- At my school, I most often turn to Mr. Cooper for help and support. Mr. Cooper is another first year teacher in an alternate route program. He also teaches Biology I and is right across the hall from me. While it would probably be wiser to spend more time with someone who knows more about the students, the material, and the school, it very comforting to have someone who is in the trenches right there with you. Mr. Cooper and I plan together every evening, share resources, discuss what worked well that day in class (and what didn't work that well), and try to remind each other of what paperwork is due that week.
- I don't know how I think this has impacted student learning, to be honest. I'm sure my students would be better off say if I went down and visited a Mary-Kate, let's say more than Mr. Cooper. I'm one of those people that hates being a burden or asking for help, so I tend not to ask for help as much as I probably should. My students would probably be better off... Maybe I'll make it a goal to go and visit her more often, or my assigned mentor Ms. Buxton. They are both very good at what they do..... This question has really got me stumped, I think it has impacted student learning for the better. If anything, I turn to Mr. Cooper for the mental/emotional support help mostly and he turns to me for help with the content and how to teach it (he was a math major). Without him there, as someone who knows what I'm going through and who is going through it right now, I would not be in such a good (haha) place mentally as I am now. If I was in a worse place mentally, I would not be able to instruct the children as well and their learning would suffer.