Mentor/Mentee

I have been a mentee and a mentor. My first year of teaching, I was mentored by Janelle Ball. I got my certification with Region X. When I did my probation year, I had to have a mentor for Region X and Hudson. Lucky for me it was the same person. Janelle observed me throughout the year as well as my principal. Janelle and I would look at things that I was doing well as well as things that I needed to work on. She was always available for help and questions as was the rest of my department. My first year teaching, I had to fill out papers about the mentor/mentee relationship and the benefits and disadvantages of the program. I found little disadvantages to having Janelle as a mentor. Actually at this point I can think of none. She taught me organization and planning as well as classroom management skills, and I taught her about new things I had just learned at Region X. It was more of a give and take relationship than anything else.
My experience as a mentor was different. I had a teacher who had taught before and was only interested in me for what I knew about the school. We didn’t have the sharing relationship that Janelle and I had (and still do). My mentee was more interested in moving up the chain and this was just one step on her way. She was a nice person, but I didn’t get to share my knowledge about ESL and teaching like I had hoped. Maybe I will be a mentor again for a new teacher. I feel the role could be fulfilling and a refresher to what I learned. I hope that it enlightens me about new things to do with my students.