New Teacher School Based Orientation
This week I led an orientation session for new teachers that will be working in my school this year. I wanted the session to give us all an opportunity to get to know one another as well as provide the new teachers with a few ideas as to how they themselves could build community while showing them ways in which they could facilitate learning in their own classrooms. Among the other items I needed to cover during this orientation I planned two experiences that would open up space for the aforementioned goals to be realized. I also wanted the participants to understand that these experiences were not chosen randomly. I was very purposeful and used the rubric of standards that "we teachers" here in North Carolina are held to and evaluated on as a part of my planning process. My thinking was that I wanted the group to know that being purposeful with what happens in a classroom by vetting the experiences you provide your students via tools like the teacher evaluation rubric is one way of ensuring that what you are doing in the classroom is in the student's best interests.
The first experience was an improvisation called: The Name Game. This is a great, low stakes way for people to get to know each other. To particiapate all you need to do is state your name, say something about yourself, then "tie your name" to a physical movement. After introducing yourself with the movement the group "echoes back" your name and the movment. I made sure I pointed out that planning and participation in an experience like this demonstrates evidence that "we," the teachers, are simultaneously being mindful with regards to establishing a respectful environment (in the context of the classroom) for a diverse population of students; which falls under Standard II of the rubric for evaluating teachers in our state. I asked the group what they thought about the activity after we finished it. They liked how the Name Game seemed to be able to work with any age group and were excited about how their students might share things about themselves.
After the Name Game I engaged the group in another experience that not only shows that "we," the teachers are mindful of establishing a respectful environment that treats students as individuals but too provides us the opportunity to demonstrate our ability to facilitate learning for our students by using a variety of instructional methods to plan for appropriate instruction, in order to develop critical thinking/problem solving skills; which falls under Standard IV of the rubric for evaluating teachers in our state. The experience that helped them begin to imagine this is called the Dialectic Response Journal. The experience starts with the teacher providing something stimulating to look at or read. I shared 4 different maxims with the group. They were instructed to pick one of the maxims and, in the notebook I provided, write a response to that maxim. After writing their response they traded notebooks out with a colleague. After trading out notebooks each participant was asked to read and respond to their partner's thoughts. Notebooks were then "traded back" to their owner at which point the owner read their partner's response and wrote a final thought based on what the partner shared with them. When we finished this part of the experience I told the group that the activity could end right there or the writing could be used as a springboard towards a discussion about, in this case; their thoughts about the maxims. I asked the group what they thought of this experience from a student's perspective. They liked how the Dialectic Response Journal provides an opportunity for students to express themselves. They also liked the reflective nature of the experience. They especially thought about the implications the experience could have with students reluctant to speak vocally during class; that writing could give them a voice they might not normally have or perceive of having.
After the writing experience we went on a tour of the school, talked about procedures, routines, and protocols then ended with some time for questions and answers.
I'm really happy with how things went during the orientation. I feel that the participants walked away with a sense that they are valued and will be supported in what is shaping up to be yet another unique year in teaching.
