Mentor Observation Report

Vital discussions are a progression of focused, individualized cooperations with educators that are intended to help them thoroughly enhance their teaching (Jackson, 2009). When schools hire first-year teachers, it should be mandatory for them to have a mentor or coach their first year. Many of these teachers require this support so they may grow professionally (Jackson, 2009). A few years into my teaching career, there was a new first-year kindergarten teacher in the school where I worked. There were a few instances where she had come crying to grade group meetings. She was struggling to keep the student's interest and her class was very talkative and was experiencing difficulty focusing on their assignments and lessons. In a previous meeting,

she had mentioned that her classroom held an abundance of troubled students. This was unfounded and unfortunately, the problem was her. For these reasons, this new teacher was a great candidate for mentoring. Kindergarten is an especially intense grade to teach for a first-year instructor. A large number of these students are transitioning into a school setting for the first time. It can be a strenuous time for not only the students but the teacher as well. Engaging young children can be hard and their consideration is on everything but the lesson and the tasks at hand. In order to be an effective mentor, one must be committed, understanding, accepting and skilled in the field (Rowley, 1999). As the mentor, it is fundamental to discuss lesson preparation and classroom management with the teacher, as these appear to be the areas of significant struggle.
First, in order to efficiently advance the developing teacher's skills, opening up lines of communication between the struggling teacher and mentor is imperative.

Utilizing a reflective conversational approach to identify the problem and then reflect to decipher the root cause of the difficulty, can assist the educator in understanding where the issues in their teaching lie (Jackson, 2009). Another consequential way of deducing where the teacher is lacking is to observe their lessons, take detailed notes, and collaboratively discuss the findings. Here, the mentor can discuss specific instructional methodologies that need to be amended and together research the most proficient methods in order to create more effective and interesting lessons. After the observations and discussions have been completed, encouraging the teacher to observe a higher-preforming educator's classroom and reviewing their lesson plans can be an exceptional learning tool (Moran, 2007). Discussing the qualities and shortcomings of the lessons observed and how the instructor could utilize some of those instructional approaches in their classroom can be effective in crafting more engaging lessons. Last, co-planning a few lessons, executing them and then collaboratively reflecting on the good and bad aspects of the sessions, aid in the creation of successful lesson construction and efficiency. Above all, reflection is a critical ability, that will ultimately be the last piece in their learning and formation of effective teaching

practices.
Accordingly, observation is another key aspect in enabling the mentor to discover the struggling teacher's strengths. The advisor can discuss with the teacher how to ameliorate instructional practices by providing clarifications on their strengths and how to expand on them. Amid these discussions, the mentor must stress self-reflection and offer cases of new thoughts that fit into the strong practices the educator already holds (ASCD, 2015). Likewise, presenting specific differentiation and conceivable technology or manipulative use with less compelling lessons may help increase student engagement and achievement in their classroom, thus providing them with an individualized approach to their instructional needs.