Discussion List for New Teachers -- The discussion is lively at this listserve for new teachers, where experienced folks drop by from time to time to offer advice and ideas. If you're a new teacher looking for some companionship -- or an experienced teacher willing to help out your freshman colleagues -- you should check this list out. To sign on, mail a message (no subject) to: [listproc@schoolnet.ca ] without the brackets. In the body (text) of the message, type only the following: [subscribe SNE-NewTeacher-L yourfirstname yourlastname] without the brackets. Although this list is maintained in Canada, it includes many teachers from the US.

On-Line Mentors for New Teachers -- The "Teacher Talk" website is experimenting with a new e-mail mentoring program that promises to match beginning teachres with experienced colleagues. The "Mighty Mentors" program is looking for mentors and mentees. The site will post biographical information about all its mentors, allowing mentees to match themselves with an appropriate e-mail correspondent. Give it a try -- and let us know how it worked out. Free registration at site.

AdPrima : A Website for New Teachers -- A rich source of information for new and experienced teachers. Practical information on curriculum, instruction, learning, thinking skills, lesson plans, teaching and other education topics. The name means "the best" in Latin. The site's motto is suggestive: "Anything not understood in more than one way is not understood at all."

New Teachers OnLine -- This service of TeachNet offers lots of ideas, help and advice. See, for example, the How To... section, and these classroom management resources.

What Can New Teachers Do for Themselves? -- "When I read articles about new teachers, I am confronted with such issues as, 'How can we better support new teachers?' That's nice. But why don't I ever read about 'The top 10 ways new teachers can help themselves,' or 'How to make your first years the best years'? The focus of our efforts to help new teachers seems to weigh too heavily on the schools, forgetting to encourage new teachers with practical steps to help themselves." (from "Classroom Leadership," ASCD, May 1999.)

Advice for New Teachers: Reflection Is at the Heart of Good Practice
-- "The ordinary experiences of our teaching days are the essence of our practice," say the authors of this article in the May 1999 issue of Educational Leadership, which focuses on support for new teachers. "Using a guide to reflect on these experiences--either individually or with colleagues--is an entry to improving our teaching." Includes a 'guided reflection protocol.' Also

see these suggestions on how to use the protocol with colleagues.

Best Teaching Practices in the Middle Grades -- The Maryland Department of Education has a series of webpages where middle grades teachers can link to resources about best teaching practice -- including brief materials on homework, abstract concepts, praise and rewards, student accountability, organizing and presenting instruction, goals and purposes, monitoring student success, meaningful school and community participation, rules and rountines, managing disruptive behavior, learning skills, student team learning, setting high expectations, and more.

Homepage for New Math Teachers -- An experienced middle grades teacher shares what she's learned. "My first advice to anyone starting in teaching is to be careful of those who claim they know the perfect method of teaching. Teaching is an on-going learning experience."

"First Years" -- This teacher-supported site includes an e-mail listserve for new and beginning teachers and links to participants' personal websites.

More Advice for New Teachers --Don't miss this rich advice from experienced middle grades teachers! Pam Chandler, a Middle-L listserve member, offers a couple of good ideas about starting off the year and discusses the bond between middle school teacher and child. And other teachers chime in, with ideas about assessing your new students, designing curriculum, building community, and more. One teacher suggests a good book to read the first week. And Debbie

Bambino talks about the importance of deciding early on what's most important about discipline and classroom management. Several college faculty offer classroom management ideas, and a freshly-minted teacher describes several early mistakes.

Survival Strategies for New Teachers -- Said to be the most requested article of the year at this teacher site. It's a "topic of the week" so if you don't find it on this page, check the homepage of the Teachers Teaching Teachers site.

Advice for Soon-to-Be Student Teachers -- This advice for prospective student teachers comes from a Canadian teacher who just completed student teaching. As he notes, many of his thoughts "could probably apply to first-year teachers as well." Excellent tips from the New Teacher listserve.

Teacher in Training Network -- This site was developed by the University of Tasmania (that island off the Australian coast!) for student teachers. It includes some

terrific resources that may be useful to new and inexperienced teachers as well. For example, the discipline section includes

a quiz about your discipline philosophy; ideas about developing a discipline plan and a discussion of nine different discipline models.

(Here's one.) The classroom management section includes a page on starting the year (including 'first encounters' and anecdotes from teachers) and classroom management

tips and styles. There's

teaching tips, too. All in all, a very useful site.

Membership is US$20 a year and well worth it.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT -- Here's where we store e-mail discussions and other Internet "teacher traffic." Lots of useful ideas and advice from fellow teachers on many topics.

The New Teacher Page -- Resources and assistance for new teachers and folks considering the profession, developed by a teacher.

The National Association for Beginning Teachers -- Dedicated "to giving new teachers the tools they need to complete their jobs, helping them develop the skills necessary to succeed in the classroom, and encouraging them to remain enthusiastic as they face the challenges of the future in the classrooms of today." First annual conference scheduled for July 1999.

Membership includes a quarterly magazine, a free book, a newsletter, and access to chat boards.

Beginning Teachers' Tool Box -- This commercial site offers the box "Survival Kit for New Teachers," which can be purchased on-line. Also includes useful links and free resources, like the web newsletter "The Mentor." New teachers will especially appreciate

the tips page.

The First Six Weeks of School -- This excerpt from a recent book of the same title will be particularly useful to sixth grade teachers and all new teachers.

Teachers Taking Charge -- Continuous teacher learning is the key to helping students achieve higher standards, says the report, "Teachers Take Charge of Their Learning: Transforming Professional Development for Student Success." A good start in thinking more deeply about professional development and your school.

This page contains many interesting professional development links. Here's one of our favorite stories (we wrote it) about

teacher collaboration as a form of professional development.

Cutting-Edge Teaching Strategies -- This MiddleWeb page is our collecting-point for interesting articles and ideas about effective teaching. A few of our favorites:

Designing Performance Tasks,

WebQuest ,

good classroom assessment,

and

becoming a student-centered teacher. If you're curious about creating better classroom assessments, peruse our page on

evaluation and assessment.

The Nuts and Bolts of Schooling -- How we group and sort students, how we divide up the school day, how we escape "the prison of time," how we advise, retain, promote -- these are the "nuts and bolts" issues of schools. This MiddleWeb page offers links and articles on all these subjects and more. Among the best:

Making Detracking Work, articles about looping and time management, and our many

block scheduling links.

Standards-Based Teaching and Learning -- More and more school systems are adopted a standards-based approach to teaching/learning and assessment. The MiddleWeb Guide to Standards-Based School Reform includes many resources on the topic, including stories about teachers who are working toward a standards-based classroom.

Pick Your Curriculum Area! -- We maintain a large collection of curriculum resources, sorted by subject. In addition to specific lesson plans and subject topics, we include links to articles and other resources that can help teachers think more deeply about "content-specific pedagogy."

Teaching At-Risk Students -- "Teaching Alive!" is an interactive CD suitable for pre-service and in-service teacher education. The program uses video clips and lesson transcripts to illustrate five principles for effective teaching of at-risk K-8 students.