Mentoring has been proven to be one of the most effective means of keeping new teachers in the profession. In this two-part video series, you'll see demonstrations and discussions of the effective components of a good mentoring program. Donna Niday and Jean Boreen expand on and illustrate the concepts found in their books, Mentoring Beginning Teachers and Mentoring Across Boundaries. Each video takes you to schools and classrooms in Flagstaff, Arizona, where you'll see new and student teachers working with their mentors to successfully navigate the crucial first years of teaching. Topics covered include:

What it takes to be a good mentor; how to effectively hold preconferences and postconferences with new teachers;how to successfully observe new teachers;effective team-teaching practices with new teachers;how to build strong relationships between mentor and mentee.At a time when many teachers are leaving the profession too early in their careers, mentoring provides an effective method for sustaining new teachers. Through mentoring, teachers not only learn to survive their first teaching experiences, but also learn to thrive and become accomplished professionals.

About the Authors

Jean Boreen is an associate professor of English education at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she regularly teaches secondary methods courses on young adult literature and teaching literature in secondary schools.

After twenty years of teaching in public schools, Donna Niday now serves as an associate professor of English at Iowa State University where she directs the first-year writing program, supervises student teachers, and teaches young adult literature...