In Turlock USD, mentors and teachers use 15 minutes of video footage per term as the inspiration for an ongoing conversation about how to improve classroom practice.
By Denise Duewell
A few years ago, I had the opportunity to become the coordinator of professional development and induction at Turlock Unified School District. I leapt at the chance! In my 20 years with the district, I had served mostly as a high school English teacher, with four years as an instructional coach.
In those four years, I learned a tremendous amount and returned to the classroom a much stronger teacher. Aside from refining my own practice and learning so much from my mentees, I found that I really enjoyed working with new teachers to help them unlock their potential and grow into the best teachers they could be. I also saw firsthand that our newest teachers needed additional professional development and support in their first few years in the classroom.
As I stepped into the new role, California was adopting new standards for teacher induction, which is a requirement in our state for teachers to receive their certification. My first step was to write our teacher induction program.