Mission Interviews and Orientation Essay

PART 1: THE MISSION STATEMENT

A mission statement reflects an organization’s purpose and reason for being. In this portion of the assignment, you will use ideas from this module’s online discussion and your own ideas to compose a mission statement for a new teacher induction program.

As an example, here’s the mission statement from the New Teacher Center: The New Teacher Center improves student learning by supporting the development of an inspired, dedicated, and highly qualified teaching force.

Here are some tips for writing a mission statement:

Compose a well-developed paragraph to describe the purpose of the new teacher induction program in a way that inspires support and ongoing commitment.

Write in plain language free of jargon.

Use active verbs to describe what you do.

Make the mission short enough, so anyone can repeat it.

Use the guiding questions below as you write the mission statement for the new-teacher induction program. The questions will help you think through what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you must do. Record your answers to the questions in complete sentences and record your mission statement.

What is our mission?

Who are we trying to reach?

What do those we are trying to reach value?

What results do we anticipate?

What is our plan?

PART 2: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

A major task of the principal and a school’s staff selection committee is to develop job-related interview questions for teacher candidates. In this part of the assignment, you will practice writing interview questions.

Step 1. Review the presentations and readings to become reacquainted with ideas for developing interview questions.

Step 2. Create a chart to guide your reflection. You may create the table yourself, or use the template provided in the Template Tables document.

Step 3. Think about the profile you created for an effective teacher and the mission for the new teacher induction program. With those two things in mind, compose three job-related interview questions for Marzano’s domains and Haberman’s dimensions of effective teaching.

PART 3: NEW-TEACHER ORIENTATION

In the presentations and readings, you were introduced to many creative ideas for new teacher orientation. In this part of the Module 2 assignment, you will first describe the new teacher orientation that your district currently provides, survey three colleagues to find out their best orientation experiences, and use the data you have collected and your own creativity to design a plan for a new teacher orientation at your school.

Step 1. My District’s Current New Teacher Orientation Program

Describe the current program in one well-developed paragraph of a minimum five sentences.

Step 2. Best Orientation Experiences

Survey three colleagues to determine their best new teacher orientation experiences. Describe each experience in a well-developed paragraph of a minimum five sentences.

Step 3. New-Teacher Orientation Plan

As you work on the orientation plan, think about what your needs were as a new teacher. You can also refer to the Module 2 and Module 3 presentations to view potential orientation ideas.

Create a chart outlining the orientation components, the components’ goals, and how the component will be presented. You may create the table yourself, or use the template provided in the Template Tables document.

Step 4. Action Plan for Orientation

Part of a principal’s job in a collaborative school culture is to ensure that others take ownership of tasks. Action planning is an effective way to ensure a systematic process to implement the new-teacher orientation agenda.

Create a chart detailing the action plan. You may create the table yourself, or use the template provided in the Template Tables document.