Power Mentoring w/Jen Part 3

The recent mentor meeting I had with Jen went well. We brought out another concern she was having that was making her anxious about her upcoming switch to the new high school.

I was sort of surprised by her concern this time, but understand how she might be feeling in this regard. Jen has worked in this lower-income area for 6 years now, the duration of her teaching career. In this time, she has built a great deal of relationships and fears that leaving with make her feel the "baggage" as she referred to it, of betrayal. She will feel guilty, essentially, for leaving behind what needs more attention and care for something that may come easier to her.

While she is not leaving to get away from the kids she works with, the administration is trying on her. She has gone through multiple administrators and superintendants that most teachers in their 6th year should and do not have to endure. The district is disorganized and seems to be fraying at the seams.

We discussed how she can still involve herself in collaboration with other teachers from the school and possibly still have a foot in the door for assistance, or relationships with students who really value her as a mentor. A bit of "pay it forward" mentoring, if you will.

I brought some thoughts to her about my insecurities with my job future. We talked about ways to market myself and how I may best show my assets to other districts if they time arises where this may occur. She is really supportive and gave me great interview tips that she's used in the past too.

Power Mentoring w/Jen Part Deux (really 3... but can't remember the 1st title)

Jen and I have been really busy and she's been out of town (oh life!) but she shot me an email and we've conversed about a few things going down in our lives. Here's the summary:

Another concern on the horizon is learning how to deal with a new kind of student. Many non-educators probably haven't experienced this dynamic... but when the demographics, area, languages change, so do the students. The needs and difficulties of students in the projects are far different than the tragedies seen in Beverly Hills. Jen is going from an urban school to a school with a mixture of both urban kids and yuppies. It's not to the extreme, but it's certainly a change. Now, parents will speak English (no parents did previously) and are involved. It may also be difficult for Jen to see how to meet these needs because they are so diverse.

I feel a connection to this because I have experienced working/volunteering at a variety of schools recently and seeing the dynamic change. The major connection I bring to the table when lending a helping hand and mentoring in this situation is knowing HOW to deal with the "other" demographic that Jen is not as familiar with. I understand much of what parents are looking for and I have coping strategies for parents who are ultra-needy. She may even run into parents who are doing the homework for the students and then in class the child is failing... it definitely happens.

The great news is that I will be moving in July directly across the street from the high school she is going to be teaching at. I can maintain our mentoring relationship until the framework has been set.

Other than that, she has been incredibly busy as have I. All is well!

Power Mentoring w/Jen

Jen and I have been in contact through emails and phone recently about some of the apprehensions she is having. We are planning to set up another lunch/dinner date soon to discuss some options and coping strategies to the following voiced concerns:

• Making new friends at a new high school -- being in a new environment is not always the same. Especially in a new school, dynamics can be incredibly different from school to school.

I am feeling this same thing right now at my current school. Having recently changed grade levels, my team is different than last year. In addition, it appears that the school I teach at is going to through one of those changing transitions where people are stuck in a rut, negative, over-worked, busy with young families and the unity that used to exist is void.

Another thing Jen mentioned that she is nervous about with the new transition is:

• Not beginning Young Life ministry right away. Young Life is a Christian-based organization that Jen has been a leader through (it's done through high school kids with teachers who act as leaders one night a week for "club") her entire teaching career thus far.

My fiance and Jen were both Young Life leaders for a couple years together and with this new school change, Jen will be ending her current school's YL leadership (and kids/fellow leaders/friends/support group) position. She likely hopes to be involved in YL in the future at her new school but must first get started, create connections with kids (that's how success in YL can exist) and find out how to start up club with the new kid base. Leaving behind a beginning is always difficult. In addition, myself and my fiance are fans of YL and how they work to bring kids to experience a faith. We will be looking into working as leaders as well with Jen when she is more established at her new school scene. We are hoping to live close to the high school which would make developing relationships with high school kids easy. :)

These are two main concerns Jen is facing right now and I obviously hold a bond with these two concerns. These are not the only two concerns, but we are taking the concerns in chunks as to work through them without a sense of overwhelmingness.

Dinner/lunch soon as our power mentoring relationship continues!

Mentoring Movie -- The Princess Diaries

Upon recommendation, I just watched The Princess Diaries for the first time. I was told it would be a great mentoring film to use as my example for Paul's class.

As I was watching, I was under the impression that although the Queen (Julie Andrews) would be an obvious mentor for Mia (Anne Hathaway), I believe her best friend Lilly (Heather Matarazzo) and the security guard and the Queen's love interest Joe (Hector Elizando) make better mentors. I do believe that the Queen had some mentoring moments... but Mia and Joe stand out more vividly as mentors.

Lilly spends time expressing to Mia that she could make a difference by being a princess rather than giving up. Lilly's main expression to Mia was that of voice. Lilly was a "hippie" child who wanted to make a difference in the world but felt her voice was weak. She encouraged her friend Mia, and Mia supported Lilly.

Joe quoted Eleanor Roosevelt in saying, "No one can make you feel inferior unless you consent" -- to Mia when she felt embarrassed and upset about her new look and her friend Lilly's jealous remarks. Joe also encouraged Mia often and commented on her being fit for her princess role.

Mia counted on these two individuals and also made them proud and respected them throughout the movie. The queen became more of a mentor and less of a coach toward the middle of the movie. Initially, the Queen was more of a coach. The day she finally allowed the dual mentorship to take place was when she cancelled her appointments to allow "her granddaughter to show her around San Francisco." At that point, the Queen learned from Mia how to remember being young and carefree and how not to take herself so seriously. The first royal dinner was a complete mess but Mia managed to brush it off and her grandmother began to see her as an individual who was a lot like herself. The culminating mentor moment was when both women made each other proud: At the International Ball, the queen was proud of her granddaughter despite her attire, and Mia was understanding and grateful for her grandmother's help and love.

Some may say that Mia's father may have also been an inspirational mentor in addition to her mother, Caroline Goodall (Helen).

EDC 639 -- Mentoring Journal -- Mid-February

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!