Marcia Mentors is here to provide support to teachers, coaches, and mentors. In this week's note from Marcia Mentors, I want to talk about how everyone is TIRED! It is so hard these days to get the teachers we are supporting to engage. Here are three tips to help coaches and mentors engage teachers in learning and the school culture.
#1 Tip-Build Relationships with teachers, staff, students, and support staff. Send positive emails, and texts, or stand outside your room and say "hello". Send a postcard in the mail or drop it in their teacher mailbox. It feels good! Let colleagues know you care and have empathy about being tired. Host a small group of teachers in your room for lunch. Bring your own lunch and let's catch up on our what else is going on in our lives, besides teaching. Making people feel valued, noticed, and appreciated builds a positive culture of wanting to learn and collaborate.
#2 Tip-Offer 15-minute Prep Period Professional Development---Get people in the door and then the magic happens. Offer coffee, water, and snacks to encourage teachers to leave their rooms, collaborate and learn with their colleagues. Focus on ONE strategy or new technology tool that teachers can use immediately that doesn't require hours of planning. One of my favorite strategies is THIN SLIDES, an Eduprotocol by @jcorippo. Send out one slide deck with directions or a prompt and have all students add one slide. Each slide will have an image, a word, and their name, then the student will have 8 seconds to explain. . Here's a sample. I use THIN SLIDES almost daily, so I can hear from all students. Low prep, great engagement for all subject areas.
#3 Tip-Start A Walking Club--Teachers are tired and so are coaches and mentors. No one wants one more thing to do. "Walk-n-Chat" is a strategy I have used many times when mentoring teachers. Invite a teacher on their prep period or whenever convenient. Walk around the school. Walk to Starbucks. Walk around the track. The conversations are rich and impactful. This article lists six benefits of a 15 minute walk.
