Mentor Reflection Paper

I really enjoyed my time interviewing Matthew Conover at Valley High School. He did

his credential program at UCI and student taught at Carr Intermediate School. After earning his

credential, he was hired at Valley High School and has taught there 6 years. He currently teaches

freshmen in Algebra I Honors and seniors in Calculus. He also coaches both the girls' and boys'

golf teams and created the Valley High School college preparatory club, Anteater Academy. The

students that he student taught at Carr became his Geometry students during his second year at

Valley. It was around these students that he created Anteater Academy. The students were

grouped together in every class for the next 2 years. The rate of students attending a 4-year

university after high school when Mr. Conover began at Valley was under 30%, but of his first

class that participated in Anteater Academy, 73 out of the 77 students were accepted at 4-year

universities. It was after this that he was given the Algebra I Honors class.

He gave me a few really helpful insights on his day to day classroom instruction. One of

them was to have close proximity to everyone at all times. He seats his students so that he can

physically walk around to every student and monitor how they are doing. He said that students

almost always will do what they are supposed to be doing when you are checking that everyone

is working. He also stressed the importance of having a good relationship with all students.

Students are more likely to respect classroom procedures, participate in class, and complete their

homework if there is mutual respect between the student and the teacher.

Mr. Conover also gave me some advice on what to do as a first year teacher. He said that

during his first year he found the most support through administration, which I was somewhat

surprised by. He also said that all of the new teachers, regardless of content area, kind of created

a little community of support for each other. On a day-to-day basis regarding smaller questions,

he went to the teachers with classrooms in close proximity to his own because it was more
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convenient. Another piece of advice he gave me was to eat lunch with the other teachers. My

master teacher told me the same thing. They both said that a new teacher shouldn't stay in their

classrooms during lunch, even though it may seem uncomfortable to eat in the teachers' area.

I was surprised by his response when I asked him about English Learners and students

with special needs; he said that he hardly ever makes accommodations to his instruction. 98% of

the students are Hispanic, most are bilingual; so students are able to translate new vocabulary or

concepts to the English Learners during class time. Since he teaches only 9th grade honors and

calculus, he has no students with special needs in any of his classes. I am having a similar

experience in my master teacher's classes since she only teaches 7th grade honors.

I followed up my question about ELs and SPED students by asking about what resources

he uses to supplement his instruction. He said that besides the normal instruction he gives, he

only uses Desmos videos during class. He believes that almost all of the actual learning occurs in

the classroom, so homework is only graded for completion. I am very glad I have the opportunity

to meet Mr. Conover; he was very encouraging and gave me a few resources that he thought

might be useful. He said that he is hoping to maybe go back to UCI as a professor to teach the

students in the credential program.