Being a Mentoring Teacher with Sarah Brown Wessling (More Than Mentoring, Part 2)

Join host Juliana Urtubey, NBCT, on this episode of 3Ps in a Pod as she connects with Sarah Brown Wessling, NBCT, an Iowa-grown educator who is as passionate as ever about what she does and finding ways to make deep connections. In this second episode of our series “More Than Mentoring,” Sarah explains how she collapses the space between mentor and teacher in order to be in a collaborative relationship with her mentees. 

Sarah Brown Wessling is a high school English teacher and the director of the National Teacher of the Year program, which gives her the opportunity to work with the state teachers of the year. She is a fierce advocate for the profession and a mentor who embodies curiosity and kindness.

Sarah pushes us to explore our teaching identity and to examine how we mentor teachers to ensure we aren’t telling teachers how to establish a teaching identity but supporting them in discovering their own teaching identity through reflection. She also explains why and how she crafts invitations for learning and how that impacts trust, autonomy, respect, and community. 

Sarah and Juliana talk deeply about developing relationships and how limiting our idea of mentoring to specifically timed meetings can limit those relationships. Mentors, whether working with students or adults, should consider establishing connection points that allow for rolling and continuous conversations. Sarah coaches us to be the most interested person in the room and ask questions that will support growth. She shares that questions are like “pulleys” and, when we are genuinely curious, questions pull us closer. 

Don’t forget that Sarah reminds us that listening is leadership and a gift. Often those we are listening to have the answer in themselves and just need the encouraging nudge of hearing their words back to them to know they are seen and that they are moving in the right direction.

Continue your learning

After listening to this episode, use the reflection guide to explore your approach to mentoring. Find the reflection guide at this link.

Learn more about the Arizona K12 Center at azk12.org.