Listening and Learning AUTHOR: MAX SMITH
Region 10 Digital Marketing Specialist
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OLLABORATE and listen. If one had to sum up what the duties of a mentor teacher are, those two words would be a good place to start. Few mentor teachers have done this better than Braiden Foster, who has been a source of support for first-year teacher Nicole Lotts at Mt. Peak Elementary in Midlothian ISD. Foster, who is in her fourth year of teaching fifth grade, took on the role of being a mentor teacher at the suggestion of Principal Adam Henke. “We were scoring my campus involvement during my summative review at the end of last year. I don’t remember my score, but Principal Henke said, ‘I think you can get something higher than that. I really want to see you take on some more leadership roles. How do you feel about maybe taking on a mentor position next year?’” Foster recalled, “I was like, ‘Sign me up! That sounds great!’ I was excited to be offered the position.” When new teachers were matched with mentors at New Teacher Orientation, Foster was excited to be assigned to Lotts since they had prior experience working together. “She student-taught here last year, and ended the year as a Pre-K aide. When I saw her at the New Teacher Orientation…I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, you're here!’” Foster shared. Foster’s background as a Special Education aide, along with her prior experiences addressing behaviors while teaching, have helped her to empathize with some of the issues Lotts has encountered as a first-year teacher.
“My experience working with younger children who are working through big emotions has definitely helped me when working with Lotts because she's had quite a few students in her room who needed additional behavioral support and different things,” Foster shared. “I am able to reassure her that you just have to keep trying you're going to find that thing that will work.” Through trial and error, Foster believes Lotts’ classroom management strategies have grown tremendously throughout her first year. “Lotts has gained some amazing strategies throughout this year in regards to classroom management,” Foster explained. “I think classroom management is such a daunting task as a new teacher, because it truly takes time and trial and error to figure out what is going to work best for each group of kids. She has been very willing and motivated to serve her students by changing and evolving management skills that work best for her and for them.” One of those strategies is a dedicated space in Lotts’s classroom called the “Calm Down Corner” where students can go when they are working through their heightened emotions. “This is a safe place for my students to go when they have big feelings so they can self regulate. 33