Keys to the Secondary Classroom: A Teacher’s Guide to the First Months of School

"The suggestions and tips give teachers a solid start to their year and help their students achieve. This book has a unique focus on secondary teachers."
―Janet Crews, Secondary Instructional Coordinator
Clayton School District, MO

"A blueprint for successful teaching; an entire year of teaching methods in one volume. This book is jam-packed with practical, useful forms to guarantee a meaningful year for both the students and especially the teacher!"
―Ronald W. Poplau, Social Studies Teacher
Shawnee Mission Northwest High School, KS

An easy-to-use source for all the strategies you need to thrive in the secondary classroom!

Preparing adolescent students for today′s increasing demands requires commitment, organization, subject matter knowledge, and passion. But with the right strategies and tools, first-year secondary school teachers can approach this challenge with greater confidence and ease.

Leveraging a wealth of information and research from the New Teacher Center, this user-friendly guide provides a solid foundation for classroom management, lesson planning, and assessment. Teachers will learn step-by-step tips for organizing standards-based curriculum across the content areas, supported by extensive reproducible forms and go-to references, including lesson plans from exemplary math and language arts teachers. The authors provide specific strategies for:

• Reaching struggling readers
• Working with English learners and their families
• Designing lessons with assessment in mind
• Sustaining a passion for teaching

Covering everything needed for your first year and beyond, this guide provides invaluable insights on succeeding with adolescent students.

Rain S. Bongolan has supported over 120 beginning secondary teachers as a mentor for the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project. Her contributions to the profession reflect 22 years of teaching history and English at the middle and high school levels, and her dedication to ensuring students’ access to rigorous, culturally responsive instruction. For three years, Bongolan directed and codesigned the New Teacher Center’s ELL Institute, one of California’s 24 professional development institutes. Bongolan consults with national organizations as well as state school districts working to improve instructional practices in adolescent literacy and English language development. She has authored several mentor and teacher training modules and directed grant projects for the NTC featuring practical and innovative teaching and mentoring strategies designed to advance students’ content literacy in Grades 7–12.

Ellen Moir is founder and executive director of the New Teacher Center, which is committed to the development of an inspired, dedicated, and highly quali¬fied teaching force by supporting new teachers as they enter the profession. For more than 20 years, she has pioneered innovative approaches to new teacher development, research on new teacher practice, and the design and administration of teacher induction programs. Moir continues to work with the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project and is an advocate for new teachers across the country. Moir has received national recognition for her work, including the Harold W. McGraw, Jr. 2005 Prize in Education and the 2003 Distinguished Teacher Educator Award from the California Council on Teacher Education. Moir is the author of several articles and book chapters and has produced video series related to new teacher development. Her work has been supported by over 20 private foundations and donors, the National Science Foundation, and several state and federal agencies.

Wendy Baron has taught Grades K-6, served as a Title I reading specialist, supervised and instructed prospective teachers at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), and for the past 20 years, she has worked directly with new teachers and principals in Grades K-12. As associate director with the New Teacher Center, Baron oversees the Santa Cruz/Silicon Valley New Teacher Project, which supports over a 1,000 new teachers annually. She also consults with school districts throughout California and nationally on mentoring, teacher induction, and designing professional development for beginning teachers. Baron has extensive experience in coaching, adult learning theory, group facilitation, and professional development. She is a researcher and practitioner, and seeks continually to impact educational systems to support teacher development. Baron is the author of several articles and book chapters and has produced numerous videos related to mentoring and new teacher development.