MY MENTOR - MS. RHOADS
Ms. Janice Rhoads has been my mentor since day one at Terry High School. She has been a biology teacher at Terry for about ten years and the school can’t function without her. One of the superintendents made her come to my interview because he trusts her opinion so much. The first question she asked me was, “Are you willing to step on their throats?” Little did she know that I would be terrible at that and end up running a circus next door during my first year.
WHAT SHE MEANT DURING MY FIRST YEAR:
"Ms. Rhoads’ advice and resources have been extremely valuable to me this year. She also feeds me when I forget my lunch and brings me back from the ledge when I’m nearing an emotional breakdown. She assures me that it will get better with time and that “we aren’t doing brain surgery here! Chill out.” We share a planning period and have an hour every day to just bounce ideas off of each other. It has impacted student learning tremendously – my kids wouldn’t have half of the lab equipment and activities that they do if she wasn’t willing to share with me. I am so lucky to have her next door. We text each other links to good videos and worksheets at night."
AND SHE'S BEEN JUST AS IMPORTANT DURING MY SECOND YEAR:
"Throughout the last two years, we have developed an extremely efficient way of planning together. I make all of our bell work, and she develops every lab activity. I find videos to show on YouTube, and she finds graphic organizers to use as guided notes. I write and turn in lesson plans for both of us online, and she pulls out old-school reading/notes sheets and other helpful materials. Through this method, we have cut our planning time to about half of what it was before we started collaborating. She has also bestowed all of her brilliant knowledge about classroom management onto me – how to lie to children effectively, how to convince kids you know everything when you really don’t, how to trick children into reading – her brain is a gold mine. Our classroom is joined by a closet that has doors into both rooms – this closet is appropriately named the “snack shack” – and it is not uncommon for either of us to burst into each other’s room with “LOOK AT WHAT I MADE!” We both share a strong enthusiasm for review and vocabulary games, and together we have mastered the art of using the same words from a single unit and turning it into 5 different stations that can entertain the kids for hours. Outside of just planning, Ms. Rhoads also knows how to accomplish things at Terry High School. She knows everyone and everyone knows her. She is not afraid to ask administration for what she wants and needs, including resources and technology, and she always asks for it for me, too. Without Ms. Rhoads’ help, there is no way I would have been half as successful as I have been these past two years, and while I haven’t knocked it out of the park, I’ve reached a lot more students than I ever could have without her."
Ms. Janice Rhoads has been my mentor since day one at Terry High School. She has been a biology teacher at Terry for about ten years and the school can’t function without her. One of the superintendents made her come to my interview because he trusts her opinion so much. The first question she asked me was, “Are you willing to step on their throats?” Little did she know that I would be terrible at that and end up running a circus next door during my first year.
WHAT SHE MEANT DURING MY FIRST YEAR:
"Ms. Rhoads’ advice and resources have been extremely valuable to me this year. She also feeds me when I forget my lunch and brings me back from the ledge when I’m nearing an emotional breakdown. She assures me that it will get better with time and that “we aren’t doing brain surgery here! Chill out.” We share a planning period and have an hour every day to just bounce ideas off of each other. It has impacted student learning tremendously – my kids wouldn’t have half of the lab equipment and activities that they do if she wasn’t willing to share with me. I am so lucky to have her next door. We text each other links to good videos and worksheets at night."
AND SHE'S BEEN JUST AS IMPORTANT DURING MY SECOND YEAR:
"Throughout the last two years, we have developed an extremely efficient way of planning together. I make all of our bell work, and she develops every lab activity. I find videos to show on YouTube, and she finds graphic organizers to use as guided notes. I write and turn in lesson plans for both of us online, and she pulls out old-school reading/notes sheets and other helpful materials. Through this method, we have cut our planning time to about half of what it was before we started collaborating. She has also bestowed all of her brilliant knowledge about classroom management onto me – how to lie to children effectively, how to convince kids you know everything when you really don’t, how to trick children into reading – her brain is a gold mine. Our classroom is joined by a closet that has doors into both rooms – this closet is appropriately named the “snack shack” – and it is not uncommon for either of us to burst into each other’s room with “LOOK AT WHAT I MADE!” We both share a strong enthusiasm for review and vocabulary games, and together we have mastered the art of using the same words from a single unit and turning it into 5 different stations that can entertain the kids for hours. Outside of just planning, Ms. Rhoads also knows how to accomplish things at Terry High School. She knows everyone and everyone knows her. She is not afraid to ask administration for what she wants and needs, including resources and technology, and she always asks for it for me, too. Without Ms. Rhoads’ help, there is no way I would have been half as successful as I have been these past two years, and while I haven’t knocked it out of the park, I’ve reached a lot more students than I ever could have without her."