Episode Notes:

-Served in a wealth of roles within education from teaching, coaching, to administration.

-Contract work for curriculum companie and Senior Consultant for Learning Forward

-Mentoring Program through Learning Forward- a learning cycle with three parts. 1. Diagnose 2. Coaching Support 3. Monitoring Progress and Reflect

-The mentors only goal is to help the mentee grow professionally. You have to communicate effectively through listening, paraphrasing, questioning, and giving quality feedback.

-Work life balance and time management are two big factors that can be barriers for new teachers, as well as big behaviors.

-We can support and retain teachers through the use of a specifically assigned mentor. Also having a good, collaborative team can be a huge difference in morale and make you not feel alone in this difficult job.

-Monthly mentor/mentee check in meetings are also powerful in supporting our newest educators.

-This job does not get easier, you just get better - because you have more tools and resources in your toolbox.

-Establish strong and trusting relationships. Develop partnership agreements to foster that strong relationship- sets the purpose of the relationship.

-We assign mentors as soon as is possible. We want to be proactive in building that relationship and that they are part of a team and a culture.

-Mentor check ins - agenda - and tailor to strategic points in the year to ensure we are checking in and providing support. Your success is our success!

-Observation and feedback are essential to growing as an educator. Utilize SMART goals between mentor and mentee. Make it timely and attainable, so the mentee can feel that success in a timely manner.

-Coaching is a way to scale your impact, a way to impact more students through educators. Every educator needs a coach.

-If you could fix one thing about this situation, what would it be? If you could wave a magic wand and it would fix the hardest parts of this situation, what would it be? In a perfect world, what would this look like?

Connect with Leslie:

-X: @ldhirsh

-Learning Forward Consulting Services

-Mentoring New Teachers: A Learning Cycle Approach go to LearningForward.org —> Bookstore