Kansas teachers link to distant mentors online

It’s not a gimmicky online substitute for classroom teaching. Rather, it’s the teachers who are accessing more experienced teachers for support during their first years in the classroom.

The teachers are widely scattered in the thinly populated parts of Kansas, and teach specialized courses such as physics, calculus, or special education. The essential advice of veteran teachers might be hours away. So, many have turned to a program called, E-Mentoring for Student Success, developed by the New Teacher Center in Santa Cruz, California.

According to Education Week:

“The New Teacher Center matches each teacher with an experienced peer in his or her field, selected through a competitive application process. (About five people apply for each mentoring spot.) It trains the mentors on how to build trust with the novices and how to probe in the online discussion among their cohort members.”

The program is growing. “In all,” said the article, “some 1,500 teachers across all 50 states now participate in the center’s e-mentoring program.”

Read the whole story here.

e-Mentoring for Student Success (website)

For Rural Teachers, Support Is a Click Away (Education Week, Aug. 26, 2013)