Getting Started

Getting Started: Step 1

Now that you have decided to become a mentor for teachers in your program, it's time to begin preparing to build the mentoring relationship and negotiate expectations with teachers. Creating a supportive mentoring climate depends on building and maintaining a relationship. Key to relationship building is effective communication and trust.

"Negotiating," or creating a shared understanding about assumptions, expectations, goals, and needs, including a discussion of confidentiality, boundaries, and limits, provides a foundation for building trust.

The following table provides suggestions for planning and implementing initial conversations with protégées to promote the development of an effective mentoring relationship. You can also download and print the table, Strategies & Considerations, in MS Word format.

Before beginning your plan, you must identify your prospective mentee or mentees.

Review the suggestions in the table below

Think about your program and the teachers with whom you work

Think about class types and teacher locations

Identify the number of teachers you can realistically begin to mentor

Identify the teacher(s) who will be your first mente(es)

Strategies and Considerations for Initial Conversations
Topic	Strategies	Consideration
Call or email your protégée(s) to begin the conversation and to set up a time to communicate again, or get together.	Obtain mentee' contact information, identify follow-up times you will be available, plan what to say.	Determine method of initial communication and best time to initiate.
Take time to get to know each other.	Share information about your own background, professional experiences, classes, and satisfactions. Ask the mentee(s) questions to elicit similar information.	Establish rapport. Exchange information. Identify points of connection. Learn about the teaching experiences and classes of mentee(s).
Talk about mentoring.	“Have you ever been engaged in a mentoring relationship before? What did you learn?”	Talk about your own mentors and experiences.
Determine the goals of the mentee(s).	“What do you want to learn from this experience (broad goals)?”	Determine if the mentee has clear goals and objectives and find out what they are.
Determine the needs and expectations of the mentee(s).	“What do you want out of the mentor/mentee relationship?”	Clarify needs and objectives.
Define the deliverables.	"What would success look like for you?”	Ask yourself if you have the expertise and skills to help meet the goals of the mentee(s).
Share your assumptions, needs, expectations and limitations, including the amount of time available for mentoring and best times to contact you.	Ask for feedback.	Clarify what you are willing and able to contribute.
Discuss options and opportunities.	“How would you like to go about achieving your goals?" “What are your preferred communication and learning styles?” “What is the most useful kind of assistance I can provide?”	Consider and discuss implications of the mentees’ styles and how they compare to yours.