NEE Beginning Teacher Support

×

Learning Task 1: What Are Some Best Practices for Using the Beginning Teacher Materials in EdHub?

Create a Learning Organizer using NEE Indicator 2.3 and the title, "Best Practices for Using the Beginning Teacher Materials in EdHub." When completing your Learning Organizer for this activity, incorporate the following points.

Summarize the important points from the learning in text box A.

In text box B, consider the four topics included in the beginning teacher assistance module. Record your thoughts about the ways in which each of the four will challenge you as a new teacher. Create and record a plan for meeting those challenges.

• Classroom Management and Community Builder
• Instructional Designer and Facilitator of Student Thinking and Learning
• Professionalism
• Reflective Learner

Use text box C to respond to any comments, questions, or suggestions received from your mentor or administrator.

×

Collaborative Mentor Task A

Tell the beginning teacher about the systemic services and supports available within the classroom, school, district, and community that you routinely use in your classroom. These could include school specialists who can help with technology or curriculum, library resources, materials available for checkout from district departmental offices, community services from the public library, and others.

×

Beginning Teacher Meeting 1

Options for your first face-to-face BTAP meeting:

Option 1: Invite one (or more) guest speaker who is a district resource for classroom assistance. Possible topics include:

• A special education expert to recommend High Leverage Practices that support all learners

• Curriculum experts highlight learning resources that can be borrowed for classroom use from the district or community

• School librarian reviews resources available online or via checkout

Option 2: Have beginning teachers do a quick write describing 2 challenges and 1 “win” from their first days in the classroom. Use a cooperative learning strategy to divide the teachers into partners. Have them share their lists with their partners. Have the pairs join together to form groups of four and share again. End the session by having the teachers record solutions they might use for the challenges they heard about and any ideas from the “wins” that they would like to try.

×

Learning Task 2: How Do Teachers Create and Manage a Learning Community?

Create a Learning Organizer using NEE Indicator 5.3b and the title, "Establishing Teacher-Student Relationships that Support Learning." When completing your Learning Organizer for this activity, incorporate the following.

Summarize the important points from the learning in text box A.

In text box B, consider the strategies included in the activity. Record your goals for building relationships with students. Create and record a plan that will help you meet your goals. Some recommended practices include the following. You may choose to try a few of these out in your classroom.

• Create an inviting atmosphere for all.
• Use students’ names.
• Have frequent, positive interactions with students.
• Be sensitive and supportive of students.
• Be responsive to the agendas and interests of students.
• Acknowledge the perspectives of students.
• Greet students at the door.
• Have high expectations for student learning.
• Show caring about students’ achievement.

Complete text box C after trying out your plan and reflecting on its success. Record any next steps you plan to take.

×

Collaborative Mentor Task B

Ensuring that teacher-student relationships and classroom culture support student learning requires the teacher to promote specific student feelings and perspectives. In other words, it isn’t enough for the teacher to believe these exist, the students must believe it too. This month’s collaborative mentor task involves developing a specific plan for instilling these beliefs in students.

1. Watch this 2.5 minute video by Dave Stuart, Jr. discussing moments of genuine connection.

2. Read this short blog post from Stuart on how to connect with every student.

3. Talk with the beginning teacher about how to connect with every student to ensure they feel valued, known, and respected. Help the teacher make a plan and revisit it later during the school year. Review the teacher’s actions to ensure they connect with every student. (perhaps using a checklist, etc.)

×

Beginning Teacher Meeting 2

Options for the face-to-face BTAP meeting:

Option 1: Create chat stations around the room. List one of the teacher-student relationship ideas on chart paper at each station. Possible ideas include:

• Create an inviting atmosphere for all.

• Use students’ names.

• Have frequent, positive interactions with students.

• Be sensitive and supportive of students.

• Be responsive to the agendas and interests of students.

• Acknowledge the perspectives of students.

• Greet students at the door.

• Have high expectations for student learning.

• Show caring about students’ achievement.

Divide teachers into groups of four. Have the groups go from station to station. Each teacher signs the chart if they have used that strategy in their classroom. Those who sign the chart then tell how they used the strategy and how they feel it may have helped to build a strong positive relationship with their students. All teachers can take notes on strategies they’d like to try.

Option 2: Have teachers create a list of routines/procedures, etc. that they will use in their classroom. Pair teachers with a partner to share their lists. Have the pairs join to form groups of four and share again to form one long list of ideas. Use the Team Stand and Share Cooperative Learning Strategy to share team lists as follows:

• Ask team members to assign each member a number from 1 to 4.

• Have all teams stand, prepared to share an idea from their group list.

• Randomly select a number. The team member with the corresponding number serves as the group's spokesperson.

• Use a round-robin process with each spokesperson sharing one team idea.

• Continue the round-robin sharing, asking teams to not repeat any ideas already shared.

• When all ideas from a team have been covered, the team sits down and the rotation continues with the remaining standing teams.

• If desired, rotate the spokesperson for each group by randomly selecting a new number during the sharing process.

• Teachers can add new ideas to their list throughout the activity.

×

Learning Task 3: How Do Teachers Design Instruction and Facilitate Student Thinking and Learning?

Create a Learning Organizer using NEE Indicator 1.2 and the title, "Ensuring Students are Cognitively Engaged." When completing your Learning Organizer for this activity, incorporate the following.

In text box A, describe a lesson you will be teaching soon and include

• Learning objectives

• Learning activities

• Specify what the students will do during the lesson

In text box B, point out how you will know if your students are cognitively engaged during the lesson. (Teachers know students are cognitively engaged when they hear students talk about the content or see them produce something requiring them to think.) If you need to, you can make some changes to your lesson plan to incorporate more active participation by your students. Consider incorporating one or more of the following:

• Use an advanced organizer to focus students' attention throughout the lesson

• Use a strategy to match students with a partner and have them discuss, answer a question, or explain something to each other

• Connect instruction/activities with students’ lives

• Use authentic examples

• Present a puzzling problem

• Use individual whiteboards to have all students answer questions, work problems, or explain something.

Complete text box C after trying out your plan. Reflect on its success. Record any next steps you plan to take.

×

Collaborative Mentor Task C

Show the beginning teacher a selection from your lesson plans. Explain how the planned activities allow you to know if your students are cognitively engaged. Discuss how and why specific strategies were selected. It may be helpful to plan for peer observations to allow the beginning teacher to see some different strategies in use and assist them in developing plans for using the new strategies.

×

Beginning Teacher Meeting 3

This month’s face-to-face BTAP meeting could focus on EdHub’s Formative Assessment Strategy Cards. (Available in EdHub - there is a link in the bookmark section at the top of the EdHub homepage)

1. Print a set of cards for each new teacher.

2. Give the teachers 15 minutes to review the cards.

3. Each teacher selects one strategy they would like to try in their classroom and plan how they will use the strategy sometime during the upcoming week.

4. Place the teachers in groups of four.

5. Have teachers use the Round Robin Cooperative Learning strategy to describe the strategy they selected and explain how they are going to use it.

6. Have teachers go around the round robin circle again. This time each teacher gives a quick explanation for how they might alter their instruction if the formative assessment strategy they used indicates that their students didn’t “get” it yet.

7. This method allows for quick sharing and ensures everyone is heard without taking up too much class time.

8. Using Formative Assessment strategies during a lesson allows the teacher to gauge student understanding and helps keep students engaged with the content.

×

Learning Task 4: What Should Teachers Know About Professional Communication?

Create a Learning Organizer using NEE Indicator 6.1 and the title, "What Should Teachers Know About Professional Communication?" When completing your Learning Organizer for this activity, incorporate the following.

Summarize the important points from the learning in text box A.

Before completing text box B, examine both your personal and classroom social media sites to ensure they meet the recommendations in the activity. In text box B record any changes you implemented to meet the recommendations.

In text box C write a reflection on your use of grammar and your speaking/writing habits. Identify the rules you are most likely to violate and on which you will need to focus to meet the expectations for teachers.

×

Collaborative Mentor Task D

The mentor and mentee should each share a newsletter or other communication that will be sent home with students soon. Mentor teachers should provide feedback on anything they think might be unclear or cause problems as well as positive characteristics of the writing. The mentee should note any characteristics they would like to incorporate into their home communications from the mentor’s example.

×

Learning Task 5: What Should Teachers Know About The Professional Rights and Responsibilities of Educators?

Create a Learning Organizer using NEE Indicator 8.3 and the title, "Developing Professional Practices.” When completing your Learning Organizer for this activity, incorporate the following.

Reflect on your first year of teaching and the challenges you have faced. Summarize your reflection in text box A.

For text box B, Consider what additional professional learning or skill development would be most helpful to you. List the topics and explain how you feel they would benefit your teaching. Explore EdHub to see which of the topics are included in the NEE Library.

Complete text box C after exploring EdHub. Record the modules that address the topics you identified. Record any next steps you plan to take using those resources or pursuing other venues to obtain the desired professional learning.

×

Collaborative Mentor Task E

Mentors, share your PD Plan for the next year, help the beginning teacher create their plan using the doc version that is available in the Help and Resources section of the NEE Data Tool. Use your plan as a model.

×

Beginning Teacher Meeting 4

This month’s face-to-face BTAP meeting could focus on newsletters the beginning teachers have created.

1. Ask each teacher to bring the latest classroom newsletter (or similar communication) they sent home with their students.

2. Use the Gallery Walk Cooperative Learning Strategy as follows:

• A. Have each teacher post their newsletter on a piece of chart paper or whiteboards around the room to create stations.

• B. Group teachers into teams of four. Each group should start at a different station.

• C. At their first station, groups will read what is posted and one recorder should write the group’s responses, thoughts, and comments on the chart paper or whiteboard. For individual accountability, you may also have each teacher record their own responses, or put their initials below what they wrote. Having different colored markers for each student is also an option.

• D. After three to five minutes, have the groups rotate to the next station. Teachers read and discuss the previous group’s response and add content of their own. Repeat until all groups have visited each station. To involve all group members, groups can switch recorders at each station.If it is a large group, break it into smaller groups so they don’t go to all stations.

• E. Monitor the stations as the groups work.

• F. Have groups go back to their first station to read all that was added to their first response. Bring the whole group back together to discuss what was learned and make final conclusions about what they saw and discussed. Be sure to talk about the Gallery Walk strategy and how they might use it in their classrooms.

×

Learning Task 6: How Can Teachers Become Reflective Learners?

Create a Learning Organizer using NEE Indicator 8.1 and the title, "Reflection and Self-Assessment.” When completing your Learning Organizer for this activity, incorporate the following.

Reflect on your overall use of the NEE indicators your school has selected for focused attention. Select one that you would like to evaluate and seek to improve. Record your reflection and selection in text box A.

Collect data concerning the instructional practice you selected. You might use one of the following methods.

• Student survey to get their perspective. (See student survey questions for your selected NEE indicator.)

• Peer observation to collect data on the indicator.

• Video recording of lessons for self-analysis.

Tell about your data-gathering method and record the data collected in Text Box B.

After examining the data, decide what your next steps will be in seeking change or improvement in your instructional practice. You might look for professional learning materials in EdHub, seek out a workshop or book study, or ask to observe a peer who is skilled in the practice. Set a goal for the change you would like to achieve in your instructional practice. Record your plan in Text Box C.

×

Collaborative Mentor Task F

The collaborative Mentor Tasks for Year 2 involve completing four peer observations. These could be with your mentor, a different colleague, or a mix of both. If you are the only teacher in your content area, you may need to conduct an observation in another building or ask a colleague to create a video recording that you can view later. Use the NEE Peer Observation process and the NEE POWERHub Organizer for Peer Observation to guide your work. Select one of your school’s NEE focus indicators for the observations. Complete the organizer prompts to document your work and direct your reflection and growth efforts.

×

Beginning Teacher Meeting 1 Year Two

The suggested face-to-face meetings for Year 2 involve using the Indicator Video Exemplar collection in EdHub.

1. Each month select one of your district’s NEE focus Indicators or one from the Building Skills Module in EdHub.

2. Select an Indicator Video Exemplar video from EdHub featuring the selected indicator.

3. Give the beginning teachers a copy of the NEE Classroom Observation Rubric for that indicator.

4. Watch the video.

5. Instruct teachers to use the descriptions or lookfors on the rubric to describe what they observed in the video.

6. Ask the beginning teachers to describe something the teacher did that fit the language on the rubric.

7. Ask the beginning teachers to describe something the teacher in the video could have done to improve their instructional practice as described by the rubric.

8. Use the Stand Up/Hand Up/Pair Up strategy to form partners and share their answers. Repeat this several times to allow the teachers to hear a variety of observations about the video.

×

Beginning Teacher Meetings 2, 3, and 4

1. Repeat the process above with different indicators.

2. If you have used all of your district’s focus indicators, consider these that can be challenging for beginning teachers

• A. 1.2 The teacher cognitively engages students in the content.

• B. 4.1 The teacher uses instructional strategies that lead students to problem-solving and critical thinking.

• C. 5.2 The teacher manages time, space, transitions, and activities.

• D. 7.4 the teacher monitors the effect of instruction on the whole class and individual learning.