Mentor materials
Sharing academic expectations
Select a development area
Consider the development areas for this topic (below). Then make a note of the area you plan to zoom in on and when you plan to visit so you can observe your teacher in this area. Familiarise yourself with the focused development areas. You will select one later when you observe your teacher.
Development area 1: Sharing models
Focused development area
- Teacher, with the support of a colleague, accumulates and refines a range of high-quality models that can be used to exemplify what success looks like to pupils.
- Teacher focuses pupils’ attention on the key components, e.g. using evidence in a paragraph, of a range of high-quality model examples and explains the quality of these key components to pupils, e.g. that the evidence must support the argument the writer is making.
- Teacher ensures pupils engage with the key components of the models, so they are more likely to be remembered.
- Teacher, with the support of a colleague, identifies misconceptions that may arise from the models and plans to prevent these. - Teacher explicitly teaches pupils how to use models to plan, monitor and evaluate their work to support independence and academic success.
Development area 2: Modelling a process
Focused development area
- Teacher ensures pupils know the goal of the process they are modelling and keep it in mind as they model.
- Teacher narrates their thought process when modelling each step and supports pupils’ understanding by linking to prior knowledge.
- Teacher makes the steps of the process they are modelling concrete and memorable ensuring pupils can recall them.
- Teacher ensures pupils participate in the modelling by showing their focus and answering questions about the process and the purpose of the steps.
- Teacher exposes pitfalls, such as misconceptions, as they model and explains to pupils how to avoid them.
- Teacher checks whether pupils have understood the process and how to apply it before getting pupils to do the process themselves.
Example precise target: Teacher narrates their thought process when modelling each step and supports pupils’ understanding by linking to prior knowledge
- Not doing it at all: Model the steps in a process by thinking aloud what you are doing in each step.
- Doing it but needs some improvement: Model the steps in a process by thinking aloud what you are doing in each step and making links to supporting prior knowledge, e.g. ”Drawing a right angle reminds me of drawing right-angled triangles when we were learning about Pythagoras’ theorem. I remember they were 90 degrees.”
- Doing it well and needs some stretch: For processes that are new or complex for pupils, model the steps and your thought process, linking to their prior knowledge, and when pupils’ knowledge becomes more secure ask them for the steps and thought process that needs to be applied
Development area 3: Using worked examples
Focused development area
- Teacher, with the support of a colleague, accumulates and refines worked examples to scaffold pupils towards completing processes independently.
- Teacher checks pupils’ success rate to determine when and how they should gradually remove the scaffolding afforded by worked examples, e.g. by using partially worked examples or just providing the steps or prompts to recall the process.
- Teacher explicitly teaches pupils how to use worked examples to plan, monitor and evaluate their work to support independence and academic success.
Observe
Consider the following questions based on a short (approximately 15 minute) observation of your teacher. of your teacher.
What was your teacher’s previous target? Are they meeting it? How do you know?
Thinking about the development area you have selected for this topic, what is your teacher already doing well in this area? Which focused development area best aligns with what your teacher needs to get better at? What one precise target (bite-sized action) might you work with them on during your mentor meeting?
Reminder: You can choose to stick with this previous target if they have not made enough progress. When moving on to a new precise target, you can select one from the table above or, if this doesn’t fit your teacher’s needs, you can write your own.
How will you model the target to your teacher to show them what good looks like? What questions will you ask to check your teacher understands the model? For example, ‘How it is different from your current practice?’ and ‘What impact might it have on your practice and pupils?’
Reminder: Your model should help your teacher develop their ability in some of the following:
- Setting tasks that stretch pupils, but which are achievable, within a challenging curriculum. Be aware of common misconceptions and discuss with experienced colleagues how to help pupils master important concepts.
- Use modelling, explanations and scaffolds, acknowledging that novices need more structure early in a domain.
- Remove scaffolding only when pupils are achieving a high degree of success in applying previously taught material.
- Break tasks down into constituent components when first setting up independent practice (e.g. using tasks that scaffold pupils through meta-cognitive and procedural processes).
- Narrate thought processes when modelling to make explicit how experts think (e.g. asking questions aloud that pupils should consider when working independently and drawing pupils’ attention to links with prior knowledge).
- Make the steps in a process memorable and ensuring pupils can recall them (e.g. naming them, developing mnemonics, or linking to memorable stories).
Next, meet with your teacher to work through the ‘feedback’ stage of instructional coaching.