What does the trainee do of the lesson? Are they proactive? For example, do in advance they want to set the tables up differently? This point is often the one that hasn’t been considered by the trainees. Don’t be a mimic, (at least not yet!). It’s important that a trainee observes good practise but it is equally important that they put their own personality into their lessons. Sometimes you need to help remove the fear of failure. Once a trainee has started to establish themselves, this is the perfect environment in to take a risk. They are supported by the network of people involved with their training. Sometimes a gamble will fall flat but at least give it a go. It is also stressing the power of demonstrations to trainees. Encourage them to go and see other teachers. Make suggestions of colleagues worth observing because they can display the area a trainee has raised. Occasionally you might need to be a go between or mediator. In the rare event this happens being professional and sensitive is the easiest way forward. In the early days of mentoring don’t forget to ask the ITEC for help if you are worried. What is evidence? How do you find it? In the earlier sessions these questions may form the spine of your discussion as trainees can find it difficult to answer them. A useful idea to help make the SCs constructive is to finish each one with a week the theme will “next be...” approach. The trainee could then look to gather evidence for this theme or allow it to form the basis of a couple of agendas to be presented to you for the next conference. The table below lists suggestions of possible themes: Differentiation Questioning for progress Assessment Showing / proving progress Assessment for Learning Engaged learning Behaviour for Learning Putting pupils into groups Evaluating classes at the start of a Welcoming a class into the room placement Starting a lesson / using hooks Identifying abilities within a Learning objectives Encouraging progress The trainees will have a list of suggested agenda foci in the handbook.
What does the trainee do in advance of the lesson? Are they proactive? For example, do they want to set the tables up differently? This point is often the one that hasn’t been considered by the trainees. Don’t be a mimic, (at least not yet!). It’s important that a trainee observes good practise but it is equally important that they put their own personality into their lessons. Sometimes you need to help remove the fear of failure. Once a trainee has started to establish themselves, this is the perfect environment in to take a risk. They are supported by the network of people involved with their training. Sometimes a gamble will fall flat but at least give it a go. It is also stressing the power of demonstrations to trainees. Encourage them to go and see other teachers. Make suggestions of colleagues worth observing because they can display the area a trainee has raised. Occasionally you might need to be a go between or mediator. In the rare event this happens being professional and sensitive is the easiest way forward. In the early days of mentoring don’t forget to ask the ITEC for help if you are worried. What is evidence? How do you find it? In the earlier sessions these questions may form the spine of your discussion as trainees can find it difficult to answer them. A useful idea to help make the SCs constructive is to finish each one with a “next week the theme will be...” approach. The trainee could then look to gather evidence for this theme or allow it to form the basis of a couple of agendas to be presented to you for the next conference. The table below lists suggestions of possible themes: Differentiation Questioning for progress Assessment Showing / proving progress Assessment for Learning Engaged learning Behaviour for Learning Putting pupils into groups Welcoming a class into the room Evaluating classes at the start of a placement Starting a lesson / using hooks Identifying abilities within a Learning objectives Encouraging progress The trainees will have a list of suggested agenda foci in the handbook.
Mentor_Supervisory_Conference_Handbook_FINAL.docx