Teachers Are the Center of Education: - New Teacher Center

third grade, the gap is almost insurmountable. Our work as mentors can act as an equalizer for
schools, teachers and students.”
As a mentor and master teacher, Phuong supports and impacts the practice of novice teachers
ensuring an effective learning environment. “I can accelerate a new teacher’s learning in those
first three years so that it’s impacting students’ learning. I really think all first-year teachers in
high-need schools should have mentors. I feel adamantly about it when I see the difference we
make.”
Phuong spends most of her day in the classroom interacting with both teachers and students.
She observes and co-teaches classes with her mentees as a partner in all their activities,
interacting with the students. These classroom activities are supplemented by a 45-minute
weekly meeting between Phuong and the mentee to plan out the week’s classroom activities,
a session that combines curricular issues, student learning data, pedagogy, and the realities of
each class and its students.
While some of Phuong’s time is spent on theory or hypotheticals, conversations primarily
center on the immediate issues of the mentee’s classroom: which students are paired with
each other and why, what intervention is required for a particular student, how the lesson was
presented including what words and examples were used, how a specific question from a child
was answered, whether a student’s family should be contacted, what approach was taken in
response to a specific student’s behavior. “I know their students almost as well as they do. We
routinely review data, discuss students’ needs, and observe classroom interactions, allowing
me to provide insight if a child is falling behind.” She is there to “push the whole time.” Success
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