April 24th, 2012 Debrief on Meeting about 2012-2013

Well... what a day! Shortly after packing up over 400 ACT tests, I rushed over to meet some of my new colleagues who will support my New Teacher Induction program. Two participants in the meeting are members of Blueprint -- what an exciting experience to work with educational leaders who are driven by data, have knowledge of best practice, and strive to do whatever it takes close the achievement gap! I felt I was the in the presence of two people who truly believe in the hard work they are doing and encouraging of the schools they supervise.

As we concluded our brainstrom, one of the Denver Public Schools district representitives said, "You know what... we've always tried to meet new teachers needs-- ELA, classroom management, cooperative learning, and the list goes on. But, we have never quite hit it right on. The truth is, the most crucial thing is that new teachers have good mentors."


I could not be more excited to hear this comment! YES I thought. That's excatly right... not only do we need to select the people to mentor-- we need to provide mentors with SUPPORT! As I meet with principals from the nine schools in the DSSN network, I will be sure to stress the value of selecting mentors who are "in it to win it" with their mentee. However, as I mentioned a few weeks ago, it's vital that site leaders understand the importance of mentors too. In schools of innovation and turnaround, like those in the DSSN network, there is NO wiggle room to have poor teacher retention. This is exactly the point I will make next month as I meet with administrators.