Mentors are often full time classroom teachers and many find it difficult to meet with novices for long meetings. Novices are busy too and they feel that unproductive meetings before or after school are not helpful. So what can a mentor do that would be supportive to a beginning teacher in just 5 minutes?
Try a 5 minute meeting! Imagine you are rushing to class and you see your mentee standing in her doorway. You know you only have 5 minutes. What can you say that would be a teachable moment?
Give a compliment! Think about what you have noticed about this novice teacher. What is she doing well? What do you see right now that is working that she is responsible for doing?
Be authentic! As we know with our students, unsubstantiated praise is not effective. This needs to be an authentic compliment that highlights a skill or disposition that forwards this teacher’s learning.
A sample might be… I noticed the way you talked to the student that was distracting others. You lowered your voice and made eye contact. You kept a professional posture and you got the result you wanted. Good job!
Prepare! Keep a list of compliments in your notes so you can pass them out to novices as needed. Everyone loves a compliment and to be noticed for doing something right.
For more ideas and agendas for 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60 minute meeting ideas use Mentoring in Action: Guiding, Sharing, and Reflecting With Novice Teachers (Corwin Press, 2017).
What are your ideas for 5 minute meetings?
Visit MentoringinAction.com for free videos and other Offerings.