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,

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