Washington Center for Teaching & Learning
University of Washington
Box 351413
3945 15th Ave. NE
Seattle, WA 98195

Phone: 206-221-4116
Fax: 206-897-1469
pgsexton@u.washington.edu

On Demand Information for New Teachers
Instructional Resources
New Teacher Help
OSPI | Grade Level Resources -- Nicely designed online tool for finding resources aligned with the GLEs.
Getting Organized
Lesson Strategies -- Basic steps for implementing inquiry-based, individual, and group lessons.
NEA | Planning for Your First Day -- Extremely helpful tips and links to lessen the load of your first day(s) of teaching.
A New Teacher's Survival Guide -- Nicely written and organized by a retired Connecticut elementary teacher and mentor. (not-for-profit)
OSPI | Teacher Assistance Program -- Thinking steps for lesson planning.
Time Issues
Scholastic Teacher | Sanity Savers -- Seven basic steps to keeping your sanity by using time wisely.
Scholastic Teacher | Time Management -- How to efficiently use the time you have.
NEA | Time -- A new teacher reflects on the problem of not enough time.
Classroom Management, Classroom Space
NEA | Space Design -- One of the three components of classroom management.
NEA | Sit There! -- Visual cues for seating.
Student Attention, Gaining and Maintaining
NEA | Using Visual Cues to Communicate -- These recommendations come in handy when normal means of refocusing the class lose their influence.
Student Behavior, Responding Effectively
Seattle Schools' new teachers online discussion, June 2007 -- The summary from an online discussion titled, "Classroom Management". Links and resources provided.
Behavior Advisor -- Directory of sites providing tips on managing student behavior and step-by-step directions for implementing standard interventions. (non-profit)
The Behavior Home Page -- A Kentucky DofEd and University of Kentucky collaboration with access to information, effective practices, and support concerning youth and behavior issues. (non-profit)
Dealing with Students -- Management is easier when you have the respect of your students. Here are some techniques for learning who they are.
Dealing with Parents -- What happens when parents call you with an unexpected issue? Or what do you say if you need to report behavior issues to a parent? Here are some timely guidelines.
Development in Classroom Practice -- This activity is intended to guide new and student teachers' reflective practice and understanding of the classroom milieu as well as of the teacher's role in shaping that milieu. (non-profit)
Discipline by Design -- Eleven techniques for better classroom discipline created by western Washington middle school teacher, Budd Churchward. (for-profit)
Discipline Help -- A reference for handling over 117 misbehaviors at school and home. Developed by Robert L. DeBruyn. (for-profit)
Edutopia | Clowning Around -- "The class clown can ruin the mood to learn," says this article from Edutopia magazine, "but with a little understanding and a riff of your own, you can stop these jokesters from bouncing off the walls." (non-profit)
Intervention Central -- Free tools and resources to help teachers and parents promote positive classroom behaviors. (non-profit)
Planning for a Substitute
OSPI | Teacher Assistance Program -- Contents for a "Substitute Teacher Folder".
Glencoe | Preparing for a substitute -- How do you prepare a substitute folder? A template for doing so is included.
Educationworld.com | Voice of Experience: Planning for a sub -- This teacher came up with a new strategy for his planned days off. He turns over the teaching reins to one of his students.
NEA | Planning for a Substitute -- This article describes one teacher's solution for continuing meaningful learning when a substitute visits.
Books and Ideas for New Teachers
The New Teacher Book: Finding Purpose, Balance, and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom -- A Website dedicated to the book published by Rethinking Schools contains actual articles from the book and resources to support new teachers. (non-profit)
Effective Teaching by Harry Wong -- Harry has been helping new teachers with his comments and suggestions for years.  This is a link to his articles, many for first-year teachers. (for profitl)
New Teachers On-line -- Lesson plans, helpline, resources and instructional videos. (non-profit)
Adprima -- Ideas for new teachers and education students. (non-profit)
Vermont Education Association Tips and Ideas -- Even though Vermont teachers contributed to this site, their issues are not unique to Vermont. (non-profit)
For New (and not so new) Math Teachers  -- A host of resources for conducting elementary classroom practice. (not-for-profit)
NEA's Works4Me Tips Library -- An extensive archive for NEA's weekly classroom tips e-mail.  Addresses most of teachers' concerns. (non-profit)
Scholastic -- A site dedicated to the needs of new teachers by the publishers of the Harry Potter series.  The site contains lessons, ideas, and support. (for profit)
Culturally Relevant Resources
UW | Cultural Competency Skills -- Dr. Caprice Hollins, Director of the Seattle Public Schools' Department of Equity and Race relations, talks about Cultural Compentency training and how race relations impact student behavior. (Approx. 60 min. video)
NWREL | Culturally Response Practices for Student Success: A Regional Sampler -- In this incisive publication, pre-K through 12 educators are introduced to the topic of culturally responsive educational practices.
KBCS | Voices of Diversity -- A weekly radio magazine from Bellevue Community College. The program uncovers untold stories in our community as well as celebrates the diversity of cultural expression found in the Northwest. (60 min. Audio)
UW | Center for Multicultural Education -- Locate MC information by accessing the buttons: "Links", "CME Projects", "Publications", and "Resources".
Teaching for Change -- TFC visitors can find lesson units and resources to use the classroom as a site to build social justice.
U of West Virginia | Equity in Science Education -- The title is a bit misleading as this site contains definite, concrete strategies and suggestions for addressing gender, rural and minority learning issues.
Special Education and Assistive Technology
OSPI | Teacher Assistance Program -- How to work with special needs students in your class.
Inclusion Education Glossary and Abbreviations -- Helpful translation of commonly used special education terms.
UW | Do-It Program-- Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology are the foci of this UW program that works to promote academic achievement for high school students with disabililties.
US DoEd | The IRIS Center s-- IDEA and Research for Inclusive Settings (IRIS) was designed in response to a request from the US DoEd's Office of Special Education Programs to prepare educators to work with students who have disabilities and with their families. Resources for teachers and students can be found here.
U of West Virginia | Inclusion in Science Education for Students with Disabilities -- Don't be fooled by the title. This is an incredibly rich site with concrete suggestions for addressing students' classroom learning needs.
English Language Learners
OSPI | State Standards and Guidelines for ELL Instruction -- This website has the Washington State Content Standards for ELD instruction, including the reading, speaking, and writing standards.
English Language Proficiency Standards -- WIDA is a consortium of states dedicated to the design and implementation of high standards and equitable educational opportunities for English language learners.
English Language Learner Resources -- Strategies and ideas for teachers from the Northshore School District.
Seattle Public Library Literacy/ESL -- Don't forget to use the public library!
Effective Instructional Practices for Language Minority Students -- Descriptions of promising practices with links to organizations and their resources.
ELL Literature and Resource List -- MS Word document with literature citations for: ELL overview, considerations for immigrant student populations, programmatic options, pedagogical strategies and Web sites for more immediate information.
World-class Instructional Design and Assessment (WIDA) Consortium -- The WIDA Consortium has developed English language proficiency standards and an English language proficiency test aligned with those standards. In addition, WIDA has developed Spanish language arts standards and is planning a system of alternate academic assessments for beginning English language learners.
ASCD | Getting Started with English Language Learners -- TheA new book that provides strategies for boosting ELL student achievement.
Assessment Strategies
Seattle Schools and TEP Grads online discussion, March 2007 -- The summary from recent online discussions titled, "Assessment: Meaningful (or Messy)?". Links and resources provided.
OSPI | Teacher Assistance Program -- Monitoring student learning.
U of Michigan | Classroom Assessment -- Primarily for higher education, The Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) has an exhaustive series of assessment techniques that should appeal to every formative and summative need, K12 included.
NEA | Weighted Grading -- What is this and how can it work for me?
Differentiating Instruction
Seattle Schools' new teachers online discussion, April 2007 -- The summary from recent online discussions titled, "Differentiating Instruction". Links and resources provided.
ASCD Education Topics: Differentiated Instruction -- Defines DI, includes fulll-text articles, text and video Q and A, and ASCD products on differentiating instruction. (Pay attention to llinks on right.)
Differentiating Instruction -- From the Center for Applied Special Technology, this article synthesizes recent research for applying the process to general education classrooms.
Differentiation in Elementary Grades -- An ERIC digest describes differentiated instruction, discusses the reasons for differentiating instruction, discusses what makes it successful, and suggests how teachers can start implementing it.
Teaching in Mixed Ability Classrooms -- From the Wisconsin Education Association, analyzes the benefits and challenges assoicated with this strategy.
Motivating Students
OSPI | Teacher Assistance Program -- Motivators to keep students' minds from wandering.
ARCS Model | Motivational Design -- What is the ARCS model? "The ARCS model is a problem solving approach to designing the motivational aspects of learning environments to stimulate and sustain students' motivation to learn." Check it out.
Developing Classroom Routines
ASCD | Beginning and Ending the Classroom Day -- Like other rules and procedures, the specific ways in which teachers start and end the day or period vary. Classroom management is enhanced when teachers establish routines that communicate order and learning at the same time.
Connecting Theory to Practice
New Horizons for Learning | Teaching and Learning Strategies -- A comprehensive listing including how teaching strategies work and where they have been applied.
Learning with Technology
Apple Learning Interchange -- Provides lesson ideas and teaching methods for new and experienced teachers.
Opening Classroom Doors: Teaching Practices -- A peek into the classrooms of National Board Certified Teachers from the Digital Edge project in minimally edited video. These teachers demonstrate their expertise in many different pedagogical methods and strategies.
From Now On -- Online journal from Bellingham's Jamie MacKenzie contains valuable critique and commentary about using classroom computers.