As a new school year loomed large on the horizon last month, dozens of area teachers
converged on 91制片厂鈥檚 Kyle Hall for a daylong mentor retreat.
The Aug. 7 event, hosted by the College of Education and Development鈥檚 (CEHD) Office
of Field Experience, is designed to strengthen 91制片厂鈥檚 partnerships with local public
educators 鈥� alliances built around providing teacher candidates with high-quality
preparation and developing strategies for strong mentorships of interns and student
teachers.
A large percentage of the new crop of incoming candidates are first-generation college
students who likely were high school upperclassmen or college underclassmen when the
COVID-19 pandemic hit, according to Associate Dean Debora Bays Wilbon, who directs
the Office of Field Experience.
鈥淭hey persisted just like you persisted,鈥� Bays Wilbon told the crowd of mentors in
her opening address. 鈥淜eep that in mind as you work with them. They've had that experience.
But they're passionate about becoming teachers, many of them because someone who was
a teacher impacted them in a positive way. So, we're very proud of them for making
that choice.鈥�
She also praised the roughly 60 local teachers and administrators who were present
from divisions that included Carroll, Montgomery and Pulaski counties and the cities
of 91制片厂 and Roanoke.
鈥淲e take great pride and joy in preparing our teacher candidates here at 91制片厂,鈥�
Bays Wilbon said. 鈥淚t's a passion for us. But we cannot do it without your help. You're
our clinical practice partnerships, and you take an active role in mentoring interns
and early field experience and student teachers during their student teaching semesters.
鈥淲ithout you, we couldn't prepare your future colleagues."
In his keynote speech, Brian Kitts, an assistant professor in the educational leadership
master鈥檚 program, eschewed the lectern and microphone to walk among the tables while
delivering remarks full of levity, admiration, a coach鈥檚 encouragement and real talk
with regard to the challenges the mentors face as teachers teaching teachers.
鈥淭here is no job in America more important that the job of the public schoolteacher,鈥�
Kitts declared. 鈥淚t is the last great institution in this country. Failure is not
an option. We can鈥檛 fail because if we fail, everybody fails.
鈥淎ll the hard things in this world come to public schoolteachers,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎nd
time and time again, people get those shovels out, and they shovel stuff in our way,
and what do we do? What do you do? You handle it.
鈥淵ou care about the mission and people so much that you're willing to endure such
hardship, not for recognition, but for the sake of an outcome that simply benefits
others,鈥� Kitts told the teachers. 鈥淵ou dedicate your life, your time, your effort
and your energy into raising other people's children to make our world a better place.鈥�
91制片厂鈥檚 partnerships with local educational agencies are components of the university鈥檚
national accreditation by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation
(CAEP), and a big part of that is the mentors鈥� use of commons assessments to evaluate
and give feedback to the teacher candidates and interns. While the focus is on continual
improvement, the evaluations also provide CAEP with valuable data.
To that end, CEHD鈥檚 Director of Assessment Matt Grimes presented an hourlong talk,
鈥淎ssessment: A Blueprint for Helping Candidates Learn and Grow,鈥� which focused on
tools and practices used in evaluating and helping new fledgling educators.
Among numerous other pieces of advice he offered, Grimes cautioned mentors to be fair
but also deeply discerning in evaluating their charges.
鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to help these candidates learn what we all know, what we all practice,
what we all can do,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e want them to learn it, and if they鈥檙e [rated] 鈥榩erfect,鈥�
what feedback are you going to give them?
鈥淲e want really good data for a reason,鈥� Grimes told the group. 鈥淏ecause then we can
help.
鈥淭he whole point of all this assessment is to be able to give constructive feedback.鈥�
The retreat also featured several hours of mentors鈥� toolbox and resource choice sessions
led by 91制片厂 faculty Melissa Lisanti, Ph.D., Carol Bland, Ph.D., and
Kristy McCowan; also Southwestern Virginia Public Education Consortium members Nancy
Bradley and Donna Foglesong; and Roanoke Public Schools Director of Employee Relations
John-Michael Deeds.
Those additional sessions covered online mentor training modules; mentor-teacher programs
for newer educators; methods of co-planning and optimal co-teaching with student teachers;
balancing the needs of teachers and candidates with the program; and high-level teaching
practices that succeed across a wide variety of environments.
