More than 1,100 teachers new to the field or new to Pasadena ISD attended 52 new teacher training sessions at the district’s annual Effective Teaching Practices (ETP) staff development prior to the start of school. 

“The Effective Teaching Practices sessions are invaluable to new teachers,” said Pasadena ISD Executive Director of Staff Development Karen Gibson. “They receive information they can put to immediate use in their classrooms. These sessions allow them to begin their first year in Pasadena with confidence.” 

The sessions are presented by the district’s instructional specialists in the curriculum and instruction, bilingual and ESL, and special education departments.  

The new teacher training begins with an in-depth look at the Pasadena Plus curriculum plan and the district’s expectations for each grade level. Pasadena Plus is an eight-step plan designed to ensure student success. 

“Academic data is the driving force of Pasadena Plus,” said John Elmer, the district’s first through fifth grade science instructional specialist. “Instructional planning is based on academic assessments administered within the district. Campuses use the eight strategies as they plan their instructional focus, system of monitoring and plan of re-teaching to ensure that every student is successful.” 

Because new teachers must understand the role of Pasadena Plus in their classroom, a large portion of their day is spent looking at TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills) and Pasadena Plus. 

“New teachers are not familiar with our district timelines or testing expectations,” Elmer said. “I want our new teachers to feel confident by knowing what they are to teach during a nine weeks and how their students will be evaluated using Pasadena Plus. I also incorporate safe practices for the science classroom. As we look at hands-on labs, I focus on classroom management strategies to ensure no student is injured during a lesson.” 

First and second grade instructional specialist Judith Goodman said the new teacher training lays the foundation for the content areas as well as provides ways for the teachers to “stay on track” throughout the year. 

“During the new teacher training, we focus on ‘good teaching’ strategies,” Goodman said. “We also focus on giving teachers tools and materials to focus on the first nine weeks of school.” 

Keeli Montemayor, a first grade teacher at Pearl Hall Elementary, is new to the district and said the materials and ideas provided were very beneficial.  

“We were given suggestions of many fun and different ways to teach a concept,” Montemayor said. “We received so many wonderful things to use in the classroom such as children’s books, resource books, manipulatives, pointers and more. It was really nice to receive the materials, curriculum and calendars ahead of time.” 

Throughout the training, teachers are presented with and use activities that they can then use to start their year with their students. The staff development workshops included music, interactive activities, hands-on activities and make-and-take projects. 

Goodman said her goal as an instructional specialist is to offer as much support as possible for the new teachers. “We, as specialists, want our teachers to know that we are here for them,” she said. “I want them to walk away from this experience motivated and ready to teach all students. I want them ready to overcome any obstacles and feel comfortable calling the specialists for support when needed.”

Gibson said ETP would not be what it was without the hard work of the instructional specialists and without the excitement of the new teachers. 

“I can not praise our team of specialists enough,” Gibson said. “They make sure the ETP sessions are both relevant and exciting for our new teachers. They do a lot of mentoring during the week of ETP, and in turn, they are infected with the excitement the new teachers bring to our district. We have a wonderful group of teachers that came to our district this year, and we are so fortunate to have them join the Pasadena work family as we pursue our goal of optimum student achievement.”