1. Successful Internships Don’t Just Happen! How to Conduct an Effective Mentor/Intern Forum Maryland PDS Conference – May 3, 2014 – Stevenson University

2. Key Players In the Presentation Gray Jack:Liaison Melissa Reid:Site Coordinator Stacie Siers:Regional PDS Coordinator Ron Siers:Assistant Professor

3. Expectations & Goals How to promote and secure time for the forum from principals. Develop collaborative and communicative skills. Learn the importance of value congruency for mentors and interns. Learn why co-planning & co-teaching are effective pedagogy. Learn what mentors and interns need and want. Conceptualize the roles of the mentor. Acquire resources, information and confidence for delivering a quality mentor/intern forum at your PDS.

4. Growth Opportunities Data Analysis (Mentor & Interns) revealed that miscommunication and a lack of understanding of roles and expectations were major causes of problems during the Internship. How can we improve interns’ and mentor teachers’ common understanding of roles and expectations during the Internship? How can we improve communication between interns, mentor teachers and university faculty during the internship?

5. Being Prepared Value Congruency Roles of Mentors & Interns Communication Skills Co-Teaching Co –Planning Skills Administration Buy In Successful Mentor/Intern Forum Pieces to the Puzzle

6. How to get the “Green Light” from Administrators Administration Buy In

7. Administrative Buy-In (Siers, 2013) Meet with the administration Present Co-Teaching data & value of the Forum Use multiple methods of providing information (i.e. PP, handouts, newsletter, website, etc.) Provide on-going updates to Principal as the program is implemented.

8. What do you focus on during the forum?

9. Purpose of the Forum (Siers 2013) Relationship Building between the Mentor & Intern  Getting to know each other  Pair Communication  Value Identification & the Internship Collaboration/Communication  The Importance of Communication: How Do You Toss Your Slippery Eggs?  Dealing with Sensitive Issues: Communication Situations Why Co-Teaching & Co-Planning  Co-Teaching Data and Research Findings: Benefits & Growth Opportunities  Co-Teaching Myths & Realities What Is Your Role?  How to Be an Effective Intern & Mentor  Conceptualizing the Roles of the Mentor Teacher during the Internship

10. Communication Skills Mentors & Interns participant in a variety of activities dealing with “Communication”

11. One participant the Intern One participant the Mentor

12. 1 st Activity: Pair Communication Discuss & Determine What type/frequency of communication would we like to have with each other during the internship? How will we ensure regular communication with each other during the internship? What is the best way to give each other feedback during the internship?

13. 2 nd Activity: Pair Communication Discuss Responses to the Following Co-Teaching Statements I am comfortable telling my Co-Teacher what I need. I find it difficult to express my opinions when my Co-Teacher doesn’t share them. I tend to postpone discussing touchy topics with my Co-Teacher. I find it important for tasks to be clearly defined and distributed when Co-Teaching.

14. Activity 2 Cont’d: Pair Communication Discuss Responses to the following Personal Statements I am comfortable being told by others what they need from me. I express my opinions, even if others disagree with me. I become defensive when I am being criticized. I am able to resolve problems without getting emotionally intoxicated.

15. Values & Self-Discovery Exercise Value Congruency Interns & Mentors will participate in a “Values Activities” Discussion on Deeper Communication & Uncomfortable Issues

16. Value Congruency

17. 2 nd Exercise: Deeper Communication & Sensitive Topics How Do You Toss Your Slippery Eggs? Be Careful That You Do Not:  Save your “slippery eggs” for a long time and hurl them!  Throw your “slippery eggs” hard & fast because you can’t hold on to tough issues!  Avoid people so that you don’t have to toss your “slippery eggs.”  Wrap your “slippery eggs” in so many layers of expectations & apology that no one is sure you have tossed them. Heck, T., Bacharach, N., Dahlberg K., Ofstedal, K., Mann, B., Wellik, J., & Dank, M. (2010).

18. Addressing Difficult Issues Communication: Learning to Address Difficult Issues Would you agree… Mentor Teacher Issues with Interns: Lateness Personal Hygiene/Body Odor Unrelated work during school day (Text, twitter, Facebook, etc.) Grammar Issues Classroom Management Issues Interns Issues with Mentor Teachers: Lack of Specific Feedback Inappropriate Use of Co-Planning time Unwillingness to allow intern to try new methods and ideas No individual space in the classroom Stepping in to much and to soon Value Congruency

19. Co-Teaching & Co-planning Show the research and the data Define Co-teaching Explain the Benefits Co-Teaching Co –Planning Skills SU Co-teaching Pedagogy

20. Data & Research on Co-teaching Why Co-Teach Landmark research in 1996: 50% of new teachers leave the profession within the first 5 years of teaching (Darling- Hammond & Schlan, 1996) Clinical Experiences are Needed that allow interns to learn from expert modeling of practice alongside teachers who show them how to teach in ways that are responsive to diverse learners (Darling-Hammond, 2006) Co-Teaching Model has great promise for transforming the educational landscape (Bacharach, Heck, & Dahlberg, 2010)

21. Importance of Co-teaching & Co-planning What is Co-teaching? Co-Teaching is defined as two teachers working together in a classroom with groups of students; sharing the planning, organization, delivery and assessment of instruction as well as the physical space. Both teachers are actively involved and engaged in all aspects of instruction. (Bacharach, Bergen-Mann & Washut Heck, 2010) Co-Teaching Co –Planning Skills

22. St. Cloud’s Math Data Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) Compares Traditional and Co-taught student teaching settings Statistically significant in each year with sufficient data (3 of 4) Significance between co-taught and traditional student teaching highlighted MCA Math Proficiency Co-Taught One Licensed Teacher Traditional Student Teaching P OVERALL (4 Year Cumulative) 72.9% (N=1519) 63.7% (N=6467) 63.0% (N=597) <.001 Free/Reduced Lunch Eligible 54.2% (N=513) 47.3% (N=2778) 45.7% (N=232).032 Special Education Eligible 72.0% (N=472) 54.7% (N=1906) 48.9% (N=180) <.001 English Language Learners 30.5% (N=118) 28.8% (N=671) 26.8% (N=41).656

23. St. Cloud’s Reading Data Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment (MCA) Compares Traditional and Co-taught student teaching settings Statistically significant in each year with sufficient data (3 of 4) Significance between co-taught and traditional student teaching highlighted MCA Reading Proficiency Co-Taught One Licensed Teacher Traditional Student Teaching P OVERALL (4 Year Cumulative) 78.8% (N=1461) 67.2% (N=6403) 64.0% (N=572) <.001 Free/Reduced Lunch Eligible 65.0% (N=477) 53.1% (N=2684) 49.5% (N=222) <.001 Special Education Eligible 74.4% (N=433) 52.9% (N=1945) 46.4% (N=179) <.001 English Language Learners 44.7% (N=76) 30.7% (N=515) 25.8% (N=31).069

24. SU Co-Teaching Benefits for Students Co-Teaching Benefits for Students (K-12) Percent Responding N=1,686 More help with questions79.7% Different Styles of teaching68.9% More individual attention66.4% Get two-perspectives65.8% Teachers build off each other60.3% More creative lessons51.2% Assignments graded & returned faster50.9% More energy between teachers46.1% Better discussions45.0% More in-depth knowledge43.1% No benefits4.0%

25. SU Co-Teaching Benefits for Interns Co-Teaching Benefits for Interns Percent Responding N=249 Improved classroom management skills92.4% Increased collaboration skills92.0% More teaching time90.0% Deeper understanding of curriculum through co- planning 89.2% More opportunities to ask question and reflect88.6% Increased confidence88.4%

26. SU Co-Teaching Benefits for Mentors Co-Teaching Benefits for Mentors Percent Responding N=326 More help for students with high need94.5% A better relationship with student intern92.3% Professional growth through co-planning90.5% Enhanced energy for teaching89.0% Ability to host intern without giving up classroom/gym 87.1%

27. What is Your Role? Intern or Mentor? What is Your Role? Mentor or Intern? Roles of Mentors & Interns

28. Activity 1: What is your Role in this Partnership 1. Split up: Interns with Interns & Mentors with Mentors 2. Independently list characteristics 3.Then, Mentor/intern partners share list 4. Discuss as a whole group 5. Big idea- What kinds of things should a mentor teacher do? Roles of Mentors & Interns

29. Be Prepared Reserve a room and time slot Agendas Handouts ready PowerPoint presentation Technology set up Refreshments Evaluations Being Prepared

30. Value Congruency Roles of Mentors & Interns Communication Skills Co-Teaching Co –Planning Skills Administration Buy In Successful Mentor/Intern Forum All the pieces come together…

31. What did the Mentors, Interns, and Administration say….. Jamie Fallin: SU Intern Kim Marowski: Mentor Dee Shorts Principal

32. Questions

33. References Bacharach, N., Heck, T., & Dahlberg, K. (2010). Changing the the face of student teaching through co-teaching. Action in Teacher Education, 32 (1), 3-13. Badiali, B. & Titus, N. (2010). Co-teaching: Enhancing student learning through mentor-intern partnerships. School-University Partnerships, 4 (2), 74-80 Butler, B & Cuenca, A. (2012). Conceptualizing the roles of mentor teachers during student teaching. Action in Teacher Education 34 (4), 296-308. Conners, K., Siers, R., Jenne, J., Brown, M., Booth, M., & Outten, C. (2011, September). “High maintenance” interns and the challenge of pds sustainability. PDS Partners 7 (2), 13. Gong, T., & Siers, R. (2011). Linking transformational leadership to student teacher’s efficacy: Contributions of mentor teacher’s leadership behaviors. Academic Leadership, 9 (1) Heck, T., Bacharach, N., Dahlberg K., Ofstedal, K., Mann, B., Wellik, J., & Dank, M. (2010). Mentoring teacher candidates through co-teaching: Collaboration that makes a difference. St. Cloud, MN: Teacher Quality Enhancement Center.

34. References Moir E. (1991). A guide to prepare support providers for work with beginning teachers: Training module. New Teacher Success: You Can Make a Difference. Riverside, CA: California Department of Education and Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Siers, R. (2013, August). How to Conduct an Effective Mentor/Intern Co-teaching Forum. PDS Liaison Workshop. Siers, R., Elburn, S., & Ramey, C. (2012, September). The internship journey through the lens of the student interns. PDS Partners 8 (2), 2-3. Siers, R., & Gong, T. (2012). Examining the effects of mentor teacher’s leadership practices and levels of interaction on student intern efficacy in professional development schools. School-University Partnerships, 5 (1), 63-74 Siers, R. (2011, May). Challenging the status quo in professional development schools: Mentor teachers’ impact on student intern efficacy. PDS Partners 7 (1), 4-5. Siers, R. (2009). Teacher leadership. In D.W. Hammond & J. Buffone (Eds.), Your first years of teaching: Beginning a journey of excellence (pp. 117-119). Salisbury, MD: Seidel School of Education and Professional Studies.