Teacher mentors Kelly Cave and Kimberly Body (both WSSU grads) share advice with new teachers.
No matter how much classroom preparation a would-be teacher gets, nothing beats the actual experience of running a classroom as a beginning teacher. It’s a task that many new teachers sometimes find a daunting task as they transition from student to the teaching profession.
To help with that transition, Winston-Salem State University’s School of Education and Human Performance held its first annual Beginning Teacher Support Program on June 15th, a program designed to connect with and provide support to recent graduates within their first three years of classroom teaching.
Kimberly Body emphasizes a point.
“William Butler Yeats said that Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire,” said Tarsha Damon, WSSU licensure officer and member of the Beginning Teachers Support and Assessment committee. “The School of Education and Human Performance certainly did a great job filling the pails of our former teacher education candidates but the Beginning Teacher Support initiative is designed to keep the fire burning that can sometimes be doused by the challenges encountered by beginning teachers. The Beginning Teacher Support initiative will offer support to our beginning teachers throughout the state of North Carolina.”
Sessions that focused on Surviving the First Year of Teaching and Integrating Technology into the Common Core Curriculum were offered as professional development. Over 20 WSSU graduates from five regional school systems attended the event. Future events are being planned for Homecoming and Spring 2013.
Dr. Carolyn Anderson listens as new teacher demonstrates how she has used technology for instruction.
Kelly Cave responds to a new teacher question.
Of particular interest: The Beginning Teacher Survival Guide session offers new teachers a variety of helpful hints, resources, suggestions, and strategies to tackle the ever-changing classroom environment. Topics included data driven decision-making, Common Core Standards, infusing technology, problem based learning, writing grants to support instruction, classroom management, Professional Learning Communities, and parent/community relations.
A Beginning Teacher Survival Guide wiki-space was made available to provide participants with an assortment of ready to use lesson ideas to begin the new school year with an interactive and energized approach. Additional review games ideas and resources are also included in the wiki-space to facilitate review sessions for beginning teachers while keeping students actively engaged and focused on learning targets regardless of the grade level or subject area.
