Faculty Mentor: Dr. Bob Willenbring (University of Mary)
I have had many meetings with Dr. Bob throughout my junior year and have benefitted immensely from each of our meetings. No conversation with Dr. Bob is short, and he often gives so much quality advice without even realizing it. The topics of my meetings with Dr. Bob vary greatly while still having a central theme of what is really important in teaching. The way Dr. Bob is able to connect with his students and develop meaningful relationships is truly an inspiration.
Professional Mentor: Mrs. Catherine Littlefield (Legacy High School)
Before we were sent home for online classes, I was able to meet with my professional mentor, Mrs. Catherine Littlefield, twice at Legacy High School. I was able to observe Mrs. Littlefield teaching as a part of my classroom management course last spring, so I had already met Mrs. Littlefield. My first mentorship activity allowed me to sit in on a department meeting. I was surprised by the overwhelming majority of women in the math department (since math departments are usually dominated by men). The next thing I noticed was how well all the teachers seemed to get along, they were joking with each other and all seemed to be having a good time. They demonstrated such great team chemistry that I hope will be present wherever I teach in the future. My second meeting with Mrs. Littlefield allowed us to discuss some topics important to teaching. She explained how Legacy does standards-based grading, which was quite interesting. The next topic we discussed took close to an hour and became even more relevant just a few days after our meeting. She showed me how she uses Google Classroom for each of her classes. I learned how to create video lessons with powerpoints and how to upload them along with other assignments to Google Classroom.
I have had many meetings with Dr. Bob throughout my junior year and have benefitted immensely from each of our meetings. No conversation with Dr. Bob is short, and he often gives so much quality advice without even realizing it. The topics of my meetings with Dr. Bob vary greatly while still having a central theme of what is really important in teaching. The way Dr. Bob is able to connect with his students and develop meaningful relationships is truly an inspiration.
Professional Mentor: Mrs. Catherine Littlefield (Legacy High School)
Before we were sent home for online classes, I was able to meet with my professional mentor, Mrs. Catherine Littlefield, twice at Legacy High School. I was able to observe Mrs. Littlefield teaching as a part of my classroom management course last spring, so I had already met Mrs. Littlefield. My first mentorship activity allowed me to sit in on a department meeting. I was surprised by the overwhelming majority of women in the math department (since math departments are usually dominated by men). The next thing I noticed was how well all the teachers seemed to get along, they were joking with each other and all seemed to be having a good time. They demonstrated such great team chemistry that I hope will be present wherever I teach in the future. My second meeting with Mrs. Littlefield allowed us to discuss some topics important to teaching. She explained how Legacy does standards-based grading, which was quite interesting. The next topic we discussed took close to an hour and became even more relevant just a few days after our meeting. She showed me how she uses Google Classroom for each of her classes. I learned how to create video lessons with powerpoints and how to upload them along with other assignments to Google Classroom.