• Working collaboratively with SCOE Induction and individual Intern programs to align program, site, and District new teacher expectations and goals

• Mentor recruitment and training

• Designing and delivering professional learning for mentors and new teachers centered on educator well-being

• Working with District departments and site administrators to create and align systems of support for new teachers that address both short-term and long-term needs

• And a whole lot more!

Our "Seed for Thought" this month builds upon the idea of new beginnings. January not only ushers in a new year, but it also allows us the perfect opportunity to "start over" with students in terms of:

*classroom expectations

*routines and procedures

*culture, community, and relationships

No content learning will occur until every student feels safe enough, seen, and heard. If something wasn't working last year, if relationships needed tending, if community needed to be rebuilt - now is the time to do that work. Investing in things like SEL instruction, classroom management reviews, and re-establishing community are all perfectly normal at this time of year. In fact, having solid foundations in all of these areas is ESSENTIAL to student success.

But resets are not just good for our students. They're also perfectly normal, acceptable, and essential to TEACHER success. Even though we might be feeling pretty good after winter break, we have a lot of work left to do this year. Big work. We will get frustrated. We will feel stressed. We will lose our cool. And if we know this to be true, then we can and should be planning for ways to mitigate and minimize these occurrences.

“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

This quote from Tolkien's, The Hobbit, says everything we need to know about planning for our well-being. If we know a dragon lives near, we need a plan for dealing with the dragon. In the same way, if we know we're going to face stress ahead of us, then we need to start planning for that now. Today. While you're still reading this.

Check out the resources shared in this month's newsletter above, as well as this month's gratitude invitation above, for easy ways to plan for taming your own dragons!