New Teacher Orientation
Facilitator and Mentor Teacher Guide 2015
I.
Welcome
a. Share about you
i. What is your role in the district?
ii. Will you be an ongoing resource for the new teacher (mentor or department facilitator)?
iii. If so, what is the best way for the new teacher to contact you for help- email, phone call, drop
by your classroom, shared lunch time?
b. Learn about the new teacher(s)
i. What were they most recently doing? College? Another job?
ii. Are they from this area, have they recently moved, or will they be commuting to work?
iii. What are their personal hobbies? Does anyone else on the staff share those hobbies?
II.
Culture
a. Acronyms- any additional ones to add for your specific building or department?
b. Professional Development, part 1
i. Four all-district curriculum days
ii. Articulation Day
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III.
Instruction- general
a. Department Scheduling
i. Who teaches which course/grade?
ii. Provide copy of Department Scheduling form to new teachers.
b. Guest Teachers (New System)
i. How to prepare for one
ii. Who do you recommend?
iii. Do you have sample guest teacher plans that you could share with the new teacher?
IV.
Instruction- Marzano Effective Educators Model
a. Walk-throughs
i. Common occurrence in all buildings
b. Building-specific strategies for motivating/engaging students (e.g. CPS clickers)
c. Design Questions recently studied by the building or the department
V.
Instruction- Habits of Mind
a. Does the building or department have a manner in which they’ve formalized the teaching of Habits of
Mind such as a focus habit of the month or specific content areas taking responsibility for certain habits?
b. Are there positive behavior incentive programs in place for recognizing students who demonstrate great
examples of habits of mind?
c. Are there typical ways in which the building or department evaluates and reports on habits of mind such
as student self-assessments or rubrics?
VI.
Instruction- Cultures of Thinking
a. Who are the lead teachers in this learning?
b. What work has already been done?
c. Are certain routines expected in all classrooms?
d. If your school has already begun to study the 8 cultural forces, which forces are the focus this year?
VII.
Instruction- Foundational Texts
a. Which book do you recommend starting with?
b. Are there additional texts that have recently been studied by the staff or by your department?
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VIII.
Curriculum
a. Subject Area Curriculum (SAC) committees
i. Who are the representatives for the building or course?
b. Curriculum Guides (binders)
i. Format and Content
ii. Scope and Sequence (I-Maps)
iii. Look at maps for the new teacher’s grade/course(s)
iv. Resources
c. Curriculum Texts and Materials
i. Location of texts and materials for new teacher
ii. Review and highlight texts and materials used for grade/course
iii. Supplemental Materials Approval Form (Building Level)
iv. Video Approval Form
v. Equipment storage and/or check-out
vi. What materials/equipment is shared among teachers?
vii. Where/How is it stored?
viii. What is the procedure for replenishing consumables?
ix. Purchase Orders (keep track of what you need for next year)
d. Classroom/Department Budgets
i. How to order additional materials
ii. What process is used in your building/department?
iii. What types of things are typically purchased?
e. Curriculum Night (see handout)
i. When?
ii. How to prepare for
iii. Expectations
f.
Content Expectations (GLCE & HSCE) and Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
i. Where is your grade/course in the CCSS alignment process (Math and ELA)?
ii. Are there any standards that are a particular focus for a grade or course this year?
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IX.
Technology- instructional
a. Technology/Software- what is subject specific or grade specific?
b. Computer Labs and Chromebook Carts
i. How to sign up for labs or carts
ii. What should and shouldn’t they be used for?
iii. Not all labs have all software. Where can new teachers go with class(es) to use what’s necessary
for curriculum?
c. Technology specific to your buildings- document cameras, SMART boards, Promethean boards, etc.
d. Who are the building’s technology liaisons?
e. Requesting help from the Technology Department
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X.
Assessment
a. Evaluating our students and our instruction- Classroom assessments
i. Within your course or grade, do teachers at your building give common classroom assessments?
ii. How often are classroom assessments like quizzes or tests typically given?
b. Evaluating our students, our instruction and our programs- District Assessments
i. Assessment Calendar – how to use
ii. How to get copies of the exam(s)
iii. Pearson Inform
iv. Review and Assessment Guidelines
v. District data collection procedures
vi. What to do with old teacher/student copies
c. Evaluating our students, instruction, programs and schools- State Assessments
i. Review- what is typically done in your building or department? What elements should be
consistent for this year and what will be changing?
ii. Are there any building level initiatives or department initiatives to prepare for the state
assessments?
d. Evaluating our programs and system- School Improvement
i. North Central Accreditation (NCA)/AdvancED process at your building
1. Do you have an External Review visit this year?
ii. Articulation Day
iii. School Improvement Plan – what is the role of teachers in your building regarding this?
XI.
Grading and Reporting
a. Formative vs. Summative
b. Weighting of grades/categories
i. In the afternoon– go into Skyward and set up grading categories
c. Report cards
d. Extra credit vs. students being allow to resubmit assignments or retake assessments
e. Report card comments; grading Habits of Mind
f.
Specific building expectations (e.g., number of comments required per student, contacting parent
before assigning “Area of Concern (AC)”, etc.)
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XII.
Other
a. Special Populations of Students
i. Differentiated Instruction
ii. Accommodations for Special Education Students
1. Co-teaching
2. Who are the pairs of co-teachers? (general ed and special ed teachers)
3. What does this look like?
iii. Accommodations for English Learners (ELs)
1. Contact people: Ellen Brengle (ESL teacher) brenglee@slcs.us; Dayna Britton (ESL
Coordinator) brittond@slcs.us.
iv. Math Lab & Writing Lab
1. How do these courses work?
2. Who teaches these courses?
3. How are students selected?
v. Share insights for differentiating instruction with low progress students
b. Current Building Initiatives/Focuses (e.g. Ruby Payne, Horacio Sanchez, Eric Jensen, etc.)
c. CHEERS, PTO and Booster groups
i. Are there specific ways in which these support groups help your grade, department or course?
d. Parent Communication
i. Do teachers in the department typically send home classroom newsletters or emails?
ii. Do teachers in the department use Moodle or websites?
iii. How often are progress reports printed and sent or emailed?
iv. When do you typically call a parent?
v. Parent-Teacher Conferences
1. When- date and time?
2. How to prepare for this event
3. What to do during the event
e. Professional Development, part 2
i. New Teacher Workshops (after school)
ii. Building and department opportunities
iii. Conferences and Workshops (MSTA, MCTM, etc)
iv. Oakland Schools
v. Location and contents of Professional Library
f.
Helpful Hints- Other insights that will assist in the delivery of the curriculum
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Suggested list of materials to bring (facilitators):
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Textbook(s)
Information on relevant PD at Oakland Schools
Information on department grading policies
Equipment storage and check out information
Department budget
Information on recent building initiatives
Curriculum Guide/Binder
List of department members and who teaches which course(s)
Please bring an I-map for the course(s) your new teacher(s) will be teaching. We will not be in a location that
facilitates logging onto Rubicon or printing.
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