Teachers new to the vocation or just new to our district met on August 13 and I was lucky enough to be there for the first few minutes.  It really was interesting to sit there and watch the strange mix of emotions and feelings on all of the new faces.  You name the emotion, it was on display on at least one person's face.

I couldn't help but thinking back to my first job in education.  I walked in with the goal of changing the world and the fear that in a few day's time I would be eaten alive by a bunch of 10th grade English students.  Sure, it is kind of fun to reminisce but then I started thinking about the idea of a "new" teacher.

It is a new year.  There are new programs, new initiatives and, yes, new state requirements.  There are new procedures, new . . . yadda, yadda, yadda.  I know, I know.  Now is the time where I'm supposed to talk about re-inventing yourself, starting fresh, etc. 

[Right now, all "experienced" teachers and probably many new teachers are rolling their eyes and saying something about, "Same song, 4 millionth verse."]

As cliche as it may be, there is something to this idea of re-newing ourselves annually.  Give in to it, just a little bit. 

One of our "new" focuses this year will be on interactive learning.  We want to our educational process to be more than just delivering content.  We want the process to be just as much about how students are receiving and expanding on that content.  To that end, I want to focus on the teacher for a moment.

Dr. Alex Couros talks about the idea of  teacher networks.  Listed below is an example of how a "typical" teacher is connected to his/her network of resources.

There is another way, though.  Shift your thinking just a bit and start adding in some additional resources and tools.  Notice that the second model doesn't eliminate any of the traditional "links."  It simply adds and enhances.  Also note that many of the new links are two-way. 

Hmmmm.  Two-way.  Hmmmm.  Interactive. 

Yeah, that's the ticket.  Maybe all of us could stand to re-new ourselves a bit.  Maybe all of us could stand to expand and enhance our Learning Networks.  Maybe all of us, to a certain extent should be "new teachers." 

OK, enough already.  It won't happen overnight; nor is there a magic pill.  Just take it one step at a time.  Use the best tools to help reach your students and we'll have another great year.

Welcome back, "New Teachers."