Some of Bismarck Public Schools newest teachers stood in a group in the South Central High School gym, feeling what it's like to be one of their students.

In rapid succession, they were supposed to count off, and anyone could say the next number. Occasionally, physical education teacher Kurt Weinberg started the sequence over at No. 1.

The demonstration was part of a day's worth of activities for new teachers and their mentors. The district has a mentoring program for new teachers that pairs them up with a teacher with at least three to five years experience.

They meet four times a year for training-type activities, such as the event Tuesday at Hughes Education Center.

"One … two, three … four … five, six, seven … eight." Sometimes someone piped up immediately with the next number; other times, they hesitated before calling out a number. A few stood silently.

Weinberg reminded the teachers, who are new to the district this year, that their students sometimes feel the same hesitation to answering questions in class.

They also learned some team-building exercises that help build communication skills and learned about goal-setting.

It wasn't all fun and games Tuesday. The 32 new teachers also discussed ways to communicate with parents and sort out technology issues with Power School and Power Grade, a computer-based student tracking system and grade book.

Besides the training days, teachers usually have access to their mentors at their schools. The district tries to match new teachers up with mentors in their school building.

"We don't want them to feel like, 'Here you are. Here's you room. Here's your key. Good luck,'" Human Resources Director Lisa Kudelka said.

The mentors help the teachers learn how to manage a classroom, how things are organized in their building and about the curriculum. sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)