Teacher Features

Showcasing Events of the Union College Education Program

I had the privilege to visit Larissa Mesnard, Kayla Thom and Lilly Lopez who are all in the Washington, D.C.-Maryland area.

Larissa ’07 teaches English at Smithburg High School a public high school nested in the foothills of the Appalachia Mountains. She is a traveling teacher with no permanent classroom but goes from room to room with her cart of materials. Larissa had a challenging start in that she replaced a teacher who left a few weeks after school started and the classes were taught by several substitutes before Larissa reported for duty. She is looking forward to a fresh start second semester.

Lilly ’07 is the seventh grade home teacher and teaches middle school math at Spencerville Academy located a few miles from the General Conference offices in Silver Springs, Maryland. Lilly is a math teacher by training but is finding herself teaching Bible, art, and other things as assigned. She and Antonio are preparing for an addition to their little family.

Kayla ’07 is leading out in the four year old pre-school program at Atholton Adventist School located in Columbia, Maryland. I Yes, four year olds. Kayla feels that her calling is to work with God’s littlest ones. Kayla’s students are full of energy and she is up to the task. She looks forward to getting her own classroom module so that there can be more flexibility in the school day. Beth Reynolds ’06 is the 9th and 10th grade English teacher in the same school.

New Teacher Induction Program

One of the most important aspects of the success of new teachers is the mentoring they receive during their first years of teaching. Several schools report that as many as 50% of their new teachers leave the profession after three years or less. A long-standing tradition at Union College is its commitment to the success of our new teachers. In keeping with this tradition, the Teacher Education Program has developed the following induction program.

1. Gather all the schools & addresses of new graduates.

2. Gather the names of the mentoring teacher assigned to each teacher.

3. Send both the new teacher and their mentoring teacher the book 101 Answers for New Teachers and their Mentors: Effective Teaching Tips for Daily Classroom Use, by Annette L. Breaux.

4. In the fall and spring, the unit conducts a simultaneous conference call with all the new teachers. The purpose of this call is to field questions, share ideas and give the teachers a sense of community.

5. Each new teacher in the Mid-America Union Conference receives a visit from one of the unit faculty early in the second semester and those not in MAUC will be visited when feasible. The purpose of this visit is to encourage, field questions and observe the teacher in action. Each visit is followed up with a letter.

6. Each spring new teachers are asked to complete the Professional Skill Checklist and their supervisors (school principals and/or superintendents) are asked to complete the New Teacher Evaluation. The goal is to have a 100% return rate on these surveys.

The results of these surveys are reviewed by the education faculty and, when indicated, changes are implemented to enhance the program.

As part of the New Teacher Induction Plan, each new teacher is given the opportunity to fill out a survey that allows them to express how well prepared they were for their first year of teaching.

Surveys are sent both to the new teacher and to their supervisor. These surveys are carefully studied and many times changes are made in the program to enhance the effectiveness of it for future education majors.

Some of the best suggestions come from the new teachers who are experiencing the challenges and rewards of being new to the profession. Their fresh new outlook and input helps keep the program on the cutting edge.

The surveys were sent out during the last week of March enabling the teachers and supervisors enough time before the end of the semester to carefully and thoughtfully provide answers and suggestions.

As a part of the New Teacher’s Induction Plan at Union College, the professors from the Education Department visit the teachers in their new classrooms and meet the children. This visit is an encouragement and connection with graduates that helps maintain a strong interaction between alumni of the program and the college.

The professors work these visits into their schedules and take pictures to share.

Each Fall and Spring the Education faculty sets up a conference call for the New Teachers who are in their first year of teaching.

This conference call allows the new teachers to talk to the UC Education Faculty and each other, ask questions, tell about their experiences and find out where everyone else is teaching.

The new teachers who have called during previous conference calls, report that it is a very uplifting experience and they appreciate the opportunity to chat with each other.

The Spring 2007 conference call was scheduled for April 22, 2007 at 1:00 CDT. This allowed everyone from California at 11:00 PDT to Denver at 12:00 - to New York at 2:00 ADT to call in during the middle of the day and still have the afternoon to do their Sunday activities. Postcards, email and phone calls were sent to notify the New Teachers of 2007 what phone number to call.

This is part of the New Teacher Induction Plan that Union College does for their Education graduates.

During the first month of teaching, Union College Education graduates and their mentors receive a book from the Education Program at the college by the name of “101 Answers for New Teachers and Their Mentors”, by Annette Breaux and published by Eye On Education.

This book has pertinent information for the new teachers as they take charge of their own classroom full of students.

This is part of the first step in the New Teacher Induction Plan of the Education Program. It occurs after the teachers have been assigned a mentor by the principal or education superintendent in the conference or school district where they are teaching.

The mentoring program is essential to new teachers as they put together their lesson plans and begin teaching. A mentor can help a new teacher through things that they may not be prepared for by giving them advise and support.

The Education staff at Union College believes that the strong New Teacher Induction Plan is one reason that there is such a low drop out rate among their graduates.