PT+NTD+Updates

__**2/26/2010 Update** __ Dear Part-time New Teacher Developers:

We hope that this message finds you all well! We are writing with a few important reminders:

1) **Please submit your New Teacher Support Logs for February as well as any other outstanding logs to our office __by Tuesday, March 2nd__.** Logs should: a. Reflect approximately 2.5 hours of mentoring support each week b. Be signed by you, your beginning teacher, and your principal/headmaster c. Be sent to our office at 26 Court Street, 6th Floor or faxed to 617-635-9083

2) Our next mandatory Part-time New Teacher Developer Forum will be held on Thursday, March 11th from 4:00-6:00PM at the Boston Teachers Union. During this Forum, we are planning to: · Reflect on how we have used the Selective Scripting or Seating Chart tool to support our teachers.  · Share best practices for using the Mid-Year Review Formative Assessment System (FAS) tool to guide our teachers in reaching short-term and long-term goals during the last few months of the school year.  · Discuss how we can use the Content, Strategies, and Alignment FAS tool to support our teachers in reflecting on their lessons.

In preparation, over the next couple of weeks please: · Take a look back at your teacher’s Individual Learning Plan. In your observations of and discussions with your teacher, consider how the actions they have taken with regard to the goals they set earlier in the year have impacted their instructional practice as well as the performance of their students. · Take a few minutes to review the information about the Mid-Year Review and Content, Strategies, and Alignment tools in your mentor padfolio.

Please remember to bring to the Forum: · Your copy of the pink Reflections Packet from the February Forum OR your laptop with the downloaded electronic copy of the Reflections Packet (see next point). · 2-3 copies/samples of your work in using the Selective Scripting or Seating Chart tool.

3) **We are sending to you an electronic copy of the Reflections Packet.** As a reminder, we completed Guiding Questions #1 and 2 at the February Forum. Time will be provided during the March 11th Forum to complete Question #3, either using your paper copy or downloaded electronic copy.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your mentoring work or ideas for us to consider for the next Forum. Feel free to email/call us directly, or post up your question on the PT NTD wiki at http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/New+Teacher+Developer+Q+%26+A. __**1/29/2010 Update** __ Dear Part-time New Teacher Developers:

We hope that this message finds you all well! We are writing with a couple of important reminders:

1) ** Please submit your New Teacher Support Logs for January as well as any other outstanding logs to our office __by Tuesday, February 2nd__. ** Logs should: a. Reflect approximately 2.5 hours of mentoring support each week b. Be signed by you, your beginning teacher, and your principal/headmaster c. Be sent to our office at 26 Court Street, 6th Floor or faxed to 617-635-9083

2) ** Our next mandatory Part-time New Teacher Developer Forum will be held on Thursday, February 11th from 4:00-6:00PM at the Boston Teachers Union. **

During this Forum, we are planning to share successes and challenges we have experienced in our mentoring support of our beginning teachers and gain feedback and ideas, including suggestions for how to more effectively use the Formative Assessment System tools, from our New Teacher Developer colleagues. You are encouraged to bring samples of your work to share, both so that others might benefit from your successes and so that you can receive more comprehensive feedback from your fellow New Teacher Developers.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your mentoring work or ideas for us to consider for the next Forum. Feel free to email/call us directly, or post up your question on the PT NTD wiki at http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/New+Teacher+Developer+Q+%26+A. __**1/7/2010 Update** __ Dear Part-time New Teacher Developers:

Happy New Year! We hope that you have had a great start to the year. We are writing with a couple of important reminders:

1) Please submit your New Teacher Support Logs for December as well as any other outstanding logs to our office __no later than Monday, January 11th__. Logs should: a. Reflect approximately 2.5 hours of mentoring support each week b. Be signed by you, your beginning teacher, and your principal/headmaster c. Be sent to our office at 26 Court Street, 6th Floor or faxed to 617-635-9083 __ Please note that any missing or incomplete documentation as of the 11th will result in a delay to your stipend __.

2) Our next mandatory Part-time New Teacher Developer Forum will be held on Thursday, January 14th from 4:00-6:00PM at the Boston Teachers Union.

During this Forum, we are planning to:
 * Consider implications of the Teacher Learning Continuum, discussed in an article in Educational Leadership. We will build in time to read the article at the Forum, but if you would like to read it beforehand, you can access it on the PT NTD wiki here: http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/January+14%2C+2010.

It was great seeing you last month, and we are very much looking forward to seeing you again at next week’s Forum. Indeed, we had more beginning teachers show up than anticipated, which is a testament to the strong relationships you have developed with your mentees! This did cause some challenges with space, which was reflected in your evaluations, but we do want to emphasize that this should not be a problem this month.
 * Review and practic e the use of the Analysis of Student Work FAS tool. If you would like to do so, you may want to look ahead and review the tab in your mentor padfolio on Analyzing Student Work. As in past Forums, we also invite our veteran New Teacher Developers to bring samples of their work to share with colleagues.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your mentoring work or ideas for us to consider for the next Forum. Feel free to email/call us directly, or post up your question on the PT NTD wiki

__ Dear Part-time New Teacher Developers: We hope that this message finds you well. We are writing with a couple of important reminders and updates:
 * 12/24/2009 Update** __

1) Please submit your New Teacher Support Logs for December as well as any other outstanding logs to our office no later than Monday, January 11th.  Logs should: a. Reflect approximately 2.5 hours of mentoring support each week b. Be signed by you, your beginning teacher, and your principal/headmaster c. Be sent to our office at 26 Court Street, 6th Floor or faxed to 617-635-9083 You should have recently received a personalized communication from Tamika Estwick regarding received and/or missing documentation. If you did not receive this email or would like to confirm receipt of logs, please contact Tamika at testwick@boston.k12.ma.us or 617-635-9203. Blank New Teacher Support Logs can be accessed on the NTD wiki at: http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/New+Teacher+Developer+Work  __ Please note that any missing or incomplete documentation as of the 11th will likely result in a delay to your stipend __.

2) Please save the date for our next mandatory Part-time New Teacher Developer Forum, which will be held on Thursday, January 14th from 4:00-6:00PM at the Boston Teachers Union. We are still in the process of planning for this Forum, but at this point in time, we are considering these areas for discussion: > 3)  You may want to read the responses to some of the questions that arose after our last Forum on December 10th here, on our PT NTD wiki Q&A page at http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/New+Teacher+Developer+Q+%26+A Questions included: Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns about your mentoring work or ideas for us to consider for the next Forum. Feel free to email/call us directly, or post up your question on the PT NTD wiki. We wish you a happy and healthy holiday break, and hope that you have a wonderful start to the New Year! __**12/1/2009 Update** __ Dear Part-time New Teacher Developers: We hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving break and that this message finds you well! Please see below for a few important reminders and updates. 1) If you haven’t already done so, please **submit your New Teacher Support Logs for November 2009 by Wednesday, December 2nd**. Make sure all signatures are on the log before sending in. Fax to 617-635-9083 and contact Tamika Estwick at testwick@boston.k12.ma.us or 617-635-9203 to confirm receipt.
 * Reflecting with our colleagues on our experiences in using the Formative Assessment System (FAS) tools that were introduced in the last couple of Forums, including the Selective Scripting, Seating Chart, Self-Assessment Summary, and Individual Learning Plan. Please note that you may be asked to bring samples of your work to share with colleagues.
 * Reviewing and practicing the use of the Analysis of Student Work FAS tool. If you would like to do so, you may want to look ahead and review the tab in your mentor padfolio on Analyzing Student Work. Similar to the previous point, we may be asking our veteran New Teacher Developers to bring samples of their work to share with colleagues.
 * Sharing mentoring challenges (such as how to meet the mentoring requirements) and getting support and strategies for addressing these challenges.
 * Are we supposed to be working through every Formative Assessment System (FAS) tool with our teacher?
 * Do new teachers get mentored a second year?
 * Can we learn about what our mentees will need for their Professional teacher’s license?

2) Our next **Part-time New Teacher Developer Forum will be held on Thursday, December 10th from 4:00-6:00PM** at the Boston Teachers Union. For this Forum, we are planning on experiencing the Professional Goals Setting Process, which includes: · A Self-Assessment on the Continuum of 2-3 Dimensions of Effective Teaching  · The development of a Self-Assessment Summary to record strengths and areas for growth  · Use of the Individual Learning Plan to clarify supporting goals and evidence with regard to goals · Invite your beginning teachers to join us!  · Review the section in your mentor padfolio on Setting Professional Goals  · Review the Continuum that is posted on the PT NTD wiki at: http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/New+Teacher+Developer+Work (scroll to the bottom of the page)  · Invite your teacher to consider 2-3 Dimensions of Effective Teaching in which they would like to set goals for the upcoming months
 * In preparation for the Forum, please: **

// We would like to invite returning New Teacher Developers who have already gone through this process with your beginning teachers to bring a sample of your work together. We will take time to reflect more in depth about the process and next steps for supporting your teachers. //

3) Please be reminded that we have posted a number of resources related to your work on the **Part-time New Teacher Developer wiki at |http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/ **. As you may have noticed, we put up the Continuum for the Dimensions of Effective Teaching as well as some of the materials from our Forum in October. Please visit the wiki and let us know if you would like us to post up other resources and information as well. We are looking forward to seeing you next week! Please do not hesitate to contact us in the meantime with any questions or suggestions.

**__10/28/2009 Update__**
 * **Dear Part-time New Teacher Developers:**

We hope that your mentoring experience with your beginning teachers is going well! We are sending you this message to share important reminders and updates. We know that there is a lot of information we are sharing in this message. Please read through carefully and don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions or concerns ||   a. As a reminder, y ou should be using the Collaborative Assessment Log (CAL) on a regular basis during your meetings with your beginning teacher. It is important to capture both successes __and__ challenges. The tool also helps to ensure accountability for steps that both you and your beginning teachers can take to address challenges. b. As you know, an important part of our mentoring work is to get into our teachers' classrooms to get a firsthand look at their work with their students. This will help you gain a better understanding of their successes and challenges, so that you can more effectively guide them in implementing instructional strategies. Observation tools that you may want to consider using include the Selective Scripting and Seating Chart tools. You may want to refer to your Mentor Padfolio - Conducting Classroom Observations tab for recommendations on using these tools. c. Returning New Teacher Developers who are already familiar with the process will want to start on the process of Setting Professional Goals with your teachers. This may especially be helpful to teachers in reflecting on their evaluations and identifying next steps for their professional development. The plans that you set together will also serve as an important guide for your support of your teachers for the remainder of the year. As you may remember, you will need to take the following steps (which may take a few weeks to complete):  i. Review the Dimensions of Effective Teaching and help your teacher select 1-2 Dimensions on which they would like to focus. ii. Have the teacher self-assess their practice on the Continuum for those Dimensions they have selected. iii. Guide the beginning teacher through the Self-Assessment Summary and record their strengths and areas for growth. iv. Use the Individual Learning Plan to develop 1-2 supporting goals for which you would outline plans and evidence to capture with regard to those goals. || a. They are welcome to attend our upcoming Beginning Teacher Seminar on November 4th from 4-7PM at the O'Bryant School of Math & Science. The focus of the Seminar will be on the BPS Dimension of Monitor and Assess Student Progress, with a focus on Assessing Student Learning. During our time together, participants will explore the categories and varieties of student assessment to gain a better understanding of how assessments can be used to provide all students an equitable education. Participants will also use the Dimension to self-assess their practice as well as discuss and share ideas for using assessment strategies to support their case study students. Teachers should register on MyLearningPlan.com or contact Victoria Hom (VHOM@boston.k12.ma.us; 617-635-9157) for more information. b. If they haven't already done so, they should sign and return the letter of commitment which we recently sent to them via email. They may respond via email with an electronic signature; they just need to indicate in the text of the message that they have read and understand the expectations of the program. The letter is also attached for your reference. c. Each month we send out the New Teacher Update e-newsletter addressing teachers have questions regarding professional development or HR-related issues, etc. Please have your teacher contact testwick@boston.k12.ma.us to subscribe for the New Teacher Update. || b. We will soon share via email a list of all of our Part-time NTDs's schools and email addresses so that you can connect with each other directly. Please let us know, however, if you would prefer that your email not be included in this list. This list will not be posted on the PT NTD wiki. ||
 * **REMINDERS** ||  ||
 *  ** PT NTD Reminders ** # Please send in your New Teacher Support Logs for October 2009 by next Tuesday, November 3rd. Make sure all signatures are on the log before sending in. Fax to 617-635-9083 and contact Tamika Estwick at testwick@boston.k12.ma.us or 617-635-9203 to confirm receipt.
 * 1) Our next New Teacher Developer Forum is scheduled for Thursday, November 4th from 4-6pm at the BTU. This is a mandatory professional development session for all Part-time New Teacher Developers ||
 * **FAS TIPS** ||  ||
 *  **Formative Assessment System** We hope that you have had a chance to use some of the Formative Assessment System (FAS) tools to structure your conversations and work with your teachers!
 * **Reminders for your Teachers** ||  ||
 *  **Help Us Remind Your Teachers** Please help us remind your teachers of the following:
 * <span style="color: #c7d1fc; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">**Let Us Stay Connected** ||  ||
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">We have developed a Part-time New Teacher Developer wiki. You will see that we have a Q&A page, __http://ptntd.wikispaces.com/New+Teacher+Developer+Q+%26+A__, with responses to the questions that were raised during our professional development this month. If you have questions that have arisen since our time together, please post them up; we will do our best to address them on a timely fashion. Please also let us know if you have suggestions so that we can make this wiki as helpful to you as possible!

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We are looking forward to seeing you on November 12th! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns in the meantime.