Cecilia Lynch is a full time mentor in the Paradise Valley School District. She works with kindergarten, first and second grade beginning teachers.

Why did she want to become a Master Teacher?
“After 29 years, I was ready for a new challenge, to take my practice to that next step. I wanted to really dig deeper into the professional standards, analyze my own career and help others.


What is uniquely effective about the Master Teacher program?
“Spontaneity is the difference. Teachers have direct contact with me at any time when they have an issue. The mentoring is immediate, not `I’ll get back to you in two weeks with an answer to your question.’ As Master Teachers, we are right there at the school. You can work with teachers at a much more personal level.”


Advice to other teachers considering the program:
“Be ready to step back and see new teachers for the value that they bring. Often times people want to go in and say, `this is how I do it, this is what works.’ But we have to be prepared to have that empathy toward new teachers, to begin our learning process all over again. We all remember how we felt as brand new teachers - hoping experienced teachers would help us out and guide us. New teachers are like a sponge ready to take everything in.”


Clearly new teachers benefit, but what about the mentors?
“It’s a renewing of the positive outlook you once had, instead of counting down days to retirement. Also, being a Master Teacher offers a lot of opportunities for professional growth that are extremely beneficial to your career and as a mentor.”


How does mentoring compare to teaching for you?
“They are exactly the same. You get a new group in the Fall that you are anxious to meet and learn about. To construct a lesson plan for a child, you have to look at the whole person, their background, their family life. It’s the same with new teachers; all are at different levels. Even evaluation and assessment are the same—you’re continuously revising how you mentor.”

Lynch was born to teach:
“When I was four, I wanted my dad to build me a school house so I could teach my sisters and all the neighborhood children. I did the worksheets and everything.”

Her hardest issue as a teacher: Time management.
“I just wanted to teach. I went in with this rosy picture that that’s all I’d have to do, then everything else hit me from committee work to planning, assessment, report cards, parent contacts, meetings principals, learning new programs . . . ”
 
Hardest issue as a mentor: Time management.
“There’s still not enough time in the day.”

Her ultimate goal as a Master Teacher is:
“To make a significant difference, not in my mentees’ knowledge or pedagogy of teaching, but in their ability to enjoy teaching, to have the gratification I’ve had.
Once they’ve established the confidence that they can do this job, that it’s not as overwhelming as they thought, that’s when the joy of teaching, learning and sharing happens.”