When You're the New Teacher

28 Strategies to Align Your Good Intentions with Your Teaching Practices

Elizabeth Soslau

• Publisher: Free Spirit Publishing
• Year: 2024
• eBook ISBN: 9798885545105
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Professional Development

Self-directed, self-paced professional learning teachers can use to build agency and improve their practice, with easy-to-digest ideas that can be implemented in the classroom the next day. Teachers start their professional journey with a clear aim: to teach well so students thrive socially, emotionally, and academically. All too often, though, the hard realities of teaching (mandated curricula, scripted lesson plans, overloaded schedules, students' personal struggles) hamper the best of intentions. Navigating these challenges and avoiding burnout calls for teachers to build strong relationships among colleagues, students, families, and communities. Those relationships in turn help teachers create contexts for deep learning, reflection, and student-centered instruction. This book provides strategies and tools for doing all this. This must-have resource: Provides student teachers and new teachers with a clear set of actions to move into their position and teach well right from the start., Offers practical, step-by-step guidance for building relationships with colleagues and administrators, affirming students' identities, navigating challenges with other professionals, and putting love and care at the heart of teaching., Helps educators build a foundation and philosophy for teaching and collaborating and includes stories from educators and sample dialogues., Dr. Elizabeth Soslau wrote this book to be a resource for self-directed, self-paced professional learning that teachers could use to develop and improve their practice, with easy-to-digest ideas that can be implemented in the classroom the next day. It's a guide that every student teacher, in-service teacher, host teacher, and student teaching field instructor needs.

Table of contents

• A
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Contents
• Contents Cont.
• Contents Cont.
• List of Figures viii
• List of Reproducible Pages ix
• Introduction 1
• Why This Book? 2
• Who Is the Book For? 2
• Scope and Organization 3
• How to Use the Book 4
• Author’s Perspective: Ideas That Underlie the Book’s Strategies 5
• Two Common Truths 8
• Chapter One: Getting Your House in Order 9
• Strategy 1: Unearth Students’ Funds of Knowledge 10
• Strategy 2: Discover Community Assets 12
• Strategy 3: Identify Family Expectations 15
• Strategy 4: Help Students Learn Family Expectations and Set Goals 21
• Chapter Two: Collaboration Is Essential 39
• Strategy 5: Invite Family Adults to Share Their Expertise with the Class 40
• Strategy 6: Guide Students to Reflect on the Family Visits 43
• Strategy 7: Use a Four-Step Framework to Navigate Teacher-Family Communications 45
• Strategy 8: Use Peer Observations to Build Partnerships with Colleagues 48
• Strategy 9: Form or Join a Teacher Inquiry Group 52
• Strategy 10: Develop Relationships with Administrators 58
• Chapter Three: Love and Care in Teaching 69
• Strategy 11: Recognize the Importance of Demonstrating Love and Care for Students 70
• Strategy 12: Anchor Your Classroom with Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors 71
• Strategy 13: Help Students Express and Share Their Identities 73
• Strategy 14: Help Students Consider How They See Themselves and How Others See Them 76
• Strategy 15: Make All Classroom Spaces Affirming Places 79
• Strategy 16: Connect with Journaling and Letter Writing 81
• Strategy 17: Set Norms Together to Build a Classroom Community 84
• Strategy 18: Have a Shout-Out Box for Student Affirmations 86
• Chapter Four: Embracing Opportunities for Growth 95
• Strategy 19: Follow a Recipe for Addressing Problematic Situations with Colleagues 96
• Strategy 20: Make Help-Seeking a Key Part of Your Professional Practice 101
• Strategy 21: Embolden Yourself to Contribute Expertise 103
• Strategy 22: Learn Ways to Manage Stress, Ward Off Burnout, and Find Joy in Teaching 105
• Chapter Five: Moving Out and Beyond 115
• Strategy 23: Reflect and Plan to Make Goodbyes Meaningful 116
• Strategy 24: Expand Your Portfolio 118
• Strategy 25: Prepare for New Beginnings 121
• Strategy 26: Set Yearlong Aspirations for Curriculum and Learning 122
• Strategy 27: Visit and Start Planning for Your New Space 124
• Strategy 28: Make Time for Summer Learning 125
• A Final Word of Encouragement 131
• Acknowledgments 133
• Appendix: Expert Perspectives: Foundations for Teaching and Learning 135
• References 137
• Index 139
• Digital Resources 145
• About the Author 147
• B