The three articles written in this dissertation discuss novice teachers and their mentoring experiences. The State of Texas requires that every new teacher, with less than two years of teaching experience, must be assigned a mentor by the district or campus, in the same subject, and ideally with the same planning periods. All too often, novice teachers must contend with being alone and unsupported their first year of teaching. For some new teachers, it seems as if they are thrust into an authority position for which they have not been sufficiently prepared. Teachers, novice or otherwise, need to be in a supportive and nurturing environment if they are to thrive and flourish. The purpose of this dissertation study was to examine the experiences of novice teachers and their mentors to decide if mentoring programs benefit beginner teachers and reduce novice teacher attrition in Texas public schools. The first article, "The Accidental Mentor," is autobiographical in nature, and chronicles my experiences over the last twenty-one years with being mentored by others and my personal development into a mentor to others. The second article, "Mentoring and Teacher Induction: Imparting Pearls of Wisdom" focuses on the mentoring experiences of Helen and J.D. in Craig, You, and Oh's (2017) article "Pedagogy Through the Pearl Metaphor: Teaching as a Process of Ongoing Refinement" and my response to Helen's and J.D.'s interactions and practices. The third article, "Mentoring and Novice Teachers: Teachers' Perceptions at a Local High School in Central Texas" revolves around the mentoring experiences of eight teachers at a high school and my experiences mentoring a novice teacher. These three articles represent the last 20 years of my career in public school as I unpack teaching experiences by reading my personal journals, journal articles and interviewing other teachers about their mentoring experiences. These experiences, for better or for worse, have made me the teacher and mentor that I am today.
