Running Head: A.

RAMIREZ INDUCTION PLANS

Induction Plans for Beginning Teachers

Ashley Ramirez

Grand Canyon University: EAD 536

April 14, 2022

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Agenda Items 1-3

The beginning of a career is a scary and exciting time in any field. However, in teaching,

I find more teachers are scared and optimistic rather than excited. To encourage the induction

teachers and calm some anxieties, I would keep the events upbeat and conversational rather than

a teaching session. The session would be titled “Survivor: Educator Edition.” The events of the

day would be modeled after the show survivor to not only provide the induction teachers with

tools to survive their first years of teaching, but also allow for team building with fellow

induction teachers and veteran teachers.

The session would primarily be led by the assistant principal. The purpose of this is due

to the chain of command. Teachers tend to work more closely on a day-to-day basis with their

assistant principal rather than the head principal. This would allow the induction teachers to

build a familiarity and level of comfort with the assistant principal. However, I as the principal

would still participate in the session as support to the assistant principal and learn more about the

new teachers. In addition to the two administrators, the team lead for each of the induction

teachers would be in partners or groups with their respective induction teacher to participate in

the session. Lastly, during the session, the induction teachers would have brief information

sessions with various resources around the school. The list of resources would include the

guidance counselor, the school nurse, attendance clerk, bookkeeper, head custodian, curriculum

coach and technology specialist.

The session would begin with the administrators, lead teachers, and school resources

introducing themselves and sharing words of encouragement to the induction teachers. The

induction teachers would then introduce themselves to the group. After introductions, the

induction teachers would break into groups with their team leaders and create a “tribe” name and
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slogan or chant. As an icebreaker, each group would display their slogan or chant to the whole

group. During the challenges that would take place during the session, the group would shout

their chant or slogan if they were winning the challenges. Each of the challenges would be

written as riddles for the induction teachers to find a solution to a problem and what resource

would help them solve the problem. The problems could vary from a sick student to

malfunctioning technology. After each of the tribes had an opportunity to develop a solution, the

correct answer would be revealed and explained. At the end of the session, the principal and

assistant principal would review the school’s mission, and their explicit expectations that

returning teachers would already know such as lesson plans and dress code. Following the

session, induction teachers and their team lead would have lunch and continue planning for the

school year.

Agenda Items 4-6

The material used during this session would be common office supplies such as paper, a

screen for a digital presentation, and a speaker for music. Paper would be used to give the tribes

their challenges. It would also be used for handouts to highlight essential information such as

contact information and teacher expectations. The digital presentation and screen would be used

to make the induction experience more engaging with graphics and videos to present the

challenges. To fully embrace the theme, tribes would be given different colored bandanas to

signify their belonging to the tribe. A speaker would be used to play the theme music from the

show, Survivor, for engagement. The session overall would take about two hours. The first hour

and a half would be dedicated to informational and learning components for the induction

teachers. The last thirty minutes would be for lunch and community building between the

induction teachers and their team lead.

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Due to the beginning of the school year as an induction teacher being filled with anxieties

and a great deal of unknowns, this session would designate a time for mapping out resources and

establishing working relationships early. This is vital to the success of a teacher. It allows them

to learn who they can go to for support in specific scenarios in a fun and stress free way. Due to

the lighthearted session, induction teachers would be able to be less tense and be open with their

fellow induction teachers and lead teachers to build a stronger community. It also allows them to

feel more confident in seeking support in the future.

Purpose and Criteria

As educators, we are always having to plan with the end in mind. This includes providing

support for teachers. At some point during their career, a teacher will need support. This can

range from classroom management to writing lesson plans. Having a plan to provide support

before the support is needed creates a plan for smooth and continued growth for teachers.

Part of providing support is outlining explicit criteria to identify teachers who need the

support. In a general sense, a teacher that may need support is if they are not meeting

expectations during formal and informal observations or displaying an overall negative

demeanor that is also not aligning with the school’s mission. Two other indicators that a teacher

may need mentoring support would be due to the teacher asking for support on their own accord,

or another staff member or administrator indicating the teacher may need more support.

Timeline

After the first month of school, the induction teacher and their mentor would plan for the

induction teacher to take part in the coaching cycle with their mentor. The three components of

the coaching cycle must take part before the first extended school break. In our district, this
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would be the weeklong fall break in October. The mentor would determine a date for the

observation with the teacher. At least one week from the initial planning for the observation, the

preconference is to take place. The preconference should be exactly two school days before the

observation. If a conflict in the two-day rule occurs due to uncontrollable circumstances, the

preconference should be at least one school before the observation. At least three school days

following the observation, the post conference should take place.

Following the coaching cycle with the mentor, the induction teacher and mentor will

determine if the induction teacher needs further learning opportunities to improve their skills. If

the mentor believes the areas of need are significant enough for the induction teacher to fail a

formal observation, the two would meet with their induction teacher’s assigned administrator to

develop a plan for improvement. After the improvement plan has been completed, the mentor

will complete the coaching cycle with the induction teacher again. The improvement plan and

second coaching cycle are to take place before the end of the second quarter.

After the second mentor observation, or if the team felt the induction teacher would meet

expectations, the induction teacher would observe the mentor teacher and look for the ways the

mentor teacher excels in the areas the induction teacher may need to improve in. Finally, the

assigned administrator would plan for the coaching cycle. The administrator would follow the

same timeline expectation for planning the coaching cycle that the mentor teacher was asked to

follow. If the induction teacher still requires intensive support for improvement in the initial

identified area of improvement, the administrator and induction teacher would seek district level

support.
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Induction Activities

At any point during the school year, an induction teacher or even a proficient teacher may

require support. Teachers require frequent growth opportunities, and they should not be limited

to the beginning of the year or in response to a poor evaluation. They should be given respect

and support throughout the school year (National Education Association, 2021). To respond to

their needs, teachers may regularly submit a request for support to the principal. Based on the

level and types of requests, the principal may select one to two requests per quarter. The

principal will work with respective district and school leaders to develop and in house

professional development session based on the requests chosen.

In education, educators are continuously growing and learning to improve their teaching.

Often, once a teacher has been identified as proficient, they tend to be forgotten. To allow the

proficient teachers to maintain their status, they should be given continued learning

opportunities. Providing mentor teachers with professional developments and workshops on how

to effectively coach and mentor a teacher is important to the success of the mentoring process

(National Education Association, 2021). As support, a bank of mentors and coaching videos will

be readily available. After the mentors watch the video of their choice, they are to submit a one-

page response of how the video will improve their ability to coach and mentor induction

teachers.

A common trend in education is teachers complaining about a lack of common planning

time. Allowing teachers a common planning time at increased their community with one another

as well as improves their ability to teacher more effectively and not be bogged by the

expectations without the time to meet them (Saenz-Armstrong, 2020). Once every two weeks, a

day will be selected for no mandatory meetings to take place. During this time, teachers can plan
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with one another, seek support from one another, or reach out to their school resources for

individualized support.

Professional Development Topics

 Classroom management: positive behavior intervention and support

 Instruction: Concrete, representational, abstract

 The importance of building relationships with students over teaching content

 Unpacking standards: understanding what state standards are expecting from educators

and how to align them with the resources and curriculum already available to teachers

and students within the school and district

Budgetary Implications

Based on the school’s budget, a monetary incentive would be provided to mentoring

teachers as recognition for their outstanding abilities and a thank you for their time. This money

would come from professional development budgets or the general fund. If the school budget

does not allow for it, fundraising would attempt to provide incentives through paid lunches or a

free planning day for the mentor teacher.

Servant Leadership

As noted in the beginning of this plan, the principal is typically not the first person in

contact with teachers for daily events. It is generally the assistant principal. However, it is

important that teachers and staff know that the principal is available to continue to serve and

support them. This will be done by requests for quarterly support would be made directly to the

principal and the principal would develop a plan to meet those needs. In addition, as the

principal, I would keep an open-door policy. If my door is not closed due to a confidential
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meeting, teachers are welcome to stop in at their leisure for simple words of encouragement to

explicit and individualized support. They would also be able to schedule appointments with me if

they needed a large block of time. I would also make myself visible to the teachers. Even if I am

not the assigned or observing administrator, it is important that the teacher knows I care about

their success and will attempt to check in with them as much as possible. Being visible,

approachable, and accessible to teachers will keep them confident in my ability to uphold the

obligation of being a servant leader.

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References

National Education Association. (2021). Supporting teacher induction and mentoring programs

in light of covid-19.

https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/supporting-

teacher-induction-and-mentoring

Saenz-Armstrong, P. (2020). Supporting teachers through mentoring and collaboration.

National Council on Teacher Quality. https://www.nctq.org/blog/Supporting-teachers-

through-mentoring-and-collaboration