Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 163: How to Find a Teaching Mentor: Build Your Support Network & Avoid Burnout with the FAST Test Method

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Ep 163: How to Find a Teaching Mentor: Build Your Support Network & Avoid Burnout with the FAST Test Method · New Teacher Talk

Hi, I'm Jessica Smith, and I'm a middle grades teacher.
Today,
I'm going to talk to you about finding a mentor and building
a support network.
If you are a new teacher looking for guidance and
connection,
this episode will give you strategies to identify the right
mentors,
grow your professional circle and create a support system
that keeps you grounded and growing.
Teaching, of course,
is one of the most rewarding careers but it can feel very
isolating, especially if you're in your first few years.
The difference between burning out and thriving often comes
down to one thing and that is having the right people in
your corner.
So in the next 15 minutes,
you'll get a simple three-step method to identify your
mentor, a word-for-word outreach script,
as well as a 30-60 90-day plan to keep your support network
active without burning out.
As a teacher, we make countless decisions every day,
often with very little time to think and having a mentor
reduces that pressure.
A mentor will help you see what's urgent,
what can wait and how to avoid rookie mistakes.
For me,
my mentor once stopped me from sending a very long parent
email that would have created more problems than it solved.
She showed me a very quick three-sentence formula that I
still use today.
Mentorship definitely shortens the learning curve and helps
you focus on what matters most, which is your students.
Now, not all mentors are the same.
A common mistake new teachers make is expecting one person,
maybe your assigned mentor teacher,
to be everything for you.
But teaching is too complex for that.
So instead,
just think of mentorship like a map with four rows,
one person can cover more than one box,
but don't expect them to cover all four boxes.
So what the mentorship map looks like,
you have a practical mentor.
This is your go-to for the nuts and bolts, your procedures,
your curriculum pacing, your lesson timing,
what to actually do when they copy your jams 10 minutes
before class.
They'll save you hours of just trial and error on the day-to
-day.
Then you have your instructional mentor.
This is the teacher who really shines with planning and
teaching strategies.
They can help you break down standards,
use the data to group your students and figure out how to
differentiate without losing your mind.
And you have your culture and behavior mentor.
This is the person who masters a classroom.
They have really good presence there.
They know how to set routines,
de-escalate situations and build student relationships.
When your class feels a little chaotic,
this is the person that you watch and learn from.
Last, you have your career and wellness mentor.
And this one is often overlooked.
It's someone who reminds you to protect your boundaries,
think about your long-term goals and actually models what
it looks like to sustain a career in teaching without
burning out.
Now here's a quick exercise you can actually do right now.
Picture a simple square divided into four boxes,
your mentor map.
In each box, write the name of someone who fits that role.
Even if it's just a guess, jot it down.
And if one of your boxes is blank,
that's gonna be your first outreach for the week.
Who can fill that gap for you?
Who could you ask for 15 minutes of their time?
The mentor map will help you see clearly where your support
is strong and where you need to build.
Because thriving as a teacher isn't about having a
superhero mentor,
it's about having the right network around you.
So you might be thinking, well, where do I look?
Well, start in your building.
Think about the leaders of different grade levels,
instructional coaches in your building,
as well as the teacher who's down the hall with those
smooth transitions.
You should also be looking beyond your school.
There are district leads,
there are online teacher networks,
even subject associations where you can have a membership.
And don't forget the support staff.
Your counselors, even your reading specialists,
they often have insights that you're gonna need as well.
So when vetting your mentor,
you're going to use the FAST test.
The F in FAST for focus.
You're gonna ask yourself,
do they focus on students and standards and not gossip?
A for alignment.
Do their values match how you want to teach?
S, specificity.
Do they give you concrete steps and not just vibes?
And T, for time, will they commit a short,
regular touch point?
Now, if someone checks all those boxes,
they are worth asking.
Now, asking does not have to be awkward.
You want to keep it short and specific.
In the hallway, you could say, hey,
I admire how your students are settling in so quickly.
Could I grab 15 minutes next week to learn your routine?
If it's in an email,
I'm working on insert your focus area and then go on to
say, could we set up a quick chat?
And if they say no, just thank them.
Ask them if they recommend someone else.
But remember,
you're building a network and this is not dependency.
So you've made the connection with the mentor.
Once you've made that connection, you structure it.
In the first 30 days,
pick one clear goal and meet briefly to get started.
By 60 days, share a small data point,
include what's improving, what's still rough.
And then by 90 days,
you should have a system that you can sustain and even
share with other colleagues.
Think of your mentorship structure as a coaching cycle.
You want to start small, you want to refine with feedback,
and then you want to codify what's working.
Keep in mind that a mentor is a strong anchor,
but you also need circles of support.
Build your support network to include an inner circle that
includes two to three people you check in with weekly,
a practice circle,
which is your PLC or your grade level team that biweekly,
and your recharge circle.
These are your go-to colleagues or two to three friends who
remind you to be human.
Having a lightweight system that keeps everyone accountable
and connected here is going to be important.
You could have a 10-minute Sunday sync where you message
your inner circle, the focus of the week, and one ask.
You can have a shared playbook folder where there are
routines, parent scripts,
assessments you've debugged included in that folder with
your practice circle.
This can all come in handy when things become
overwhelming.
So let's talk about red flags.
Say you leave meetings more confused,
do you feel dismissed, or advice clashes with your ethics.
It's going to be okay to reset here.
You will simply say,
thank you for your time these past few weeks.
I'm going to pause our check-ins while I focus on this new
goal.
I appreciate your help getting me started.
Then you're just going to remap and re-ask.
Now if things are going great with your mentor,
here are some questions that you can begin asking.
What's one routine you've never skipped?
How do you start class when everything is running late?
What's your parent call script for tough news?
How do you track participation fairly?
What are your two to three feedback stems that work every
time?
What rubrics or checklists do you use?
How do you handle makeup work without drowning?
What do you not do anymore and why?
What data do you actually look at weekly?
And if you were me, what would you tackle next month?
Now onto your homework.
Fill your mentor map four roles, four names.
Send one outreach today using the script.
And last you're going to book two 15-minute check-ins in
the next 30 days.
If this helped,
follow and share New Teacher Talk with a colleague who
needs a boost.
I'm Jessica Smith.
I'm a teacher just like you.
You've got this and you don't have to do it alone.
See you next time.
Thanks for listening to today's New Teacher Talk episode.
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