Lightning Connect

Each year I am both shocked it's already April and feel like the school year has gone on forever. Am I right? Regardless, here we are.

During the month of April, testing season, it is easy to focus only on the BIG picture...STAAR. As both a teacher of record and teacher mentor, you probably have year-long goals for yourself, your students, and the novice(s) you support. And while waiting to celebrate until the goal has been accomplished is all good and well, research suggests you should celebrate the small wins along the way.

Taking time to notice and share when you have met incremental steps increases dopamine, while reducing fear, gaining clarity, and setting ourselves up for future success and goal completion. Um, yes, please! It is also true that setbacks are part of the journey. Therefore, practicing noticing when you or your students, or the novice teacher make gains, encourages resiliency and efficacy. Whisper that specific complement, share that sticky note, handout those stickers--all of your noticing adds up. (Parsons, 2024)

How will you start your small win practice? Some suggest you take a moment during the day to write out your small wins and share them with someone you trust. Others suggest making time during a restroom break or lunch to reflect before the end of the day is the way to go. My mentor, when I was a novice, would stop by every afternoon on her way to the office and leave me a short note about something I'd done well that day. I still have some of those notes though it's been almost 30 years. However you choose, what is most beneficial is that you choose to celebrate yourself and others.

Did you receive a TIA Designation? Let us know. Fill out the form below.

Ready to up your mentoring practice this Spring!

1. Consider a coaching skill you'd like to focus on:

• reflective questioning (to understand, to move forward, to motivate, etc.)
• pausing
• paraphrasing
• connecting
• curiosity

2. Record yourself having a FSC for a Mentor Mirror Session (you could also invite your TxCEE Mentor Coach or MPA Manager/principal to observe you in real time.)

3. Send your video and focus to your TxCEE Mentor Coach (or MPA Manager/principal). Upload Video HERE.

4. Set up a FSC to Analyze, Reflect, and Adjust.

April is a big month for educators. Whether we/ our novice teachers teach tested subjects or not, there is no corner of the campus that is not impacted by STAAR, and the excitement and expectation that comes with testing season.

While the opportunity for our students to shine and demonstrate their growth over the course of the year is huge, our VCLC will focus elsewhere. Time seems to speed up the closer we get to end of the school year so it isn't too early to take some of your fireside chat time to celebrate the accomplishments your novice teacher has made, and to start prepping for next year. We will engage in the importance of reflection and consider a useful tool in this work: the T-Tess rubric.

In the meantime we have some ideas for questions in the following graphic to get the conversation flowing.

“End-of-Year Reflection: The Secret to Teacher Growth.” Edthena, 7 May 2025, www.edthena.com/end-of-year-teacher-reflection/.

🟥Attend April VCLC

There are three choices, you will attend ONE DAY ONLY-

Tuesday, April 14 @ 7:00 AM

Wednesday, April 15 @ 4:00 PM

Thursday, April 16 @ 4:30 PM

🟥MS CLASS & CLASS Mentors--make progress on all Spring Mentor Stipend requirements (MPA Mentors. please refer back to your mentor stipend acknowledgements).

SPRING DEADLINE MAY 8, 2026.

• Log at least 12 hours of support for each semester
• Meet with TxCEE Coach at least 3 times per semester
• Attend 6 VCLCs for the year

Whether CLASS, MS CLASS, or MPA, as district and campus leaders, you will want to know if your mentors are making sufficient progress toward their stipend requirements. Let's check in now instead of waiting until the end of the year when changes can no longer be made.

At the beginning of the year, mentors agreed to certain activities. Regardless of which mentoring program, all mentors must provide at least 12 hours of mentoring support around topics such as classroom management and lesson planning. Look at the mentor logs with them and/or review the progress monitoring logs sent via email.

Also, all mentors need to participate in additional hours of training and coaching. For CLASS and MS CLASS, they must attend at least 6 of our VCLCs. For MPA, all mentors must receive a minimum of 18 hours training of which 4 hours of coaching support may be included.

Reach out your TxCEE coaches if you are with CLASS or MS CLASS and have any questions or concerns. If you are a district or campus leader with MPA, please reach out to your Program Manager.

If you are not a TxCEE Mentor and no longer want to receive The Lightning Connect, please send an email to dana.phillips@esc18.net

The Texas Center for Educator Excellence (TxCEE), an Austin-based satellite office of the Region 18 Education Service Center, provides leadership and technical assistance across Texas to improve educator quality.

TxCEE staff consists of Texas educators with decades of experience as teachers, teacher leaders, campus and district administrators, state education officials, and higher education professionals. Our team is passionate about helping Texas school districts develop and implement systems that support teachers and principals.

Website: txcee.org

“End-of-Year Reflection: The Secret to Teacher Growth.” Edthena, 7 May 2025, www.edthena.com/end-of-year-teacher-reflection/.

Lparsons. (2024, May 30). Why celebrating small wins matters - Harvard Summer School. Harvard Summer School. https://summer.harvard.edu/blog/why-celebrating-small-wins-matters/#What-Is-a-Small-Win