Mentoring is going great. I spent a bit of time at lunch with my mentee recently and we discussed a couple options:
She is concerned with how parents may treat her in this transition to a more affluent area school. We discussed options of creating a website, keeping her parents up-to-date via email and making sure there is a clear line of communication despite her nervousness. It is important that the lines are open. We also talked about what we think (we aren't sure) of the grading program at her new school site. Some options are now moving toward all grades being available online and parents have access to them whenever they would like. This possibility could clear up some concerns that she is having. A school just about a mile away from her school uses this system!
Additionally, she discussed her concern with teaching styles within her department. Some are very traditional and she comes from a school that is in a lower-income area where students have a hard time "getting into" math. She has lots of bells and whistles and is very animated. Recently she went in to observe and noticed that the teachers at her new school are not as colorful. Her concern is less about their styles and more about how she can stress the importance of math being interesting, important, and fun at the same time.
We talked about her recent math family night at her school and how successful that was.
As for me, we discussed my options with the upcoming school year, position cuts in teaching, and the prospect of me being a substitute. We also discussed the option of me having a position but the adjustments that would need to be made adding 2.5 students to the already daunting class sizes.
I look forward to more mentoring time soon!
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