This section includes listings of additional website, books, checklists, surveys, professional development opportunities and organizations that might prove helpful to beginning teachers.

WEBSITES
ADDITIONAL READING
PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

Websites

• Beginning Teacher’s Toolbox This site contains information for everyone in education from student teachers, to veteran teachers, to administrators, and includes both professional and classroom resources.
  
  
• Great Expectations: Helpful Hints for Beginning Teachers This site offers suggestions to turn your beginning teacher's dreams into achievable goals.
  

• The George Lucas Educational Foundation 
  This interactive site offers information on a wide variety of educational topics from technology to project-based learning, along with blogs, videos, and articles that keep you up to date on the latest trends in education at all grade levels.

• LD Online This site contains information on a variety of learning disabilities, tips for working with students who have disabilities, recommended readings, and more.

• National Association for Beginning Teacher  The NABT is dedicated to giving new teachers the tools they need and encouraging them to remain enthusiastic as they face the challenges of the future in the classroom today. Share ideas, browse the resource center, and get the latest news from NABT by signing up.
  
• New Teacher at scholastic.com This site includes resources, tools, and tips for new teachers, as well as ideas about how to decorate your classroom and printables.

• The New Teacher Center This article provides insight into the ups and downs and what can be expected during the first year of teaching.

• Survival Guide for New Teachers This publication provides information for the new teacher from working with veteran teachers to administrators.

• Teacher Resource Bank This links takes you the Valdosta State University’s Teacher Resource Bank, created to provide Georgia’s educators with access to innovative materials for teaching and learning.

• What to Expect Your First Year of Teaching This links to a book written by Amy McDaniel about all the things that you can expect for your first year of teaching. It includes information on a variety of topics, including quotes directly from teachers.

• Teachnology: Special Education This website lists several different professional journals and literature in education focusing on special education.

• Teachingheart This website offers help for first year teachers, veteran teachers, and student teachers. It provides information on resume help, interviewing for a job, tips for new teachers, organizing your classroom, classroom/behavior management, etc.

• Sites for Teachers This is an annotated directory of sites that teachers will find useful, including links to resources from songs to printables.
  

• IRIS Center: Visit the IRIS Center for Training Enhancements for free online interactive resources that translate research about the education of students with disabilities into practice. Our materials cover a wide variety of evidence-based topics, including behavior, RTI, learning strategies, and progress monitoring.
  

• Georgia Performance Standards: This site, run by the Georgia Department of Education, contains tabs for Georgia Performance Standards, frameworks, resources, videos, and training, among other useful information.
  

• Georgia Professional Standards Commission: This site offers information on the ethical aspect of teaching, what is expected of teachers, and information on certification.

• BetterLesson: With BetterLesson, you can organize and share your complete, 180-day curriculum, connect and collaborate with innovative educators in your field , tag and search lessons using state standards

Documents to Download:

• New Teacher Elementary Handbook – From the Center for Field Experience and Partnerships, Bagwell College of Education, Kennesaw State University, this provides information for new teachers on a wide variety of topics including attitudes, classroom disruptions, journaling, professional growth, and extra resources, to name a few.

• Mentor and Beginning Teacher Resources (PDF) This links to a list of reading materials for mentor and beginning teachers to enrich their professional development.

• Reinbeck Central School District Mentor Teacher/New Teacher Handbook (PDF) This site provides information about developing a mentor to new teacher relationship and all that it entails.

ADDITIONAL READING

• Thompson, J. G., & Thompson, J. G. (2007). The first-year teacher's survival guide: Ready-to-use strategies, tools & activities for meeting the challenges of each school day. Jossey-Bass teacher. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Springer, S., Alexander, B., & Persiani-Becker, K. (2005). The organized teacher: A hands-on guide to setting up and running a terrific classroom. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Springer, S., Alexander, B., & Persiani-Becker, K. (2007). The creative teacher: An encyclopedia of ideas to energize your curriculum. New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Jacobson, J., Raymer, D., & Redmond, A. (1999). The big book of reproducible graphic organizers: 50 great templates to help kids get more out of reading, writing, social studies, & more. New York: Scholastic Professional Books.
• Moore, J. E., Holliman, L., & Evans, J. (1994). How to plan your school year. Monterey, CA: Evan-Moor Corp.

 PROFESSIONAL LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

• Georgia Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESA)
  The Georgia RESAs provide shared services to improve the effectiveness of educational programs and services of local school systems, including professional learning opportunities for teachers.

• VSU Continuing Education
  VSU Continuing Education provides programs to enhance the quality of life in the region by providing educational, artistic, cultural, technological, and economic development activities. The Continuing Education program includes professional learning unit (PLU) courses for k-12 educators.

• ESOL Endorsement at Valdosta State University

The English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) endorsement credentials pre- or in-service teachers to teach English to speakers of other languages in the public schools of Georgia and prepares any teacher to respond to the needs of the growing number of English language learners in regular content classrooms. The three-course endorsement is valuable not only to language arts teachers; teachers in all fields must respond to the needs of non-native speakers.

• VSU College of Education Online Program

Valdosta State University has a wide selection of fully online endorsement and graduate degree programs available to advance your career in education. Some of these programs are offered through Georgia ONmyLINE (GOML), a University System of Georgia collaborative. These degrees and programs are equal to any other granted by VSU, which is accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC).