Happy Holidays!

We hope you are all enjoying your vacation immensely.  Be safe the last few days, take time to be with the ones you love and we'll see you all in 2011!

"Putting it ALL Together!"

This past Saturday we held the last of our New Mentor Trainings for 2010.  We had a great turn out considering that it's December and Craft Fair and the holiday season.  The training focussed on Mentor Conversations and Formal Observations.  Our mentors learned about the Observation Protocol which consists of three Phases:  Pro Observation Planning, Data Collection, and Post-Observation Reflection Conversation.  They also learned about two different Data Collecting Tools: The Focused Scripting Tool, and the Room Logistics Tool.  A great time was had by all!!!  Mahalo to our committed Mentors who are the heart of the Kahikukala Program!!!!

An interesting read...

Education in the news all the time!  Here's an interesting read...

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/111694719.html

First Annual Kahikukala Holiday Social!

We held our first annual Holiday Social for New Teachers and their Mentors on December 3rd at Chilli's Bar and Grill.  A huge Mahalo to the Central District Chapter of HSTA for hosting us.  Although a bit windy the event was a success!  New teachers got to mingle with one another, talk story, win door prizes, eat and relax.

We all had so much fun we're already planning on a Bowling Day in the Spring.  Stay tuned!!!

Mentor Forum #2

Mentor Forum #2 was held at Wahiawa Middle School on Thursday, December 2nd.  Research has shown that the Winter months are especially difficult times for new teachers so we focused on ways to pick them up and energize them.  The "FISH" Philosophy was shared:  Be There!  Make Their Day! Choose your Attitude! and Play! are concepts that help boost morale and make one's job fun!

In addition, Mentors practiced Mentor Conversations for: Paraphrase, Pause, Probe and conversed on issues they face in their Mentoring.

A great day was had by all.  Mahalo to everyone who showed up, to those who brought delicious snacks (we would LOVE the Blueberry Mochi recipe) and to Wahiawa Middle for hosting.  Next forum is in the Spring.

More education in the news!

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101206_Fewer_tots_deemed_set_for_school.html

Interesting article about school-readiness.  

Race to the Top is going to make big changes...

to the way we're evaluated.  We all know about PEP-T and have our opinions about it.  Winning RTTT will impact the way we're evaluated.  Details are still being negotiated between the State and HSTA.  Keep your ears and eyes open!  This article is a very interesting read.

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/nyt/20101204_teacher_ratings_get_new_look_pushed_by_a_rich_watcher.html

Making strides in Highly Qualified Status!

An article in today's Star Advertiser reports promising news regarding compliance in No Child Left Behind regarding licensing and highly qualified status:

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20101129_More_new_isle_teachers_are_licensed.html

Survey for New Teachers!

New Teachers, we want to hear from you!  We are in the process of planning activities to enhnace your beginning teaching experience.  We hope that networking opportunities will enable you to meet your peers, share your experiences, and continue growing as an educator.  Please follow the link below to give us an idea of what your needs and wants are.

Click Here to Access New Teacher Survey

Mahalo for your time and hard work!!!

Got PD360?!

PD360...sounds like that crazy new work out regimen, right?  Well, not quite but close!  PD360 is a work out for your mind and it's a great resource for all of us provided by the Department of Education.  It's a website that "provides professional development on demand" and is located here:

http://www.pd360.com/

Once you are at the website you will need to follow the directions to register.  Once you are logged in the home page will take you to a learning community created especially for you.  For example, mine is customized according to my profile description:  Hawaii, and Central District.  My profile provides for specific content to be made available to me based on initiatives that we are working on at our District and specific to my job title.  For teachers based at schools, content can be specific to school initiatives, grade level, content area, etc.

You click on the Search Tab to search through the content for topics that pertain to your needs and interests.  For example, I typed in the words, "Classroom Management" and hit "Search Content."  My search fielded the following hits:

I can then click on any one of the links and it takes me to a Professional Development video on the topic.

Aside from the Professional Development Training videos there is also a Learning Community with links to other articles and sites that may be of interest to educators.

Admittedly, we have not spent much time on the site.  However, we have begun to research and look for videos that we feel would be beneficial for our new teachers to watch.  What we have been able to see so far has been promising.  In the coming weeks we hope to learn more about the site and we hope you will to.  If you are interested in the site and would like some help navigating through it send us and email, give us a call or post here!  Happy learning!!!

Day 4 of Cognitive Coaching

Today we were supposed to present about our Program at the Principal's Meeting but we were scheduled for a Cognitive Coaching Training so out fearless leader "BD" went in our place.  We are positive that he did a great job!

Our team had another great day learning together.  We learned about the 5 different types of Feedback:  Judgmental, Personal Observations, Inferences, Data, and Mediative Questions.  Of which the last two, Data and Mediative Questions are the most important when in "Coaching Default."  We learned how to present data to coachees to maximize self-directed learning and practiced the process.  In addition, we learned about meta-coaching which is the coaching of coaches to help coaches bump up their coaching.

We can't wait to practice everything we learned today!!!

Life Long Learners!

Kahikukala in effect!  We spent our day today learning from the marvelous Sue Presler who is our Cognitive Coach trainer.  Today we learned about coaching in Reflective Conversations to help our mentees think deeper through questions that help them analyze and reflect on activities.  We enjoyed practicing coaching with our peers and can't wait to try the new strategies on our mentees and to share them with our school level Mentors.  Day four of our training is tomorrow.  

No Fear Leadership!

Two years ago I attended the Model School's Conference in Honolulu.  I came away with many great ideas about Educational Reform and one quote stayed with me, "Leadership is not about position, it's about action, lead from any chair."  This quotation came to mind as I watched video and read about the amazing Chilean rescue.  I found this article especially inspiring!

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/13/last-miner-out-is-groups-captain/

The Chilean Shift Captain had a no-fear attitude  and served as a role model for his men.  He was already in a leadership position and in the face of huge diversity he stepped up to the plate and lead his men to a life and freedom that few thought possible.  I can't imagine the strength it took for him to decide to go this route  under such adversity and would love to meet him in person.  His charisma must be amazing!!!

Today I congratulate Chile and from this heroic story take so many lessons I hope to apply in life and in my career as an educator and mentor.

Mentors: Putting some drops in your bucket, pass it on!

Mentors, keep an eye out because a package should be delivered to your school in the next couple of weeks.  Thanks to our generous CAS's you will be receiving the Bucket Books for use with your students and New Teachers.  Please use this opportunity to fill others' buckets.

Nothing to do with teaching, but a story of hope.

I've been glued to cnn.com watching the Chilean miners being rescued.  The fourth miner has just been brought to the surface--about a 15 minute ride twisting and turning as he is pulled up to the surface after being trapped underground since August 5th for 69 days!!!  I used this real life lesson to teach my 3 and 4 year old some important words--hero, miracle, never give up.  My three year old was especially happy when the first miner was pulled up and the little boy began crying tears of happiness to see his daddy.

I've been following this story since the mine collapsed. When the story first unfolded I felt sadness; expecting to read of the deaths of the workers.  After contact was finally made via a small drilled hole 17 days later we learned that they had all miraculously escaped to a safe zone and survived on a small amount of rations and air.  Incredible, unbelievable!!!  The unbelievable news was followed with the story that a rescue attempt would be made but that the Miners would  have to stay alive underground for as long as four months while a tunnel was drilled through half a mile of rock to free them..."No way!"  I thought, "Not possible, impossible, crazy!"  But here we are today, 3 courageous rescuers lowered to help the miners and so far, four men lifted to safety.

As I reflect, I think about my own last 69 days.  I got a new job, moved into a new office, began working with 3 new co-workers, learned so many new things, and at times struggled with the steep learning curve.  It's been a long and tiring quarter for me and I know that it's been tough for some of the teachers I work with as well.  But when I compare life in first quarter to life underground in Chile I know that I've had it easy.  However, more importantly I've learned that no matter what adversity you are faced with that you should never give up because sometimes in life miracles can certainly occur.

So, with that, let's take a deep breath, get ready for the second quarter, learn to adapt, be flexible, be strong, trust in our selves and coworkers, and never give up...no matter how bleak the situation, when we work together as a team anything is possible!!!!  A perfect rally cry as we mentors and new teachers work together for the best of our students!!!

Furlough Monday

No Institute Day and no Columbus Day.  We're furloughed and not getting paid--means no work for us tomorrow, so go have fun at the beach, shop, watch a movie...have some fun before 2nd quarter starts and the madness of report cards, conferences, testing, and everything else begins.

New Mentor Training #3

They're back!  After working an entire day on their vacation, our mentors came back for more!!!

Today's session covered:  Hawaii Teacher Standards, Standards Self-Assessment, Teacher Action Plan/Reflection, Classroom Observation Process, and Generational Gaps.

Here are some links of interest:

Hawaii Teacher Standards:

http://www.htsb.org/html/details/teacherstandards/standards.html

Generational Gaps:

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/beloit-college-mindset-class-2014-11417568
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo2mBiPBLlA

http://teacherleaders.typepad.com/teacher_leadership_today/2007/11/rumors-of-a-tea.html
http://sbruzzese.org/edem628/readings/unit2d.pdf
http://www.agts.edu/faculty/faculty_publications/articles/creps_generations_chart.pdf
http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper104/ReevesITForumJan08.pdf
http://fdu.edu/newspubs/magazine/05ws/generations.htm

Here's what we learned about the Traditionalists, Boomers, Xers and Nexters:

We need to be cognizant of generational differences when working with our colleagues.  Just as culture can play a role in our interactions with others, so can the generation gaps.

A huge mahalo to all who took time out of their vacations to perfect their craft!!!  We are so happy to be working with you all!!!

New Mentor Training 2

It's the first day of Spring Intersession so how were 4 District Mentors and 14 new Mentors spending their first day off?  The beach?  Ala Moana?  Disneyland?  In the classroom?  Nope!  They were learning how to perfect their mentoring craft at the New Mentor Training held at Mililani Uka Elementary.  Today's topics:  Mentor Language/Conversations (are you being consultive, collaborative, or cognitive?), Rapport, BMIRS, Positive Presuppositions and Professionalism.  Tomorrow's topics:  Professional Development Plans, Teaching Standards, Observations, and Generational Gaps.

Some links you might find interesting:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3204/01.html
(Click on the arrow on the picture and it will take you to the video on Mirror Neurons)

And some things to think about:

• How would use paraphrasing to turn this statement into a positive presupposition: "My kids just can't get the standards!  None of them are reading on grade level!"
• How can you use Cognitive, Consultive, and Collaborative Language in your next meeting with your new teacher?
• What are some ways you can get into rapport with your new teachers?
• How can you promote professionalism in our profession?

A huge mahalo to our committed Mentors who take time out of their busy schedules to become the best Mentors they can be.  Stay tuned for more information.

Here's some of the Mentors' work around Professional Norms:

Education in the News

In early September the Star Advertiser's front page headline read, "Teacher Dropouts!" and highlighted the problem of teacher attrition.  Read the article here:

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20100907_teacher_dropouts.html

Nationally, Oprah has recently highlighted the film, "Waiting for Superman" a documentary that has won awards and highlights the problems in America's School System on her show.  For more information about the movie try these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_%22Superman%22

http://www.waitingforsuperman.com/

It's a tough time to be a teacher.  Issues with funding, pressures from Federal Mandates, new standards, new report cards, and tough socio-econmic times make for stressful days for new teachers, veteran teachers, administrators, and students.   With the upcoming elections and Hawaii's RTT award education is sure to remain in the news.

Edited to add:

12 hours after I posted this post, the Staradvertiser ran an article about Teach for America:

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20100927_Teacher_corps_reaps_results.html

Fill Your Bucket!

Mentors,

As the 1st quarter nears its end remember to take time for yourselves and to remind your new teachers to do so as well.  At our first Mentor Forum JM shared the book "How full is your bucket" and you learned about bucket filling with "Drops" and bucket dipping.  Make sure that your bucket and your Mentee's buckets are being filled because you don't want to end up like Poor Liza!

There's a hole in my bucket dear Liza...


While you're watching look for the Coaching strategies (or lack there of) that Liza uses on Henry.  How would you have "coached" Henry through his problem?

Hope this brings a smile to your faces!!!!!

Prezi!

Do you Prezi?  I am trying to!  I was tasked to transform a Power Point Presentation into a Prezi Presentation.  This is my work in progress.  I can feel that I am getting a little obsessed.
http://prezi.com/i_rykgl3v4gf/kahikukala/
Like I said, it's in progress.  I haven't loaded all the slides and I am still trying to figure out how to load videos.  Only three slides are linked but I think you can see how Prezis kinda pull you in.
I intend to get this baby done by next week so check back again soon!!

September has been a "full" month for us.  We planned for a New Mentor Training, a Mentor Forum, scheduled numerous New Teacher Orientations at the various school sites, helped schools get their teachers "HQ," moved for renovations, and also began working with our New Teachers.  We also planned a presentation for the Central District Principals.  Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance to share our Program with them this month.  If you're interested here's all that we had to share with them...

Whoops, having problems loading the video.  Will try again tomorrow.  :)

9.14.2010 Mentor Forum

Mahalo to Radford Highschool for their hospitality and hosting school year 2010-2011's First Mentor Forum.  Fabulous venue for fun and learning.

Our day started with the Moanalua Community School for Adults sharing information about PLATO Learning's Praxis Prep Courses.  For just $50 dollars per course a semester teachers can get online praxis prep.  Please contact the Moanalua Community School for Adults for more information.  You can also check out this link from PLATO:

plato educator solutions

Next, our PRO awarded our special mentors, honoring our new Mentors and our most Veteran Mentor JS with the highly limited and sough after Kahikuala Tshirt!!!  He also shared some updates regarding personnel and highly qualified.  A lot of information was shared regarding some of the trials and tribulations our schools and new teachers are encountering.  It helped us all gain a perspective about what some of our teachers are experiencing outside of classroom teaching.

New Mentors Recevied a Limited-Edtion Kahikukala Crunch Bar

JS, our Most-Veteran Mentor Received a  Kahikukala Tshirt.

JM presented next sharing the various Mentor Tools we'll be utilizing:  Mentor Log, Contact Form, and the Collaborative Log.

Next, SB shared more info about NHQ and shared the NHQ form to help document a teacher's progress with their PDPs.

Sample Monitoring Log for School Designees

Mentors then took a break to participate in the Kahikukala 1st Annual Project Runway Teacher Challenge!  Mentors worked in teams to create a new outfit for Ms Viola Swamp.  After outfits were completed there was a walk off to crown the Champ.  While all participants were AMAZING strutting their stuff, KK won the challenge!!!!

Next it was time to work on Relationships.  JM shared books based on How Full is Your Bucket by T. Rath.  Mentors thought about bucket filling and dipping relating to themselves and their new teachers and brainstormed ways to keep their New Teachers buckets filled.

How Full is Your Bucket

Some of our Mentors' Amazing Work!

Since the Mentors now had a chance to bond it was time to get to the Rigor.  AP and SB then presented about the Hawaii Teacher Standards and the Standards Self-Assessment Protocol that we'd all be trying this year.  Mentors, please remember to give it a go with your New Teachers after Relationship Building and bring an anonymous copy of the action plan to our next meeting in December.

We ended the day with FP presenting on Mentor Conversations, focusing on:  Pausing, Paraphrasing and Probing.  Mentors practiced these three concepts with one another so that they could in turn coach their new teachers.

All in all it was a great day!!!!!

Incredible Mentors in Central District!

Today was our first Mentor Forum for school year 2010-2011.  It was held at Radford Highschool and about 40 amazingly committed and energetic teachers took time out of their busy schedules to attend.  Mahalo to all of you who made today a day filled with fun, learning, and collegiality.  Kahikukala will be posting more information about today's Forum after a little bit of rest time.  Watch this space for a new post SOON!!!

Cognitive Coaching

We decided as a staff to attend Cognitive Coaching training together and just finished the first two days of an eight-day training.  Aside from giving us more time to bond and get to know one another, the experience is helping our team build common language and experiences that will help us build the Central District Mentoring Program.  Our amazing trainer, Sue Presel, is pushing us to learn and grow as Mentors/Coaches and also providing us with great modeling for our own sessions of training Mentors/Coaches.  Another fabulous perk has been networking with other mentors and coaches, some of which are from our own complex!!!!

  

The last two days have really stretched my learning by making me think, re-think, reflect, and make connections with past experiences.  It has also helped me clarify my beliefs about learning--which has been very refreshing and invigorating--even LIBERATING!  I am thoroughly looking forward to our next two training days with Sue and am eagerly anticipating "practicing" honing skills such as:  rapport, paraphrasing, and planning conferences over the next month.

If you'd like more information about Cognitive Coaching please visit this website:

http://www.cognitivecoaching.com/

Under Construction!

We're moving!  But hopefully for just a few weeks.  Our office is being renovated.  Please excuse us if you try to call our office.  We're between rooms until next week Tuesday.  We're just a little topsy-turvy and we sure hope we're able to find all our stuff in the millions of boxes!

Committed!!!!

Who said teachers are apathetic?  I don't believe them.  Today four district mentors went to work on a Saturday at 6:45 am and 15 new mentor teachers braved 8 hours in an 80 degree classroom to hone their mentoring skills!

Our first of four Foundations in Mentoring Class for Central District took place today.  New Mentors learned about one another and gained important skills to work successfully with their new teachers.  They especially enjoyed the role-playing activity to practice using mentoring language.

Kahikukala was happy to meet the new mentors and work with them.  They're a great bunch and we're excited for a new year!!!!

Can't wait until our next Seminars in October!!  Until then, use your Collab logs and talk Mentor Language!!!

Here's some comments from the participants:

• The role playing was really helpful, even though I didn't want to at first.
• I feel more comfortable now and am a little more confident to meet and help my mentees and how I can grow from this.
• Lots of great strategies! I am excited to share these with my mentees.  The Phases of New Teacher was validating for me.   I am also interested in PRAISE.  But here's the million dollar question:  How do you create intrinsic motivation?  It's difficult to develop this in teens and sometimes even more difficult with adults who are "burnt out!" 
• Fantastic Team!!! It's great to have leaders who are positive and work well together.  Thank you in sharing your knowledge and experiences.

New Mentor Trainings

Kahikukala staff will be holding trainings for mentors new to the Central District Teacher Development Program.  During the first session of a  series of four on the Foundations of Mentoring, mentors will receive training on:  Induction, Mentors Roles and Functions, Building Trusting Relationships, Phases of New Teacher Development, Mentor Conversation, and using a Collaborative Log.  Hope to see you at the training!

It's Time for the Central District New Teacher Development Program Orientations

Coming soon are the Orientations for this year's Central District Mentoring Programs!  Lead Mentor Teachers at each Central District school site will be contacting new teachers and inviting them to sessions to learn about our program.

Once Orientations have been attended Mentors will set up initial meetings with their new teachers to begin relationship building, assist as needed, and schedule classroom visitations.

Attend and learn about our program!!!!

It's going to be a fabulous year!!!

Resources & Professional Organizations

An important aspect of teaching is keeping up-to-date on curriculum and instruction.  From time to time we will review educational publications, literature and studies as well as link websites that may have important information.

Below are some links that we would like to share with you.

Association for Supervision of Curriculum and Development (ASCD)
www.ascd.org
ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) is a membership organization that develops programs, products, and services essential to the way educators learn, teach, and lead.

National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)
www.nctm.org
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics is a public voice of mathematics education supporting teachers to ensure equitable mathematics learning of the highest quality for all students through vision, leadership, professional development and research

National Council for Teachers of English (NCTE)
www.ncte.org
The Council promotes the development of literacy, the use of language to construct personal and public worlds and to achieve full participation in society, through the learning and teaching of English and the related arts and sciences of language

International Reading Association (IRA)
www.reading.org
The mission of the International Reading Association is to promote reading by continuously advancing the quality of literacy instruction and research worldwide

How Mentors Shaped my Teaching...by AP

From time to time we will blog about topics close to our heart.  Today I'd like to share my personal thoughts on how mentoring impacted my life.

I knew I wanted to be a teacher since the first grade.  Mrs. Makekau, with her engaging teaching style and warm heart captivated me.  Being the daughter of two educators was also a strong influence.  From the moment I began telling the world that I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up, different mentors began molding me into the educator that I am today.

My mom and dad would be my first Mentors in education.  I would often go to my mom and dad's schools and absorb the culture.  As I grew older I would have conversations with them about my philosophy of education.  I remember one such conversation that I had with my dad about grades and how they hurt kids' learning.  It was long before I was in the classroom and my Dad told me that I needed to remember the conversation when I had my own classroom.  When we began standards-based grading and I read Ken O'Connors work for the first time it brought me back to that talk with my dad.

My mom would set up classroom visitations for me and I would sit in her friends' classrooms.  I learned a lot from these visits and would file what I learned in my head and heart in hopes of one day being a great teacher.  I remember Sheri's kindergarten class where the 5 year olds were reading picture books to one another and Sha's class where she had an amazing rapport with the 6th graders.  In all of those visits I always vowed that I wanted join the "family business " and be a teacher like so-and-so some day....

Before I began teaching I was lucky to have to teachers in high school whose different teaching styles also influenced my own style.  Mr.  Greenhill exhibited a true love for teaching and his students.  He took a genuine interest in our lives and connected to us in ways that made us think of him as more than a teacher.  Years after I graduated from high school he surprised me at one of my college soccer games in Washington because he had heard that I was playing.  I was stunned!!  Talk about going beyond the call of duty!!! Today my former students who are now adults themselves thank me for attending their football, soccer, and basketball games when they were in elementary school.

Another teacher, Mr. Masunaga exhibited a true love of Mathematics.  Prior to his Geometry class in 10th grade I struggled with Math, in fact I HATED math.  However, he made math fun, applicable to life and amazingly EASY!  I went from barely passing to getting an A!  He brought in manipulatives, games, showed us mathematical equations in art and real life and suddenly I actually had confidence in my mathematical ability.  Years after I graduated from high  school I brought my third grade class to a Hawaii Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference to hear him speak about Tesselations.  I'm not sure who was more excited--my students, or I.  I ran into Mr. Masunaga at a reunion last night and told him about my new job.  True to form he and I began talking about how he could help me mentor our new Mathematics Teachers.  We'll be setting up a meeting soon.  I am so excited!!!

When I began my teacher education coursework I was blessed with amazing professors.  To name a few:  Royal Fruehling, Kathy Au, Margie Maaka, Julie Kaomea, and Joe Zilliox.  These professors shaped my thoughts on curriculum and instruction as well as issues such as empowerment and ownership in education.  To this day I contact them when I have issues that I need help with.  They give me great feedback and guide me to make choices that affect my students and colleagues positively.  They served as role models that I aspired to be like and they showed me that teaching wasn't just a job, it truly was a profession and that educated teachers who were up to date on issues, studies, and curriculum, as well as educators who collaborated with others and continued to learn and grow would become the best of the best.

I was also blessed with two amazing cooperating teachers.  Lani Carson at Miliani Uka and Judy Cramer at Kamehameha Schools.  I would say that more than 50% of the routines and rituals that I implemented in my classrooms were learned from these two amazing teachers:  Friday Folders, Student Portfolios and Conferences, Tribes...I know I am blessed to have been able to work with two fantastic teachers who mentored and coached me with honesty and love while empowering me by giving me autonomy in their classrooms.  By allowing me to take risks without fear they enabled me to fly early on in my career.

I have a number of colleagues who have also served as mentors in my teaching career.  I think of Linda Uehara, Clayton Kaninau, and John O'Brien who inspired me in different capacities but always through skilled teaching and strong leadership.  I loved to watch Clayton and Linda teach.  They were always very deliberate in their teaching to maximize student learning.  I would always try and copy what they did after observing a lesson. John O'Brien and I would talk for hours about data analysis and educational reform.  He was a good advisor to me in helping me with my career choices.  I made him a promise that I would pursue my doctoral degree some day...and I know I need to get on that because I wouldn't want to let him down.

Pat Lopes was a supervisor in the College of Education and she was one of the first people to make me think that I had potential to be an educational leader.  She saw something in me and pushed me to hold seminars for pre-service teachers and eventually, along with Kathy Au, to teach at the college level.  She was strict and old school--no lesson plans no teach and was the epitome of tough love.  And her tough love got results because she  loved and believed in us.  I mirrored her tough love when I taught fifth graders.  We lost a great educator in her.

Finally, probably the biggest influence in my teaching career and the one who has mentored me in my different roles throughout my career is Kathy Au.  She has guided me as a student, as a teacher and as a resource teacher.  She leads by example and through action.   She has helped me become the thoughtful, confident educator that I am today.  Her quiet leadership inspires me and makes me always want to do the right thing no matter how difficult.  Just the idea of having someone so brilliant and esteemed believe in me has carried me to places I never thought I'd see!!!!

So, with this post I thank you to all of you who have coached and mentored me so that I am where I am today.  As I begin this chapter in my career I am excited to meet new people, learn, grow, and find other colleagues who will serve as mentors.  This year I also hope to become a mentor who inspires!!!!

Now tell me, who were your mentors?

2010 Teacher Development Program Summer Symposium

Our 2010 Summer Symposium was held on July 20-21, 2010 at the Miliani High School Cafeteria.  Over the course of two days teachers attended break out sessions with Veteran Mentor teachers as well as sessions on:  HSTA, Teacher Licensing, Praxis Test Prep, Classroom Management, Mind Maps, the Hawaiian Culture, Military Culture and Literacy.

About Kahikūkalā

Vision
Kahikūkalā envisions the development and retention of highly qualified and effective teachers positively impacting student achievement.

Mission
Kahikūkalā: a collaborative mentoring system, will develop and retain highly qualified and effective teachers to promote student achievement.

Goals
• Assist teachers in becoming Highly Qualified
• Improve the effectiveness of beginning teachers and thereby improve student learning

• Promote the personal and professional well-being of beginning teachers

• Increase teacher retention

Target Group

Non-Tenured teachers:
• Probationary

• Code W (State Approved Teacher Education Program completed, but Praxis incomplete)

• Code 5 (Bachelor’s Degree, but State Approved Teacher Education Program incomplete)

Tenured teachers

self-referred or referred by principal.

Program Description

Non-tenured teachers new to Central District will be assigned a mentor who will provide differentiated support to meet his or her needs. Teachers will receive assistance in these areas:

• Attaining Highly Qualified status

• School protocol and procedures

• Information regarding professional development

• Professional and Emotional Support

• Classroom Management

• Instructional strategies

• Content and Curriculum Resources and Support

Program Support Services

• Highly Qualified Professional Development Plan

• Licensing and PRAXIS information

• Summer Induction Symposium for New Teachers

• Classroom Observations and Conferencing: Plan, Teach, Reflect Cycle

• Visitations to veteran teacher classrooms

• School level seminars

Teacher Expectations

• Develop a Highly Qualified Professional Development Plan and work towards completion and attainment of HQ teacher status

• Meet regularly with mentor

• Allow mentor to assist with appropriate support and assistance in the classroom

• Attend school level seminars and other appropriate activities

• Complete all teacher Development surveys

• Ask for assistance when needed

Download our Brochure

Aloha!

Aloha, and welcome to our blog.  We are the Central District New Teacher Development Program. In school year 2010-2011 we adopted the name Kahikūkalā .  Kahikūkalā is a Hawaiian word meaning, “to rise higher, of the sun, to a stage between dawn and noon.” Kahikūkalā embodies the Central District Teacher Development Program as new teachers begin their teaching profession by collaborating with their mentors to seek new heights.  We hope you will enjoy reading our blog to learn more about our program, we, the mentors, and mentoring in general.  Please feel free to visit often and leave comments for us.

Contact us:

Central District Teacher Development Program Office

Phone:  (808) 627-7303 ext. 256
Email:  kahikukala.central.district@gmail.com
Mail:c/o Mililani Uka Elementary School Rm C-201
94-380 Kuahelani Ave
Mililani, HI 96789