"Support for Teachers" (Blog #3)

Here is the link with a list of resources that Support Teachers.

In addition I found these three resources on this website to be quit helpful.

1.  Personal You: Fostering a Successful Mentor-Mentee Relationship.

This resource provides information about: how to find a mentor, the attributes of a good mentor, the responsibilities of a mentee, how to maintain your relationship, what to do when things go bad, how it is ok to ASK for help, how to adopt a life-long learning attitude.

This can be valuable for me as a new teacher who needs lots of guidance and help in the classroom, especially with children who may have disabilities. It is so important to develop a good relationship with my mentors. They are the ones who have the answers or if they don't they know how to find them. They are my guides as I learn the education system, how to work with other teachers and administrators, and especially how to teach and assist students in the classroom. I learned from this site that I am expected and encouraged to ask questions, "pick my mentors brain," and offer innovative and creative ideas myself. I am also responsible to accept constructive criticism and become involved in the professional discourse. Good mentees also become good mentors themselves, and help others as they have been helped along.

2. How do Secondary Students Feel about Co-teaching?

Co-teaching occurs when two educators with different specialties or points of view collaborate and work together equally to instruct all students in the classroom. There are 4-6 main types of co-teaching that are used for a variety of different classroom settings. It is up to both teachers to equally assess the students attitudes towards co-teaching, and which co-teaching method would work best to accommodate the needs of the children, the type of curriculum, and the needs of students with disabilities or special needs.

This site supplied interesting survey answers/responses of all children (disabled, general, and gifted) to co-teaching. It was ironic to me to find that students with disabilities overall did not like the strategy.

As a future teacher I need to ask myself if this works for my students. Do they interact well with it? Is it in their comfort zones? If it isn't is it ok to encourage them out of it? Is it challenging, frustrating, confusing, or maybe all of the above? Does the strategy appeal to the majority? Do students create friendships in groups at schools that extends to outside school settings? Do they learn material well within groups or alone?

3. Networking: How to Get Help for You and Your Students

This resource stresses the importance of networking and getting support for you and your students in your classroom. It is great to ask questions and get help because it shows that you are a concerned professional looking for the best way to help your students.
A few networking strategies include:
>Keep in contact with your classmates/graduating class/friends through regular e-mail, phone-calls, etc
>Contact professors you admire
>Take advantage of problem solving opportunities
>Plan informal breakfast or lunch meetings with your most sympathetic colleagues.
>Ask for time to observe master teachers.
>Take advantage of your mentor, their knowledge/experiences, and resources.

Here are a list of electronic resources as well:

Regional Resource and Federal Center Network
http://www.rrfcnetwork.org

Virginia’s Regional Training and Technical Assistance Centers. The online resources are available to anyone. The same is true of resources in many other states.
http://www.ttaconline.org/

*From Reality 101, CEC’s blog for teachers. Read more tips for teachers from Welch at http://cecblog.typepad.com/cec/ .

I am so glad to have these tips and resources available to me. It is nice to know that even though I will have a masters degree in teaching I will not be a qualified master teacher--yet. But with these resources and with time and experiences I will be able to become a better qualified and successful teacher. If I have a life-long learning attitude I will be able to learn from others around me and from resources like these that will help me to best address the needs of my students. I also like the idea of keeping in touch with all my awesome friends that have gone through this program with me.