October 2026 Alpha Delta Kappa Collegiate Clubs Network
Alpha Delta Kappa Collegiate Clubs & Alumni Welcome to our monthly newsletter! We are here to provide you with some helpful tips, connections, and networking opportunities.
Honoring and Celebrating the Early Years of Teaching Dr. Maureen Simms CO Alpha Gamma Chapter When we consider the challenges and learning curve most new teachers face, it’s really no surprise that the first years can be difficult, frustrating, and exhausting- quite like emptying a glass of water with a fork! During our early years of teaching, we must simultaneously master classroom management and support, lesson planning, parent and family communication, grading and feedback, time management, and so much more. As we all know, each of these areas alone would be challenging; together, they can feel overwhelmed. When we consider the challenges and learning curve most new teachers face, it’s really no surprise that the first years can be difficult, frustrating, and exhausting- quite like emptying a glass of water with a fork! During our early years of teaching, we must simultaneously master classroom management and support, lesson planning, parent and family communication, grading and feedback, time management, and so much more. As we all know, each of these areas alone would be challenging; together, they can feel overwhelming.
Celebrate Your Wins First: Think about the routines, lessons, or classroom management and support strategies that are effective. Meaningful Connections: Consider those students (2-4) with whom you had a meaningful and positive connection. Why was that? Change Your Approach to Reflection: Instead of asking "Why didn’t that work?", ask, "Which part(s) of the experience (lesson planning, behavioral support, interaction with colleagues or parents) might I change or adjust for next time?” Rethink Building Community in the Classroom: Focus on setting calm and peaceful routines (transition signals, phrases) that build a learnerfocused community where everyone supports and is supported. Build Your Community: Talk with mentors, instructional coaches, and fellow teachers to normalize struggles and share practical strategies. Do not isolate yourself in your room. Ask veteran teachers, office staff, and custodians for help they know where things are and how the school actually works. Remember, every question is an important question! Protect Your Health: New teachers get hit hard by school germs and exhaustion. Eat well, sleep, and consider some physical activity! Keep a non-teaching life: Work on at least one hobby or activity completely unrelated to education once a week to remember who you are outside of the classroom. The early years of teaching promise to be challenging to say the least! Take time to reflect, honor, and celebrate all you do to impact your classroom community-you are making a difference!
References McGill, Colin, Thom, J. (2025, June). How to thrive in the early years of your career. (Audio podcast episode) in Beyond Survival: The New Teacher Podcast. Apple Podcasts. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beyond-survival-the-newteacher-podcast/id1643514835 Life outside of the classroom. (December 2, 2018). National Education Association. https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/studentengagement/tools-tips/life-outside-classroom
Stacy Redding
Monitoring, Grading, and Conferences...Oh my!
Stacy Coalson Redding Music Specialist, M Ed, Administration Texas Beta Omicron
I was asked about setting up successful grading and conferences as this is one of important struggles. Especially when sharing the grade and facilitating a parent-teacher (administration) such as ARD (Admission, Review, and Dismissal/IEP) and parent conferences. You as the educator of record must internalize your curriculum and objectives and state what is the center of student learning you are tracking. When one begins with the end in mind, it makes it easier to understand what information you need, what data you need to collect, and how student engagement affects that outcome. The center of effective grading and conferencing is monitoring. Without intentional monitoring, there is
no support for the assessments, grades, and discussion during a conference. “The teacher must actively and aggressively monitor student work, analyzing both verbal and written responses.” (Fort Worth I.S.D. Cowtown 12: A Practice Guide for HighQuality Instruction). High-Quality Instruction has to be the foundation for building assessments, grading, and use of that data whether with student, administration, and parents. Without this strong foundation there is no substance to the lesson, assessment, or date to validate the grade and conference discussion. Fort Worth I.S.D. outlines in the guide 10 crucial components to building this strong framework of monitoring to guide and justify your grades and conversation. These are directly from the Fort Worth I.S.D. Cowtown 12 Playbook: ·Plan the path: Map a deliberate route through the room before students ever pick up a pencil so every student is reached with intention, not by accident. ·Launch and Move Immediately: The moment students begin working, move. ·Name What You’re Looking For: Know the one or two look-fors so you’re checking with precision, not holistically. ·Eyes on Work, Not on the Student: Get physically close and look directly at the work in real time. ·Use a Date Collection Tool: Track what you see on a clipboard, monitoring sheet, or SPOT tracker so you’re building evidence you can act on, not just impressions you’ll forget.
·Mark or Stamp as You Go: Checkmarks, dots, or quick written feedback lets students self-correct without a full conversation that breaks your momentum. Ensure that momentum is appropriate to maximize instruction. ·Identify Your Re-Teach: Flag students who share the same misconception as you move so you can pull them together for a targeted re-teach rather than stopping the whole class. ·Narrate the Positive: Drop brief, specific praise as you circulate to reinforce exactly what correct looks like without breaking momentum. ·Never Linger: One student should not consume your entire monitoring window while twenty-four others drift. If a student needs support, flag them for the reteach group and keep moving. ·Close the Loop: After monitoring, use what you collected to drive your differentiation. Focusing on strengthening high-quality instruction with intentional, aggressive monitoring sets one up for successful assessment and grading. With this crucial data, the conference will have more depth in the discussion as well as a strong student-datawork plan for growth. Assessments will stand firm in what is the exemplar. Grades will provide solid student mastery and drive the conference in the intentional student-growth conversation that needs to take place. Best wishes as you stive to make connections and authentic curriculum mastery for every student!
Fall Initiation Anna Marie Perez, transfer from University of Arizona CC; New Initiates – Kristal Peralta, and Sienna Osife
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