Mentoring Early Childhood Educators

Book excerpt: This book is a tour-de-force, deceptively simple and yet breathtaking in its scope. - Mary Eames Ucci, Educational Director, Wellesley College Child Study Center The first few months in the classroom are a combination of on-the-job training and rite of passage, a time when novice teachers need someone to show them the ropes and be there to answer the tough questions. But if you are a teacher's mentor or supervisor, your task isn't as simple as it seems. What is the best way for you and your teaching community to propel a new teacher into a joyful, engaging career in the classroom? In Mentoring Early Childhood Educators, Carol Hillman shares an innovative, collaborative supervisory model that gives preservice and novice teachers the opportunity to discover what real classrooms look and feel like while they develop the skills and thoughtfulness to work through both everyday issues and the more difficult problems of practice. From your first meeting with a new teacher to end-of-year goodbyes, Hillman's program supports quality teaching and offers proven strategies that show you: what to look for during classroom observations when to communicate suggestions, ideas, and strategies-and how to do so without criticizing how to handle difficulties between mentor and novice how to coordinate supervision to deepen and broaden the experience for the new teacher. In addition to carefully explaining her supervisory model, Hillman offers strategies for implementing it, sample observations and journal responses, and many useful forms for the cooperating teacher. Read Mentoring Early Childhood Educators - it will give you a rock-solid program for not only introducing new teachers into the profession, but also making the time a professional learning experience for you.