Shannon Horan

Coaching and Mentoring Project

What is the difference between a coach and a mentor? In my eyes, a coach is a person

who teaches the rules and skills of a particular sport or activity. Growing up, I mainly worked

with different softball, cross country, and track coaches. Each coach exhibited a different

coaching style. However, in each relationship I was the athlete, they were the coach, and together

we were striving toward one common goal. I have also experienced working with a wide variety

of mentors. So then, what exactly is a mentor? A mentor is a person who relays information

regarding his or her own career to someone with the dream of pursuing a similar path. A mentor

is also responsible for providing guidance, emotional support, and role modeling to the mentee.

The most influential mentor that I have worked with is Mrs. Jessica Haerr.

Mrs. Haerr was my cooperative teacher during my seven-week student teaching

placement at Greensburg Salem Middle School. Mrs. Haerr guided me in becoming a middle

level life skills teacher. As far as mentor responsibilities go, Mrs. Haerr was a leader by example.

I followed in her footsteps until I was capable of taking over on my own. Mrs. Haerr showed a

lot of confidence in me. She put me to work almost immediately, encouraging me to put my own

twist on lessons and assessments. She provided support both mentally and emotionally. Mrs.

Haerr reviewed lessons and activities with me, comforting me on my hardest days. When

reflecting upon myself as a mentor, I’d like to compare myself to Mrs. Haerr. As a new educator,

I want to be a role model to both students and colleagues. Mrs. Haerr was an excellent mentor to

look up to and a goal of mine is to become as effective of an educator as she is but of course,

with my own personal style.

education. I believe in strong personal relationships. I think that as a teacher, forming positive

relationships with students, parents, families, and colleagues can lay the foundation for a

successful program. As a mentor, I’d facilitate those relationships by helping my mentee form

relationships of his or her own. Opening that network of connections, increases the knowledge

being translated to the mentee. As a mentor, I would also evaluate the strengths and weaknesses

of the mentee. Moving forward, I would educate my mentee in different areas of the subject or

career. In the personal style category, I can improve by being more outspoken. Sometimes, I

keep quiet even if I know that I have the correct answer. As a mentor, I would need to share each

of my thoughts with my mentee to ensure they are learning the ins and outs of every category.

The next category of mentoring is questioning. One helpful thing that my mentor did was

turn the question around on me. After I completed a lesson she would ask, “what went well?” or

“In what areas could you have improved?”. As a mentor, I would be good at reflecting upon my

actions. However, I could improve in asking the difficult questions. I think when mentoring, it is

important to use the “positive, negative, positive” sandwich. For example, in education a mentor

could comment on the teacher’s ability to introduce and explain the lesson then add an area for

improvement such as the conclusion, and finish with a positive comment regarding the teacher’s

rapport with students. As a mentor, it is important to challenge the mentee, otherwise not all

goals will be achieved.

Then, mentors should reflect on their ability to support all colleagues by being open and

accessible. I personally am a very open-minded person. I am willing to hear and try all ideas.

Many of my friends tend to come to me for advice, knowing that I will fully analyze their

situation and offer my honest opinion. One area for improvement in this category is my
availability. I tend to miss phone calls or ignore emails for days. I am not proud of it, however, I

have the tendency to read or listen to the message, respond in my head but never actually send a

written or spoken response in return. As a mentor, I would need to be available to my mentee

most hours of the day.

The next category of mentoring focuses itself on flexibility. Flexibility is an interesting

topic when it comes to me. This is because I am flexible in the sense of being able to change my

plans however I do have the tendency to micromanage. For example, if I had plans to teach

mathematics at 10am and ELA at 11am but we ran out of time for math, rather than moving the

lesson to another day or overlooking an aspect of the lesson, I would attempt to fit the lesson into

another subject area or schedule during the week. Part of me needs to work on seeing where the

day takes me by not planning out every single second.

Mentoring also requires the ability to give feedback. The mentee will not benefit without

constructive feedback. It is important to provide praise and criticism to the mentee. When peer

reviewing my colleagues' work I struggle to critique correctly. I want so badly for them to only

receive praise. However, we all know that nobody is perfect. We all can benefit from critique as

we all have individual areas for improvement.

Next, it is important to set goals and objectives. I am particularly well trained with this.

Being an educator requires me to monitor my own progress as well as my student’s progress. As

old goals are achieved, new goals should be put into place. In a mentor relationship it is

important for both the mentor and the mentee to set personal goals and objectives. It is important

to report back to those goals and objectives daily.

It is also imperative that mentors practice active listening. This is another area in which I

am successful at but can also use improvement in. I am an excellent active listener when the
topic of conversation is one of interest to me. I take note of ideas being introduced and offer up

my commentary as well. However, when the topic of conversation is not of interest to me, I tend

to zone out. As a mentor, I would really need to focus on all aspects of a conversation with my

mentee. In order to be an effective mentor, I should take notes of the key ideas presented to me

by my mentee. Then, I can take time to process the conversation and respond in the most

beneficial manner.

Lastly, it is important for mentors to be aware of different cultures. We all came from

diverse backgrounds meaning that we all have different beliefs and practice different traditions.

This can also mean that we have different cultural perspectives on topics of interest or concert.

As a mentor, it is important for me to acknowledge all similarities and differences between

myself and the mentee. We may not always see eye to eye but being open to other cultures can

lead to new ideas. I am typically curious about the beliefs of others, but I am not always eager to

incorporate them. There is always room to be more accepting of others.

According to Parsloe, coaching and mentoring are both centered around conversations

that help aid others to take charge of their own learning and change (Parsloe). The purpose of

coaching and mentoring is to improve skill or performance in specific areas. Just as Mrs. Haerr

increased my confidence in teaching, mentors or coaches can increase other’s confidence in a

wide variety of areas. Coaches and mentors help others to find their full potential. Mentees

typically become more ambitious when working with a mentor (Parsloe). According to Parsloe

there is no correct setting or process for coaching or mentoring. Successful mentoring

relationships are built off of trust and commitment (Parsloe). We each have the ability to become

a mentor just like the ones who modeled for us.

KaranjaNjeri, N. (2018, June 13). Effective Mentoring Styles For A Leader: BrighterMonday.

Retrieved from https://www.brightermonday.co.ke/blog/mentoring-styles/

Parlsoe, E., Leedham, M. (2016). Coaching and mentoring: Practical techniques for developing

Learning and performance, 3rd ed. New York, NY: Kogan.