Beginning Teacher Summer Academy

A warm mahalo to Matson for their continued support with sponsoring our yearly Beginning Teacher Summer Academy. As a result of this sponsorship, all beginning teacher attendees were recipients of much needed classroom materials and resources.

This summer, eleven complex areas across four islands prepared 250 first-year teachers for a successful start of the school year. These summer academies give our newest educators a head start on understanding the immediate needs and topics most relevant to the start of the school year. Communicating with Families, creating Optimal Learning Environments, Engaging Students in Learning and Setting up Classroom Procedures are just a few of those essential skills. In addition, participants are provided with the opportunity to build relationships, share ideas and resources and start building their support network.

"I will apply virtually everything covered in BTSA within my first week of school."

"Making connections and getting an overview of strategies needed to start the school year was most impactful."

"I'm leaving BTSA with a better sense of how to work with Families."

"Thank you so much for the wonderful training. It was extremely helpful, appreciate the support."

"I loved this conference! It was so helpful to have. I'm nervous, but it feels good to have some strategies to prepare me for the first couple of weeks. "

In an effort to support early career educators, the Hawaii Teacher Induction Center offered three Professional Learning Community opportunities to engage participants in evidence-based practices to meet the diverse and evolving needs of new teachers.

Facilitated by Jeremiah Brown, Norman Sales, and Pinky Grace Francisco

The Supporting Multilingual Learners to Success PLC outcomes were to provide

• Instructional strategies and resources for teachers working with multilingual learners
• Increased understanding around TESOL's 6 Principles and WIDA Standards
• Sheltered Instruction teaching methods
• Collaboration, reflection, and lesson planning

"I am very excited to hear how my colleagues have implemented translanguaging in their own classrooms. There were such wonderful ideas shared during the sessions, that their knowledge and experience will be very valuable."

Facilitated by Beth Timbal and Lori Kwee

The outcomes of the Trauma-Informed Practices PLC were to:

• Increase awareness and understanding of trauma and its impact on teaching, learning, and behavior
• Gain practical, easy-to-implement strategies to help students who have experienced trauma be more successful in your classroom
• Learn mindfulness practices to improve mental health

"The course was incredibly impactful in all respects. I wholeheartedly feel like this course ought to be mandatory for educators. The course instructors, Beth Timbal and Lori Kwee were incredibly knowledgeable, prepared, and quickly created a caring learning environment that allowed me to feel safe, valued, and respected. I'm truly grateful for the course. The resources, slides, videos, everything supports me as a teacher, and I look forward to being mindful to use them throughout my journey this upcoming school year and beyond. I was teaching summer school during this professional development course, and I was able to begin integrating some of the actionable items right away with positive results. Thank you so much!"

Facilitated by Gino Pascual, Keevan Matsumoto, & Ruby Smits

The Special Education PLC outcomes were to:

• Support organization of IEP caseloads
• Increase understanding of students with special needs and their IEP's
• Increase understanding of different school systems and culture
• Nurture colleague and student relationships

"These are great. We need this to continue. This makes a lot of teachers feel more prepared. We are sharing in our breakout groups that this is appreciated!!!"