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Monthly archive July, 2010

To-Dos for new teachers; helping our JEA mentees get off to a good start as new teachers

by Julie Dodd JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair The new school year is just a few weeks away for many school districts. Now is a good time for mentors to make contact with new teachers to offer a listening ear and a conversation that leads to the new teacher being better prepared for the start of...

Teachers and students may have different cultures, presenting challenge and opportunity for teachers

by Julie Dodd JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair Diversity was one of the topics we discuss during the Mentor Academy last week at Kansas State. We talked about the wide range of diversity in today’s classrooms — racial, socio-economic, cultural, religious, sexual orientation, etc. I was reminded of that discussion when I read “Taeching Secrets: When...

JEA mentoring program in the news on the JEA website

by Julie Dodd JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair The mentor training made the homepage of the JEA website  — with a photo of the mentors and trainers on the steps of Kedzie Hall at Kansas State University. Here’s the group — Front row (left to right): Kay Locey (Washington), Janice Hatfield (Pennsylvania), Julie Dodd (committee co-chair), Nick...

Podcast #2: Mentor and Mentee discuss their communication strategies

Listen to the second JEA mentoring podcast either by clicking the audio player below or by visiting iTunes and subscribing to the JEAMentoring podcast there.  The Journalism Education Association Mentoring group is one of the first mentoring podcasts out there. Listen to an interview conducted by Julie Dodd with Kansas mentor Mary Anne McCloud and her...

Mentors brainstorm strategies, try out activities

[slideshow] by Julie Dodd JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair The Mentor Academy continues with a variety of activities. The training is a combination of presenting information, working in groups, and asking questions. A key focus of the training is how to use language that encourages the mentees to be reflective,  to recognize what they are doing...

Mentor and mentee model mentoring conversation

Kansas mentor Mary Anne McCloud and her mentee Erika Rickard joined us this afternoon to demonstrate a mentoring conversation. The new mentors observed and afterwards Nick Ferentinos guided a discussion of how the conversation was structured to make it productive and positive. Judy Robinson recorded the conversation so we can show it to other mentors....

Mentors consider factors that impact new journalism teachers

by Julie Dodd JEA Mentoring Committee What are the issues that are affecting journalism education today? We asked the mentors to write headlines that reflect the issues nationally, statewide and locally that impact journalism educators. Here are some of those headlines: Recession threatens funding for education Common Core Standards marginalize high school electives Principal edits...

Group photo of our fourth group of JEA mentors

The mentors gather on the steps of Kedzie Hall at Kansas State University.

Mentors meet each other and begin Mentor Academy

[slideshow] by Julie Dodd JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair JEA mentor training is underway at Kedzie Hall at Kansas State. Our new mentors are from California, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. They’ve interviewed and introduced each other, and we’ve started a range of activities to help them brainstorm mentoring issues. Nods of agreement. Laughter....

Online resources for advisers

Mentor team gets ready for the Mentor Academy

[slideshow] We spent today preparing materials and reviewing the scripts and lesson plans. We’ve been receiving periodic phone calls as the new mentors arrive at the Kansas City airport.

A visit to Linda Puntney’s office — JEA’s executive director

[slideshow] by Julie Dodd JEA Mentoring Committee co-chair A visit to Linda Puntney’s office at Kansas State is a reminder of the many hats she wears — as executive director of the Journalism Education Association, as adviser of The Royal Purple yearbook, as a summer workshop instructor, as a faculty member, and as director of...