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New Teacher Programs and Supports

Welcome!

Our new teacher program is built to provide immediate support and professional learning throughout the school year. All new to Pasco teachers will have a variety of supports that includes an initial kickoff to start the year off, school-site orientation, content specific trainings, and a year-long induction. In addition to professional learning, all new hires will have the opportunity to be paired with a specially trained mentor at their school site. Please see below for more information on New Teacher Induction. Click here for the 2023-24 New Teacher Induction Schedule, Quarter 4.

New Teacher Kick-Off:

At the beginning of each school year, all new teachers, whether you have experience or not, will join us for the kickoff event prior to planning week to learn the Pasco Way of Work. In the morning, you will learn about our mission/vision, district platforms, new teacher support, evaluation system, and resiliency standards. In the afternoon, you will learn more about content and curriculum from our district specialists.

The next day after the Kick-Off, new hires should report to your school-site for a very special guided tour of your campus to locate key places, people, resources, and supplies to have a successful start and be prepared for the planning week. Contact your school Administrator for details.

2024-25 Kick-Off Information Coming Soon.

Year-Long Induction:

After the new teacher kickoff, first year teachers will engage in quarterly day-long new teacher induction meetings at a regional location near you. Using The Beginning Teacher’s Field Guide by Tina Boogren as a resource, each module takes first year teachers through the beginning teacher phases. These phases include Anticipation, Survival, Disillusionment, and Rejuvenation. By going through these phases teachers will:

· Understand the challenges teachers are likely to experience during each phase.

· Learn how to manage classroom behavior and build and maintain positive relationships with students.

· Accomplish practical self-care that tends to the heart, mind, and body despite how busy you are.

· Respond to prompts that help process and reflect on your year and professional successes.

· Reflect on what works in the classroom and what doesn’t, to plan the coming year.

To complement this book, and to ensure effective teacher routines and procedures, The First Days of School by Harry and Rosemary Wong is also used. The book walks teachers through structuring and organizing a classroom for success that can be applied at any time of the year.

New Teacher Induction is separated by Elementary, Middle, and High School with like groups meeting together.

New 4th quarter: The 4th quarter afternoon content will be focused on supporting students with disabilities and inclusive practices will be shared. Click here for more information on dates, times, and locations for our 2023-24 New Teacher Induction.

Summer Bootcamp

For mid-year hired teachers starting in the classroom between 1/1/24 and 5/1/24, our Summer Bootcamp is offered. The goal is to offer our new teachers learning that was missed during the first semester of our yearlong New Teacher Induction and the New Teacher Kick Off event.

The boot camp will be a 4-day comprehensive training on topics such as compassionate classrooms, FDLRS resources, myLearning, multilingual learners, ESE/Inclusion/IEP, Evaluations, Certification, Union representation, technology and the MTSS process.

In addition, within this 4-day training course we’ll be offering 2 days of Kagan structure training. Kagan Structures are instructional strategies designed to promote cooperation and communication in the classroom, boost students' confidence, and retain their interest in classroom interaction. The Structures work in all teaching contexts—regardless of subject, age group, and number of students in class

The training courses will be developed and facilitated by mentor leaders, coaches, district leaders and Kagan instructors.

Bootcamp Dates: June 10-13

Location: Building 2, District Office

7227 Lank O’ Lakes Blvd

Land O’ Lakes, FL 34638

Registration will be announced in the Administrative Communication Soon

Mentor Supports:

The first year of teaching, a specially trained mentor will help all new teachers transition into Pasco County. The mentor can support with navigation of school campuses, systems, platforms,

planning, curricular resources, and much more! Mentors will provide new teachers with opportunities for observations as well!

New Teacher Resources:

The Newbie News is our monthly newsletter for new teachers. It includes classroom strategies, best practice articles, technology tips, and videos to help you in the classroom. Click here and scroll to the bottom for past issues of the Newbie News.

Acronyms

The world of education is full of acronyms (IEP, ESE, ATP, PLC, and DOE) just to name a few. There are hundreds of them. To ensure you are not lost in the acronym spiral, we have included a list of acronyms for you to reference. Click here for the list of education/Pasco County Schools acronyms.

Technology Corner

Our technology group (AKA OTIS, pronounced oat-is) has put together a Survival Guide for new teachers. It includes clickable resources on how to take attendance, make assignments, do grades, get technology help, and how to access Office 365 including your email etc.

Click here for our Survival Guide for New Teachers.

Classroom Resources

This contains resources for developing classroom routines and procedures such as organization of space, time and instruction, student engagement, and managing individual and class behaviors. Click here for a list of classroom resources.

New Teacher to Pasco County

Click here, to access the New Employee Toolkit page for more information regarding Pasco County Schools.