Jami Holbein Swanson April 11, 2012 rch 7, 2012

Appendix E

TEAC 930A Analytic Memo

Analytic Memo Breakfast at Goodfun Middle School

Each year the Lincoln Public Schools hires a new cohort of teachers. Some come with experience, others come fresh out of college, but both need support as they learn the culture of a new district. My problem of practice focuses on new hires. LPS hires, 200-300 teachers each year, and anticipates the same this year. My role is to support new hires in three areas. First, I facilitate a paid, four-day, pre-contract mini-conference for new hires where they meet with their curriculum specialists. The second area includes the three tenure courses teachers must complete during the probationary contract per board policy. The third component involves collaborating with principals to assign a mentor to each new hire. Many questions have come from this work: Are new teachers provided with sufficient transition support at the district and at the building level? Does the transition to the teaching profession and foster reflective practice? Are teachers new to the profession provided with the support needed to acquire tenure and to become instructional leaders? Do new teachers feel valued? Will they invest in the next generation of teachers by sharing their expertise once they become instructional leaders? What types of induction programs provide the necessary support to recruit and retain high quality teachers? How should a comprehensive program be implemented and for how long? What roles do mentors play in a comprehensive induction program? This mini-project explores the bottom bullet. Mentors play a variety of roles when working with new teachers, but their primary goal is to be the insider or go to person for answers to questions and orientation to the profession, building, district, grade level, etc. Having an insider is important, however it is more important that the mentor guide the new hire to improve instruction by being a reflective practitioner, make informed decisions, build capacity, and become a confident, efficacious teacher. I contend that the relationship between the master teacher and the new hire requires a high level of trust to work. Observation: Breakfast at Goodfun My first observation was February 24, 2012. Each Friday morning the staff at Goodfun Middle School come together in the Teachers Lounge for fellowship and breakfast. Friday Breakfast Club is an important piece of the building culture at Goodfun spearheaded by a master art teacher, Shirley. An extrovert at heart, she brought this tradition with her from her previous middle school nine years ago. This is an opportunity to share stories and to build relationships with one another; instructionally what went well, what did not, why and what the next steps might be. Many stories of the week are shared along with successes and failures. Often Shirley

2 relates a similar situation and how she managed it with advice for next steps. Relationships are built during this time that support new teachers emotionally and instructionally. Shirley has three new teachers whom she mentors. One of the new hires is from China, has had a difficult time being away from his family and has relied heavily upon Shirley for support, so much so that he told me she was his American Mom during my second observation. Interview with Shirley Shirley worries about the Chinese teacher as though he were her child. During the first interview, she told me she was concerned about his comprehension and classroom interactions. The teacher had told her that the fast pace of the middle level classroom was difficult for him to manage, and that when more than one person was speaking in English he has more difficulty understanding what is being said. His classroom management is poor, as the cultural divide between Chinese classroom management and American classroom management is a leap he has not quite made. When Shirley had a student steal art materials from her classroom, she asked the Chinese teacher to come observe how she facilitated the class meeting as a model. She was firm with her expectations for students. She used her relationship with her students as she shared her concerns about the misbehavior, and explained how much she trusted them, allowed them to use her materials (many of them her own personal supplies), and asked for help from the students to stop the behavior. Those who knew what happened and saw it happened could talk to her at a later time. Those who actually stole the string and took it out of the room were asked to stop. Without singling out anyone: those who participated in the misuse of her materials, those students who saw inappropriate and those who did not even know it was happening all heard the same message. The conversation was about 2 minutes in length and very effective. Narrative Analysis I was confused because Shirley kept referring to the Chinese teacher by his Chinese name (pronounced nothing like he spells it in English). When he got up from the table to go get some more yogurt, I asked her why she called him by that name. She went on to tell me how disrespectful it was to call people by an English name just because Americans cannot pronounce Chinese names very well. It was not fair or welcoming to people from other countries to have to take an English name. It was another example of not respecting other cultures and the Ugly American. Shirley was not shy in her answer and explained all of this to me in a normal voice surrounded by Goodfun teachers in the lounge, not hiding the topic of our conversation at all. When the Chinese teacher returned to the table, the conversation went back to the course of the day and weekend plans. After a few turns of the conversation where the Chinese teacher was called by his Chinese name, I simply asked the novice Chinese teacher, What would you like to be called? W____ is my American name, he told me but I it seems as though he uses American and English in the same manner. I then asked why he had an American name and a Chinese name. He explained to us that most Chinese

3 nationals adopt American names while they are in the US because when Americans say their names, the pronunciation is so poor that the Chinese nationals do not know anyone is talking to them. When an American name is used, they are better able to attend right away when some one is addressing them. That conversation was interrupted and went in a different direction. Interpretive Commentary It is evident that the relationship between the master teacher (Shirley) and the new hire (Chinese teacher) functions due to a high level of trust. Because of the high level of trust, Shirley is able to perform the four functions of a mentor as defined by Portner (2008): relating, assessing, coaching and guiding. Shirley is a very relational teacher, and seeks opportunities to work closely with new hires. One example of this is the breakfast she organized for each Friday with a sign up sheet for those who want to participate. The Chinese teacher referring to her as his American Mom is also evidence of a strong relationship between the two. Shirley assesses his classroom management, sees that he needs support and looks for ways to model and coach him. When I interviewed her she talked at length about his experience as a student in China and his experience in a highly diverse, low SES building being polar opposites. His schema is nowhere close to the environment in which he teaches. While I do not question Shirleys intent when she sent out the email about his Chinese vs. American name, I do question the impact it has had on their relationship. Did he see her as an advocate or was he offended? Working Hypothesis The cultural classroom management divide for the Chinese teacher is much too large to cross alone. I truly believe that he would not have made it through the year without the support of his mentor. His program has grown. A section of Chinese I (next year) for eighth graders was born from the Exploratory Chinese for 7th graders this year. To honor the .6 FTE in his contract, he can only teach three classes. Goodfun has requested him for all three classes. He will have to give up his class at Lux Middle School where the students are mostly white, wealthy and studious. It was easy to teach there, but he did not have a mentor. He has chosen to take the more difficult assignment because of the support he has received from Shirley. Next Steps In an interview with the Chinese teacher I would like to expand on the Chinese/American name choice to gain a better understanding of culture. Gallup says that something like 80% of people are called by a name they do not like. I would like to know how many of the new hires feel supported, and what has made them feel that way. I would also like to know what other mentors are doing to attend to the four functions of a mentor. Is relationship building the glue that keeps/binds

4 the new hires in the profession? What happens when the relationship between the mentor and new hire goes south?