84123684458?pwd=QUt1MHNKRy9TK2thT0V1dDRnY3hhdz09

More on REACH OUTS

Last month's REACH OUT featured a discussion of "Mentor Certification Course Modules." Contributor Katy Keegan (Manassas City) shared the work she and others in her division have developed to support mentor training. Find Katy's slides with a voice over in the library on our website. Click here: REACH VIRGINIA LEARNING LIBRARY

RSVP for Full Network Meeting, April 15

Join our Reach Virginia Network spring meeting on April 15 from 10 a.m. until 12 noon on Zoom. The featured speaker will be Virginia Commonwealth University Professor LaRon Scott who will share his work around recruiting and retaining Black teachers. This meeting is open to a larger audience, so feel free to invite colleagues to join you. Click here: RSVP for April 15 Full Network Meeting

NEW Program Evaluation: April-May 2021

Some Reminders

The 2020-21 school year begins our network shift to focus data collection exclusively on the impact of our mentoring programs.
This spring, each school division will survey two groups:
- First year teachers
- Mentors of first year teachers
Links to both surveys will be sent to each school division facilitator by April 14, 2021.
Surveys will remain open until May 24, 2021.
Surveys are NOT intended to evaluate individual mentors or teachers. Instead, the data collected are intended as a guide to develop your mentoring program going forward.
Arroyo Research Services will synthesize and analyze each division's data and provide you with a comprehensive status report with recommendations.
Questions or concerns? Please email Louise Porter: louise@reachva.org

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Kristina Peck

University of Mary Washington
Associate Dean, College of Education

Clinical Experiences and Partnerships

Working together to create a common language

The partnership between teacher preparation programs and school divisions can be of great value for transitioning new teachers from pre-service. If these two groups can work together and create a common mentoring language, it will allow for the mentoring cycle potentially to start earlier than the first year and make a smoother transition. Because student teachers are more likely to stay in a division if they have a positive student teaching experience, it benefits both parties to work together to support the student teacher and the mentor teacher during this time. Working together to build mentoring training helps to create a common language and mentoring culture.

Seeing the impact of mentoring

I am completing my third year as the Director of Clinical Experiences for the College of Education. Before I joined the COE, I was a secondary math teacher in one of the local school divisions. During my time in the classroom, I spent a lot of time mentoring pre-service and new teachers and really developed a passion for it. I love talking to teachers about teaching, the good and bad parts of it. I believe this is driven by my history in athletics, both as an athlete and a coach. I have seen the impact a coach can have on an athlete’s life, especially through mentoring. It’s not any different when it comes to education, building relationships with both students and colleagues is essential. As the Director of Clinical Experiences, I work on making the placements for all our clinical experiences in the program. To help make this successful, I work closely with our neighboring school districts and have developed some great relationships.

My three sons

I am a mom to three wonderful boys so spare time is not something I have a lot of at this moment. I enjoy spending as much time with my family as possible, but when I do find some spare time, I enjoy watching sports. I am a huge Washington Nationals fan and I love watching other sports as well. It is fun watching them with my oldest son who shares my passion for sports.

TIN Advisory Board
Annie Dipert, Fairfax County. Blaire Conner, Fauquier County. Katy Keegan, Manassas City. Jeri Swogger, Frederick County. Donna Wilder, Prince William County.