Maureen Lonergan

Unit 3 Reflection

Unit 3 has challenged me to examine my schools structures for mentoring

with a critical lens and has affirmed my schools use of departmental meeting
periods. After reading the articles and forum discussions about induction and
mentoring, I have some critiques and comments about how my school does (or does
not do) mentoring. The readings about professional learning communities,
however, affirmed my schools use of departmental meeting or planning periods. I
see the benefit of giving teachers time to do work and learn from each other. It is a
priority for me now and will continue to be as I step into leadership positions.
In my current position as science department chair, I help assign new
teachers mentors from within the department. I do my best to assign someone a
teacher who also teaches the same class, but sometimes that does not happen.
Our mentoring program does not have a set structure or rules. It is hit or miss with
mentors. I see that we have a ways to go to ensure that our mentoring program
accomplishes the goals we set for the program. Mentoring can be great if the
teachers have a good relationship, but there needs to be structure in my school to
ensure that this happens. I see the need for me, when I step into future leadership
positions, to write a policy for mentoring programs. If there is no structure, the
program does not work well. Also, the information about induction programs
prompted me to think about the way I would design opening days to make sure that
all new teachers have the tools needed to start the year. I started thinking about
how to introduce instructional expectations and also how to introduce school
culture. In some ways, it seems easier to inform teachers on the instructional
pieces than the culture pieces. I would like to continue thinking about creative ways
to welcome new teachers to a school culture.

Next, I felt that the readings about professional development were affirming
for our current practices at my school. Our schedules are arranged so that each
department has a common planning period. This period is used for meetings and
professional development. For example, in the science department we are using
our planning period to meet to revise our curriculum. It is our department goal to
revise the curriculum and we are able to research the standards, revise our current
curriculum, and prep labs for next year using the time during the school day. I am
grateful for this planning period as department chair. We also use the planning time
to meet in smaller department groups based on the courses we teach. These
groups function like PLCs in that they review student assessment data and discuss
best practices for different units of study. Also, these PLC-type groups prep labs
together. After reading the articles and forum discussions for this unit I realized that
in order for a school to be a high-functioning school there needs to be TIME for
professional development and learning as a teacher community. When I become an
administrator, I will ensure that departments have a common planning period. It
makes it harder to schedule classes, but it is worth it to allow teachers time during
the school day to plan, learn, prep, and develop. I also appreciate that many of the
readings emphasized the need to give teachers time during the day to have
professional development. It makes it seem like an integral part of the job when
administrators prioritize that kind of professional development.
Overall, Unit 3 caused me to critically think about the ways in which my
school could improve our induction and mentoring programs. Also, I felt affirmed in
reading about the use of PLCs as a meaningful way for teachers to learn from each
other. In my current school, our department groups helped me learn more than

anything else in my first years as a teacher. The planning time set aside for that to
happen is essential for new teachers especially.