Hang Onto Her

The teaching continues. Now in my second year of teaching I feel that I owe a lot to one of my mentors. I very much believe in mentorships and advocate to look for someone that you admire and look up to and hold onto their coat tails for life! It took some time for this new and fresh teacher to realize that the goal is NOT to do this all by myself. In fact, the more I try to do on my own, the more my selfish and prideful side tends to peek out. After accepting this about me I started to observe closely how my mentor operated. Instead of pretending I had it all together, I started to closely pick out area I wanted to work on and asked her questions about everything! Even when I lacked confidence, I went to her. She was the type of woman you try to be. She had a lot going for her and was confident in her ability but yet never shyed away from admitting her own weaknesses. I noted that when she shared these with me, she never seemed weak. She stated them as facts, not really disappointments. Once I had confidence in my own ability as a teacher, I could then get down to business. I now come to the table with great ideas and a listening ear for advice. The other thing my mentor taught me was confidence in not only your ability, but your character. There is a lot of advice from other teachers that floats around the school. There are a lot of rumors. There are a lot of unvalidated worries that are spread like a dark cloud. Every time I talked with another teacher and would get worried about an upcoming project or task, I would go to the meeting myself and feel foolish worrying. Most of the time other teacher's worries were so far off there was little need for actual worry. This drove me crazy until I realized that I am in charge of my own character, beliefs, and values. Yes, some advice is great but always remember to CONSIDER it first. Does this follow your own beliefs about teaching? Will this benefit YOUR students? Finally, does this fit with your CHARACTER? If not, smile, and walk on. There is no reason to be inpolite, but you have to follow what you believe. After all, you are you for a reason. I may do things differently, but I also do them to the best of my ability. All these bits of wisdom came to me through my mentor. You aren't supposed to do it on your own. When you find someone like this, hang on to them. They are more valuable than you know at the present time.