Blogs on Mentoring

Let me start out by assuring readers that I'm not suggesting it takes a magical coat of arms to survive life on a predominantly white campus if you're a student of color. Over the decades, tens of thousands of students of color have been effectively and happily educated on predominantly white college campuses across this wonderful country of ours, and most of those students look back fondly on their college experiences.

Becoming a master teacher takes continuous effort. To avoid the loss of enthusiasm or static practice, teachers need to focus on their own professional development. Notably, the single most significant indicator of student success is an excellent teacher; nevertheless, no one can be professionally developed without his or her consent. To remain vitalized, teachers need to spend time outside the classroom with other dedicated individuals. The educational mandates from state, federal and local legislators are not targeted at improving teaching and learning. Although many are well-intentioned initiatives to assist school success, they are not sufficient for improving teaching excellence throughout an entire professional career.

A few weeks ago while discussing a topic for the next new teacher chat on Twitter, a pre-service teacher sent me a private tweet. She asked if I knew the best way a principal should work to support new teachers on their campus. I responded by saying that I thought it would make a perfect topic for an upcoming chat. As a result, our November 2 chat topic was "How should a principal support a new teacher?"

Sometime ago, I wrote a blog for Edutopia that chronicled the equation of student success as being dependent on three necessary elements: students, teachers, and family. I believe now, as I did then, that all three variables must work together in order for our students to achieve. But I recently began working with someone who is slowly convincing me that even those three groups need the support of one more: the community.