School districts setup mentors for you in an official capacity. They pay them a few hundred bucks to meet with you now and then. It's a pittance; it's basically charity / good will. In Pepp's case, Bob is not his "official mentor," but Pepp's latched onto him, and Bob's taking him under his wing.
Here's what I originally shared on LinkedIn:
At my heart of hearts, I'm a #scienceteacher.
I've built a career off the unique perspective and flexible skillset that a life of studying #physics provides. Couple that with growing up in the construction field, and my work ethic urges me to do my best when I "set my hand to the plow." This is a _great_ approach to work, BUT it also means that setbacks and barriers to success that seem too high (at least when you're on your own - key point here) can be particularly frustrating.
In this edition of #TeachedUpComics, Mr. Culpepper is in his first year of #teaching. He grew up on The Magic Schoolbus, Beakman's World, Bill Nye... you know: the Greats! But teaching in #k12schools is _not_ a day in Miss Frizzle's class (she became Dr. Frizzle years later, by the way...if you haven't been watching... for decades... you disloyal fans you..!)
I'll keep this short, but will hit on it again in the future: pre-service teachers a slew of preconceptions in their heads about what teaching will be like. They are almost all entirely off. This doesn't mean they aren't going to like teaching, won't be successful at teaching, or don't have the potential for a long career in education. It _does_ mean that they are going to get hit with some realities pretty quickly. This generates a TON of cognitive dissonance (thank you, Dr. Nyce from UD's Parallel Program for teaching me that in Sociology class back in 2001 - you have no idea how much it's helped me understand my world and experience all these years).
One of my goals for this comic is to help shed light on the stumbling blocks that await new teachers so that they can:
a) build up correct and reality-aligned expectations (unmet expectations are the parent of negative feelings)
b) begin to see the importance of the pillars of a successful #scienceeducation career - things like community involvement, showing up for students, self-care / health / personal well-being, professional growth and development, among others
and
c) start growing their network and personal toolboxes to avoid teacher-burnout and all the unhealthy frustrations that come from an inability to properly communicate with their students, the parents, their colleagues, and (of incredible importance as well, especially since it is so often neglected and not understood or practiced properly) communicate with their supervisors / administrators.
Thank you for reading this far...and thank you LinkedIn for not being Twitter.
Someday far in the future, at a ComicCon no doubt, two lone fans will be in cosplay outfits of Pepp and Bob - that's how iconic I anticipate their relationship will become. [Tongue in cheek]
To Be Continued...
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