When I was a new teacher, I spent my day asking questions — from how to use the copier to how to reach a struggling student and everything in between. It was sometimes exhausting. I felt like I was the only one in my building who didn’t know how things worked. When my classroom door was shut, I felt cut off from the rest of the world. When I got a mentor, things changed. My mentor consistently stopped by to check on me and my students and ask how she could help. She offered to observe some of my classes and even, occasionally, to teach a lesson so that I could get some ideas. She was a lifeline I knew I could reach out to