Online Mentoring and Support Group
Teacher Mentoring Resources and Online Help for the New Teacher
Mar 25, 2007
New Teachers just stepping in the classroom manager’s shoes often feel on shaky ground. A teacher mentor can make all the difference. He or she can look at a lesson plan objectively, give feedback for change and further reflection, and observe lessons and problematic students or classes and make valuable teaching suggestions.
Isolation is the predominant feeling most new and inexperienced teachers feel. Many online mentoring programs take the form of forums, articles, bulletin and message boards as well as live web chats, which are designed to ease the transition between teacher training college and a teacher entering a classroom for the first time.
Since many of the experiences a new teacher embarks are new, the ideal setting would be to share and discuss information interactively. The online option can be also quite personal even if it is not face to face. Despite the fact that some new teachers have yet to adapt to this style of coaching, many online teacher mentors are also trained in the spirit of life coaching strategies as well thus making the interaction perhaps more personal than a new teacher would initially tend to think.
There are very few or no teacher mentoring programs in many schools as many school districts have yet to understand the importance of this type of resource and what it can do in terms of nurturing a new teacher. However, there are ways to circumvent the obstacles of no having a sufficient amount of help and support during those early and very crucial years of managing a classroom.
An Online Teacher and Mentoring Resource
Join an online community of teachers by registering for an online mentoring program. Some have a live web option while most online teacher mentors communicate via email or bulletin board.
- This New York City online teacher community resource is one of the largest teacher networks on the web offering a variety of web support provided by season and veteran teachers. There are also online teaching degree programs as well.
Mentoring does not always have to be active inter-personally. There are loads for learning and growth by self-mentoring as well but for the first year or pre-service teacher, mentoring in the regular sense of the word, whether it be online or offline, is probably the best way to go.
