.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Inappropriate behavior was successfully remediated.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Multimedia, aids, or hands-on materials were used.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Correct oral and written expressions were used.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Student collaborations or interactions were encouraged.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Objectives were clear and appropriate to learners.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Activities matched objectives and learners.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Formal and informal assessment techniques were included and appropriate.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Practice with feedback was provided.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Questions were varied and appropriate to the learners and objectives.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Inadequate performances w ere identified and addressed.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Instruction was modified based on student performances.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Sought and accepted constructive criticism.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Reflected on teaching effectiveness regularly.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Interacted with colleagues and parents to promote learning and well-being
of students.
___ ___ ___ ___ ___ Solicited the involvement of businesses or community agencies to promote
the learning or well-being of students.
Mentor Teacher Evaluation of the VSU Supervisor
VSU Supervisor: ______________________________
Semester/Year: ______________________
Please provide feedback regarding the support and supervision provided by the VSU supervisor during this student teaching experience. Your information will help VSU to improve the student teaching experience.
This form is to be completed and enclosed with the student teacher's evaluation form in a school envelope with your signature on the sealed envelope flap. The student teacher will be responsible for submitting the envelope at the end of semester meeting.
The VSU supervisor provided an orientation session and discussed:
Solo teaching schedule/expectations Yes No
Scheduled or unannounced visits Yes No
A typical visit. Yes No
During the student teaching experience the VSU supervisor:
Discussed student teaching activities following the solo teaching Yes No
Discussed what to do if lesson plans are late or poor quality Yes No
Solicited questions/concerns from me Yes No
Solicited questions/concerns from student teacher Yes No
Worked collaboratively to establish clear expectations regarding
lesson plans and due dates. Yes No
Interacted with me on each visit regarding student teacher's
progress. Always Usually Sometimes Seldom
Solicited my feedback regarding the student teacher's
Performance. Always Usually Sometimes Seldom
Discussed the final grade (S or U) with me. Yes No
Encouraged the student teacher to reflect on his/her
performance. Always Usually Sometimes Seldom
Observed student teacher _____ times, observations averaged _____ minutes.
Overall my rating of this supervisor on a 1 to 10 point scale (10 is highest) is _____.
Suggestions for improving the VSU supervisor's role in this experience:
| Submitted by: | Chief Compiler: | Date: |
| Valdosta State University 1500 N. Patterson St. Valdosta, GA 31698-0102 |
Susan R. Worth sworth@valdosta.edu Phone: 912-333-5932 Fax: 912-333-7167 |
February 1, 1999 |
Section I Checklist | Form A: Faculty | Section II Checklist | Section III Checklist
Appendix:
Course Syllabi | Faculty Vitae | Practicum Handbook | Student Teaching
Handbook | Guidelines for Mentors
Program/Advising Forms | Undergraduate
Catalog | Graduate Catalog | Student
Enrollment