Having started teaching without a mentor or coach, I can confirm have one or both really makes a difference.
I really like the advisory committee information. I also appreciate the mentor information. I intend to continue seeking a mentor for me due to my unique position in the CTE environment. I am a special education teacher and I have not found a sped teacher specifically in a CTE yet. If you know of one, I would love to reach out to them.
There are many people available to support the CTE teacher and there are different people for different types of support. Making connections and working with your mentor will help you be successful in a new teaching position.
I didn't really have a mentor my first year, but I sat in some other teachers' classes and asked questions of other instructors, some of which had only taught themselves for a 1-2 years. This was frustrating at times but it was enough to build confidence and now I'm mentoring other new instructors.
CTE teachers are experts in their fields they may have difficulty making, what can be, a drastic change in career. I would hope to be able to develop strong relationships with students and colleagues alike.
It is extremely important to reach out when you need help and having a positive relationship with your mentor can make all the difference in the world.
Its always a good things to collaborate with someone who have simular goals an a program you can emulate or model after.
Advisory board and mentors are great for growing teacher strengths and build a strong group of collegues.
I wish that I had known about advisory committees when in industry more and been a part of them. I have seen a lot in my years and could offer options for bridging the school to work gap. I also very much appreciate my mentor as I have navigated my first semester teaching.
Having a mentor to assist you in learning and becoming a mentor to assist others
Having a mentor is important.
I learned the role of the advisory board and how to best utilize it.
In this module I learned to seek out those that would be good mentors to help me better understand pedagogy!
Reading through this section, I realized that my district does have these leadership/mentorship roles in place. It's very encouraging to see my district is taking necessary measures to ensure CTE teacher success.
I have been a mentor in the past for new teachers, so I understand how crucial it is for that support and guidance. I feel that we have a good support system in my district, and the CTE dept. is particularly knowledgeable and experienced.
In my previous position, I frequently used the professinal list-serv as a PLC. I'll need to look for a relevant local org!
A huge learning curve for me was going from being the "go to" person in my field, to being the person who always has questions or issues was very challenging
Advisory committees and meetings with the public help keep you in touch with the needs of your community and how you can use it to strengthen your program. The mentor assignment is also an incredible resource to new teachers so they have someone that is a peer to go to with questions instead of looking to their supervisor which may seem more intimidating.
Do not be afraid to "bother" coworkers, we are all here to learn, to do our jobs as educators to the best of our abilities.
Effective CTE teaching takes collaboration, an instructor should never be afraid to ask for help which is something we all struggle with at one point or another, so this was a definite reminder to always ask more questions. Additionally the importance of an advisory committee is very real. Having a well run advisory committee that is efficient at problem solving can often make a world of difference when it comes to seeking support from our peers.
