New Teacher Help

Product Description

Take a look inside lesson one of our New Teacher Help online course.

Instructor: Shannon Holden 

Introduction
Each year thousands of new teachers are hired by school districts and begin their career with enthusiasm, optimism, and a goal to make a difference in students’ lives.
Five years later, half of these new teachers have exited the profession. Some of them were fired, most of them have quit out of frustration, and all of them experienced the pain of unattained goals, hopes, and dreams.
How did this happen? Most have unfairly blamed American universities’ teacher preparation programs, who are already requiring that teaching candidates spend almost five years preparing for the classroom. Universities assume that teachers will be trained in “practical” policies and procedures when they get hired by a school district. School districts assume that new teachers have been taught these techniques by universities.
The result – teachers aren’t taught these vital skills.

Teachers who survive in the profession are able to figure out how to make it through “trial and error”, and those who make it go through a great deal of pain and suffering before they achieve “veteran” teacher status.
This online professional development course is designed to lessen the pain and suffering, lessen the time it takes for novice teachers to assimilate into the profession, and reduce the amount of teacher attrition that takes place.

This course is taught by Shannon Holden, founder of NewTeacherHelp.com and host of two popular webinar series on edWeb.net. Shannon Holden also teaches pre-service teachers at Missouri State University how to implement technology in their classrooms.

New Teacher Help online course is available through the University of North Dakota, where teachers can receive CEU university credits upon successful completion.

Course Objectives
You will discover:
Research-based instructional strategies that work in the real classroom.
Discipline plans that minimize disruptive and disrespectful student behaviors.
How to involve parents in their student’s educational endeavors.
Motivational strategies and motivational lesson plans that will work on disconnected students.
Strategies to avoid being reprimanded, disciplined, dismissed, non-renewed, or sued.
Where to find free online resources to help build an educator’s repertoire of teaching techniques.

Session Topics
The first day of school.
2. Using rationales to build relationships.
3. Building relationships with parents and staff.
4. Your teaching evaluation.
5. Contacting parents the right way.
6. Making a good first impression.
7. Can you be liked AND respected?
8. Solving mysteries.
9. Avoiding litigation.
10. Make perception a reality.
11. Discussion topics to avoid.
12. Using video technology correctly.
13. New teacher strengths.
14. Sample discipline plan.
15. Documentation.
16. Building relationships.
17. Dealing with difficult parents.
18. The first week of school.
19. Career killers.
20. Using the lines of communication available to you.
21. Things you may not have been taught in college.
22. Your mental health.
23. Make yourself indispensable.
24. Your grading plan.
25. The last weeks of school.
26. Using summer to prepare.
27. Finding a job.

Outline of Course
Lesson One – The first day of school
We give novices an understanding of why “Setting the Tone” is so important on the first day of school.
We provide teachers with a script of what to say during the first day of school, as well as productive activities that lay the groundwork for a year of productive learning.
Teachers will learn how to identify students that will need specialized instruction or attention later.

Lesson Two – Using rationales to build relationships
Teachers will understand that students will be more likely to comply with rules if they know WHY the rule exists.
We show teachers how to document their answers to “Frequently Asked Questions”, and file them for easy access later.
Time-saving techniques will be revealed to teachers that will make answering parent emails a painless process.

Lesson Three – Building relationships with parents and staff
Teachers will understand that 90% of a teacher’s success or failure can be tied to the relationships he/she forms with parents, staff, and administration.
Teachers will learn how to use specific techniques to form connections with stakeholders that will empower them to perform their job properly.

Lesson Four – Your teaching evaluation
The teaching evaluation is one of the most important documents that the teacher will receive in their career, but the techniques needed to score well on the evaluation are vague.
Teachers will be shown “look fors” that many administrators look for when they do teacher evaluations.
Teachers will learn how to discuss the results of their evaluation with their administrator in a professional manner.

Lesson Five – Contacting parents the right way
Teachers will learn how to contact parents in a way that enlists their help rather than creating an adversarial relationship.
Teachers will learn about “trigger words”, words that should not be used by teachers when conferencing with parents.
Teachers will be shown ways to give parents the same message without using inflammatory language.

Lesson Six – Making a good first impression
Teachers will develop strategies to establish themselves as professional, competent individuals in the eyes of administrators, parents, and colleagues.
Teachers will develop strategies to communicate their “Moral Imperative” to educate children to administrators, parents, and colleagues.

Lesson Seven – Can you be liked AND respected?
Teachers will learn how to earn student respect without “befriending” them.
Teachers will know what behaviors cause them to lose respect in the eyes of students.

Lesson Eight – Solving mysteries
Teachers will examine ways to encourage students to tell the truth when questioned about incidents that happen in the classroom.
Teachers will involve the right people to help them determine the perpetrators of wrongdoing in their classroom.
Teachers will learn techniques to combat the “Culture of Silence” that many students live by when it comes to reporting wrongdoing.

Lesson Nine – Avoiding litigation
In our litigious society, educators are routinely sued by parents for a variety of reasons. This lesson will help teachers protect themselves from lawsuits.
Teachers will be told which types of behaviors can land them in legal

Lesson Ten – Make perception a reality
In the world of education, “Perception is Reality”. This lesson shows teachers how to establish a perception of themselves as caring, competent
This lesson also shows teachers how to change a negative perception if they have made a poor first impression.

Lesson Eleven – Discussion topics to avoid
Teachers sometimes try to appear “cool” to students by having class discussions about inappropriate topics. Sometimes, class discussions start out as appropriate and then veer into inappropriate territory.
Teachers will learn how to avoid controversial or inappropriate class discussions, and how to steer off-topic discussions back to an appropriate direction.

Lesson Twelve – Using video technology correctly
Teachers will be shown how to implement video technology in their classroom without spending money.
A variety of video technologies will be explored, and their “pros” and “cons” will be examined.

Lesson Thirteen – New teacher strengths
Most novice teachers are continually told what they are NOT good at.
This lesson will focus on the strengths that all new teachers possess – and how to make these strengths work to their advantage.

Lesson Fourteen – Sample discipline plan
The discipline plan is a “make or break” document for a new teacher. This lesson shows novices how to construct a strong discipline plan, and implement it so that it works.

Lesson Fifteen – Documentation
Many teachers learn the hard way that “if it isn’t documented… it didn’t happen”. This lesson shows teachers how to keep accurate records.
Equal in importance to keeping accurate records is the filing system necessary to quickly find the information needed to protect themselves from threats. Teachers will learn how to organize their documentation for easy access.

Lesson Sixteen – Building relationships
Teachers will learn how to build relationships with various stakeholders in order to use the relationships for positive educational outcomes for students.

Lesson Seventeen – Dealing with difficult parents
The reason many novice teachers give for leaving the profession is dealing with difficult parents.
This lesson shows teachers how to communicate with these difficult people.
Teachers will learn how to communicate with, gain support from, and respectfully disagree with these stakeholders.

Lesson Eighteen – The first week of school
The first week of school is incredibly important for novice teachers. This lesson shows new teachers how to set up routines, procedures, and consistency in order to have a successful school year.

Lesson Nineteen – Career killers
The points contained in this lesson can result in the termination of a teacher – and are therefore very important for every teacher to know.
Teachers will learn to avoid these types of situations, and how to extricate themselves from danger.

Lesson Twenty – Using the lines of communication available to you
Teachers will be shown all of the various communication channels with parents, administrators, students, and colleagues.
Students thrive on the miscommunication between school and home. This lesson shows teachers how to bypass students, and communicate with parents directly so that there are no misunderstandings.

Lesson Twenty-One – Things you may not have been taught in College
Teacher education programs focus primarily on educational theory. This lesson gives teachers an introduction to a few practical applications of educational theory.
Many of the points contained in this lesson were learned by “Trial and Error”. It is our hope that the teachers who take this course will learn without the pain associated with the “Trial and Error” technique.

Lesson Twenty-Two – Your mental health
A significant percentage of teachers “burn out” after just a few years of This lesson shows teachers how to pace themselves in their career so that this doesn’t happen to them.
Techniques to lessen stress, let go of negative thoughts, and recharge batteries will be discussed.

Lesson Twenty-Three – Make yourself indispensable
Teachers will learn techniques to make themselves an integral part of the school community.
Teachers will learn how to identify areas of need on their campus, and receive training to fill those specific needs.

Lesson Twenty-Four – Your grading plan
The “Last Frontier” of teacher control is the grading policies implemented by each individual teacher. They are like snowflakes – no two teachers are alike.
Teachers will learn about the faulty math necessary to believe that a “zero” is a fair grade to give a student.

Lesson Twenty-Five – The last weeks of school
Many books, websites, and online courses show teachers how to handle the first week of school.
This lesson examines the equally important LAST weeks of school, and shows teachers how to finish the school year on a positive note.
Teachers will be shown the characteristics of good activities that are possible after the state test has been given, the library has been shut down, and students’ brains are on early vacation.

Lesson Twenty-Six – Using summer to prepare
Summer vacation is the best time for teachers to engage in activities that prepare them for a productive school year. This lesson shows teachers how to rest, recharge, receive training, and do other activities to prepare for the school year.

Lesson Twenty-Seven – Finding a job
Teachers sometimes feel trapped in a job or situation that is not conducive to their personal and professional growth. This lesson will show teachers how to keep their resume updated, their interview answers polished, and their Philosophy of Education ready in order for them to be in control of where they work.
Teachers will be taught how to stand out from the hundreds of other applicants for their desired teaching position.