By warning new teachers of predictable traps and preparing strategies to rescue them if they fall in, the principal can help them survive the critical first year. Some pitfalls facing new teachers are setting standards too low, wasting time on chores, assuming too much responsibility, seeking student approval, and failing to prioritize…

Beginning teachers are advised to pace themselves; provide disciplinary options; learn to justify their teaching; be tolerant about student gripes; use the Socratic method to elicit thoughtful responses; refrain from killing discussion, solving students' personal problems, and insulting students' intelligence; listen to veteran teachers; begin…

Describes an overseas independent school's efforts to professionalize subtitute teaching by orienting substitutes properly, preparing a helpful handbook and teacher folders, and hiring a full-time floating substitute to ensure prompt, reliable coverage and ongoing assistance of regular teaching faculty. (MLH)

A former teacher-turned-principal presents a model for providing new teachers with necessary peer support, information, and assistance. Components include a clear, concise introduction to materials, schedules, and daily school and classroom operations; a thorough building orientation; a presentation of the principal's expectations regarding…

One way to exert leadership in orienting new teachers is to act confidently as master teacher. This can be accomplished by scheduling informal monthly orientation meetings centered on priority topics. Roundtable discussions of sensitive topics foster a different image of the principalship, increase administrator visibility, and facilitate both…

Job-embedded, mentor-dependent learning modes, such as action research, small-group problem solving, and peer observation, can be effective alternatives to conventional inservice education approaches. Well-designed teacher induction programs depend on creating a comprehensive plan, looking for knowledgeable mentor trainers, providing mentors with…

Resolving the perennial problem of substitute teachers' high turnover and low availability is feasible, if principals welcome, orient, and assign them properly. Regular teachers should prepare a folder containing class lists, daily schedules, seating charts, expectations of students, and meaningful lesson plans. Substitutes should be treated as…

To help beginning teachers succeed, principals should identify individual teachers' strengths and weaknesses during the interviewing/hiring stage, balance neophytes' workloads, limit their extracurricular activities, establish expectations, select veteran mentors, offer informal formative assessment, be specific about classroom observations, and…