I really enjoyed this article. There is so much information that is great for first year Deaf Education teachers. I really liked how the article was set up into a question and answer style. This helped to break up the information and get a clear idea of what each questions was addressing. This section of the reading that was about the interview process was also very informative. The questions that they suggested for me to ask were great. Some of the questions I had not even thought about asking in an interview. Another section that I found very helpful was the Getting Started section. In this section there are seven different points that these authors suggest for preparing for the first day. The first day of teaching is going to be a very overwhelming process. There is so much to remember to do on that first day of teaching. These seven points are great because they can help me remember even the little things because I am sure that I will forget something because of everything that will be happening all at one time. Something that I noticed throughout this article was how much they stressed the importance of a mentor. Being a first year teacher is very stressful. I know personally that I would fell a lot better if I had someone that I could go to for help, advice, information, and guidance. Throughout the article it is mentioned how important it is to have someone at your school that you can look up to and go to at anytime to try and ease the transition into teaching and make the process less stressful. Another section in the article that I found both helpful and slightly comical was the section about the New Teachers Experiences and Feelings. I also enjoyed reading the different strategies and activities that were listed in the article. There were a lot of great ideas that I will be using in my future classroom. Overall I truly enjoyed this article. Everything in the article was helpful and really informative. It is definitely something that I will keep around to refer back to during my first year of teaching.
You might want to keep it handy for a few more years -- not only the first year. :)
ReplyDeleteI also really liked the stress on a teacher mentor. I think if we are in a public school and we are the only deaf educator that we may be paired with a special ed teacher. Although, I think it would be more helpful to us to have a fellow deaf educator as a mentor, we could learn a lot from another special educator. I know I definitely need someone to lean on in my first couple of years.
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