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<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff face=Arial size=2><SPAN class=750431820-03072000>I read
your original idea and the new design. You are doing great work, it's
clear. An additional thought - mentoring offers benefits, including
learning, to the mentor as well as the mentee, beyond pay. I would hope
that the OS meeting outcome would include an expression of needs/wants that
would provide for new teachers and mentors alike. The balance of give/take
is important as is acknowledging mentor benefits. I'm thinking of
things like keeping time commitments for meetings/calls, giving feedback,
questioning and learning jointly, making sure offers/acceptances are
appropriate to interests and skills - and when they are not, how to change
the agreements and relationships. There is a certain amount of
courtesy and testing of the relationship that needs to be explored in Open Space
so the program gets off to a good start. </SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV align=left class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> OSLIST
[mailto:OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Rhett Hudson/Chris
Weaver<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, June 29, 2000 9:54 PM<BR><B>To:</B>
OSLIST@LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU<BR><B>Subject:</B> new teacher mentorship
model<BR><BR></DIV></FONT>Dear OSLIST,<BR><BR>I'm all excited and bleary-eyed
from one of those sweet breakthroughs into a new application of Open Space.
I've drafted an Open-Space-based design for a mentorship project for new
public school teachers (with help from Esther, BJ, and Chris Corrigan).
I'm striking while the iron is hot - this could be piloted state-wide in
North Carolina by the fall, bringing together a number of teacher-support
programs who have never worked in consort. I share it with you in its
newly-created form for your feedback, and of course in the hope that it might
be useful to someone else out there.<BR><BR>PS TO MICHAEL HERMAN: Where
would be the best niche for posting this type of item on the openspaceworld
website?<BR><BR><BR>LEARNER-BASED COMMUNITY MENTORSHIP for NEW
TEACHERS<BR>Draft, 6/30, by Chris Weaver<BR><BR>RATIONALE<BR>New teachers are
working in highly complex environments and have multiple layers of needs.
They are constructing their own practice in individual ways based on
their diverse professional strengths and the diverse environments in which
they work. The mentoring they receive <I>should be driven by each
teacher's priorities, </I>rather than by the agenda of an individual mentor or
support program. The new teachers <I>should have effective access to a
wide variety of mentoring expertise.<BR><BR></I>END RESULT<BR>At the end of
the Formation Meeting, each new teacher will have chosen <I>a number </I>of
mentors whom they can easily contact for different types of advice. Each
mentor will have identified <I>a number </I>of new teachers whose needs match
their area of expertise. In the ongoing contact and meetings, these
multiple mentor-mentee relationships will deepen, and new relationships will
be easily formed based on the needs of the new teachers.<BR><BR><BR>I.
FORMATION MEETING<BR> When?
Mid-August<BR> Where?
NCTeach University Host
Sites<BR> Who?
All New
NCTeach
Teachers<BR> All
available mentors (LEA, Coach-to-Coach, NCTeach Master Teachers, Available
<BR> NCTeach
Faculty) <BR> How Long? 3 1/2
hours (in this example, 6:00 to 9:30 pm) <BR> Process?
Open Space
Technology<BR> Description:<BR> 6:00
to 6:45 - All teachers and mentors meet. Each participant is
given a list of all participants, with individual contact information
(particularly email addresses) and room for note-taking below each name.
Instructions are also included for ongoing listserv and/or web-based
communication. Open Space process is introduced. Participants are
invited to convene focus groups on a particular topic <I>reflecting the needs
of the teachers</I> (e.g. High School Biology, classroom management, Standard
Course of Study and Projects, homework expectations, Inclusion, EOG 7th grade
reading Benchmarks...) The convenor of each focus group (could be a
teacher or a mentor) selects a time and location for their conversation.
Schedule is posted on the agenda wall. Participants know that they
may move freely between focus groups at any time, to find the place where they
can learn or contribute to the highest degree
possible.<BR> 6:45
to 7:30 - Focus Groups, session
I<BR> 7:30
to 8:15 - Focus Groups, session
II<BR> 8:15
to 9:00 - Focus Groups, session III <BR>The convenor of each focus
group is responsible for facilitating that group, and for ensuring that a
simple report is
compiled.<BR> 9:00
to 9:30 - Whole Group Closing
Meeting<BR> FOLLOW-UP
- All focus group reports will be compiled and distributed,
electronically and/or hard copies, to all participants within 24
hours.<BR><BR>II. SUSTAINING
MEETINGS<BR> Sustaining meetings will be held monthly
throughout the school year, following the same Open Space Process. Focus
groups will continue to be convened around specific teacher needs. New
teachers will thus deepen their relationships with established mentors while
maintaining access to new mentors. New teachers will also learn
collaboratively from one another, and mentors will learn from all
participants. Focus group reports will be compiled and distributed
following each Open Space meeting.<BR><BR>III. SUPPORT BETWEEN
MEETINGS<BR> New teacher support between meetings will
be driven by teacher needs and requests. Communication will occur
on-line, as well as by phone and in person as requested. A fund will be
established to pay for substitutes so that mentors can make classroom visits
to new teachers when requested whenever possible.<BR><BR>IV. MENTOR
ROLES AND COMPENSATION<BR> In this structure, mentors
are compensated for their participation in the monthly Open Space meetings and
for <I>being available </I>to the new teachers<I> </I>between meetings.
Mentors will be compensated by their sponsoring organizations (NCTeach,
Coach-to-Coach, local District/LEA). In this learner-based structure,
the actual hours spent in mentoring work will be impossible to precisely
predict. Data on this will be collected as the program unfolds, and
adjustments in compensation/workload will be negotiated as
needed.<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>