New Teacher Adjustment Period

Do You Have a New Teacher Adjustment Plan?

So you need to hire a new teacher. Do you have a new teacher adjustment plan in place? I found an interesting take on the idea on Twitter, so I decided to share it with you. I watch social media closely and it's my job to share some of the hot topics on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and other outlets that teachers, principals, students, and parents are contributing.

Whenever any company hires a new person, there's always an adjustment period where the company and the new employee get used to how everything works. Often this early period is seen as a time where the new employee is taught how to do things the way the company always has. While that makes sense to a certain point, sometimes companies, schools included, seem to lose part of the reason they hired someone new in the first place: to bring something new to the table. This is illustrated perfectly in a recent tweet from Dr. Justin Tarte. You can see that tweet below.

While it is true that new teacher hires should learn how the school they are now working for functions, it's also good to keep in mind why you hired someone new in the first place. Even if the new employee was hired to replace an already existing position, chances are good you didn't hire someone that is exactly the same as the teacher who held the position previously. Something about that new teacher made you pick them out from the others. Remember to embrace what that was and be open to the new ideas a new employee could bring. It's an essential part to the new teacher adjustment period, the part where the school adjusts to the teacher as well!

Do you have a teacher adjustment period plan in your school? Do you sometimes get caught up in doing things the way you've always done them rather than opening up to new ideas? How do you try to avoid this?

Tori Pakizer is the Social Media Editor at SimpleK12.com. She writes regularly about the use of educational technology in K-12 classrooms, and specializes in how teachers use Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and other social media. You can follow Tori and SimpleK12 on Twitter @SimpleK12. If you have ideas for using social media in schools, please send your information or tip to editor@simplek12.com.