Jami Holbein Swanson March 7, 2012 rch 7, 2012

Appendix B

TEAC 930A Interview with New Teacher Mentor Shirley

Goodfun Middle School Mentor Interview New Teacher Mentor Shirley

March 2, 2012 Interview with Shirley at Goodfun Middle School
Interview topics New hire support at the building level New hire support at the district level Administration support Building discipline plan Strategies and ideas shared New hire support at the building level Interview Responses Shirley works with three new elective teachers. Ashley Ashley is the new FCS teacher. Ashley was on maternity leave with her second child and has recently returned to work. Ashley is a nursing mother and needs to pump two times during the school day. Her baby still isnt sleeping through the night. Ashley is an FCS teacher who doesnt sew. Sewing is a large part of the curriculum. A student has run over his finger with the sewing machine this year. Ashley has a good sense of humor about not knowing everything about her curriculum and is willing to spend extra time to fill in the gaps. Shirleys not sure when her extra time would be. Ali Ali is the part-time Spanish teacher. Ashley has moved to a larger room to accommodate her large classes. The room was not being used because the administration said there was not enough furniture in the building for this room to have desks. She has rearranged the room multiple times this year and has finally landed on a configuration Retrospective Notes She seems to be managing being a new mother well. She looks rested even though she is up through out the night. In the hall outside her door were spools of thread and buttons strewn all about. I wonder if she knows they were taken from her room? Since sewing is not something she is familiar with, how will she teach it?

Seems like an easy task to move a teacher to an empty room. There mustve been more to this story. Based on the interview with Shirley and conversations with Ali, she seems to be having a pretty good year.

that allows her to move easily from student to student. There are many native Spanish speakers in her classes. She is intimidated at times about calling home to parents who do not speak English. William William is a new to the United States Chinese national, part-time Chinese teacher who splits his time between two buildings. William struggles with classroom management and engaging students. The fast pace of the middle level classroom, specifically the quick communication between students, causes problems for William as he often does not understand the language (English is not always the language used) students are using. William has told Shirley that when more than one person is speaking in English, he has problems understanding. Shirley is concerned about Williams comprehension and classroom interactions. The BIST support person was in his class last week, but did not offer any suggestions. She just sat in his room and left right before the class was over. William is not an effective teacher. I struggle with how to support him. Based on the interview with Shirley and what I have seen of his teaching, I am surprised he comes back every day. He s a pushover and the students know it and abuse it.

3 Discipline and follow through is the most important building support an administrative can offer The building administration and BIST has saved Goodfun. There are tough kids in this building. The previous administration often patted kids on the head and sent them back to class. This principal gets kids out of school that cannot follow the school rules. That was a major change for Goodfun a good change for us. Having a discipline plan that all teachers in the building follow make for consistency, which helps students know that the rules are the same for all students at all times. We are strongly supported by our principal when it comes to discipline. Naeir Catalog A catalog full of overstock items for teacher to order from as long as they use the items at school that teachers place orders from. If Naeir still has them, they are sent to the building. Shirley is the representative for the building who places the orders. Marg Medell, retired teacher from last year used to be the representative for the building. She ordered so much stuff (eye glasses, bras, microwave splatter covers, etc.) that was not useable it filled an entire classroom. Marg has returned to Goodfun to sub and has asked about the Naeir catalog. Shirley told her she was the rep and did not need Margs help. Shirley thinks Marg got her feelings hurt as she has not been back to the building since. BIST gets a different rap depending upon which building you are in and with whom you are speaking. Goodfun runs a tight BIST ship and it works for them. All of the teachers I have seen or spoken to seem to buy into it, which is why it is working.

My first thought is What a bunch of junk! I very much buy into the need to scrounge for classrooms but from my experience, you never get what you need and you get twice as much of what you dont want or need. Perfect for hoarders. Marg was a hoarder.

New hire support at the district level Interview Responses New hire/mentor day as a pre-contract day Shirley spent days working with Ashley as she unpacked her boxes as they moved into the remodeled building. As the FCS teacher, Ashley did not know what she Retrospective Notes How can I pay for pre-contract meeting time? Where might there be some money?

4 would find in the boxes packed by the previous teacher. All of the dishes were packed dirty. Blenders were full of food. Much of it had to be thrown away. Shirley went to the principal to advocate for Ashley. She needed to be paid to manage the morass she was left. Shirley suggested a day during the summer to get rooms ready and to meet the mentor.

YUK! Why would a teacher do that? Clearly she was not returning and didnt feel a need to leave things in better shape than she found them.

Administrative changes from last year Interview Responses The 2010-11 AP for Goodfun at Dundee (Name?? Not sure I want it out there) is the new principal at Dundee. The new principal opened Dundee with a student population of 300 students. The Goodfun at Dundee staff was split between the two buildings for the 2011-12 school year. Many factors made the shift more difficult than it had to be: budget cuts meant surplussed teachers, the new principal was provided an office in a near by elementary, the new principal would come to Goodfun and handout tshirts with We Are Dundee across the chest. While all of these situations were disruptive to the school day, the t-shirts caused the greatest tension. The new AP at Goodfun is a much better teachers principal. She is more focused on relationships with students and teachers. I wonder how the teachers who chose to stay at Dundee are doing? Strategies and Ideas Shared Shirley would feel more supported by having an administrative presence with the mentoring program by meeting with new hires and mentors during the school year. Questions I Now Have How do passive teachers survive? Can mentors meet new hires during the New Teacher Orientation in August? Can mentors meet new hires in the summer? Retrospective Notes From my experience with the AP turned principal, she is power driven. She will use relationships to get what she needs then never attend to the relationship again. The new AP at Goodfun is a much more relational person. I am sure that is why she is highly thought of at Goodfun.