News
Teachers make connections for upcoming school year at New Teacher Orientation
August 2007
On
August 21-22, new teachers at the Mohonasen School District were
busy preparing for the 2007-08 school year with help from
administrators, teacher mentors and other district staff at New
Teacher Orientation.
“The goal of New Teacher Orientation is to get new teachers off to a
good start,” said Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum
and Instruction Dr. Michael Johnson. “We want to give them a
framework of what the district is all about and to connect them to
people who will help them to be successful.”
The informational orientation included everything from
administrative and teacher introductions and learning about the
Mohonasen vision, to talking about ethics, professional standards
and preventative behavioral strategies.
A main component to orientation is the implementation of the
Mentoring Process, which Mohonasen started in 1999 and was
state-mandated in 2004.
“The mentoring program started in the late 90’s when a lot of the
‘baby boomer’ teachers started to retire,” said Academic
Administrator and Bradt Assistant Principal Arlene DeSiena. “Our
goal is to keep student achievement high and you can only do that
with effective teachers.”
Every new teacher is assigned a mentor teacher during the
orientation. The mentors are tenured teachers, meaning they have
completed three years of successful teaching, and exhibit qualities
that make them good role models. Mentors are active in the Mohonasen
community, display knowledge in a variety of subject areas, are well
organized and efficient and consistently have a positive attitude.
Throughout the two-day orientation, mentors and mentees go over “the
basics” like finding teacher mailboxes, using the e-mail system,
learning how to take attendance, and learning about the district
observation process. Once school starts, the groups get together
monthly to discuss upcoming responsibilities, such as how to input
grades, and they also talk about problems in confidence the new
teacher may be having.
“It is so important to rely on and trust the mentor program,” said
fourth-grade teacher Cheryl Rasmussen who went through the mentoring
program last year. “Sometimes it is hard to remember when you’re a
new teacher that it’s okay not to know everything. I would utilize
my mentor as much as possible. It can only make you a better
teacher.”
“We talk about the importance of teachers forming connections with
our students all the time, but it is so important to help form those
same connections with adults, too,” added DeSiena. “That is why the
mentoring program is so beneficial.”
