My post Summer NTI beginning... Erin

Wow! What can I say about the tremendous stress that has been relieved this year because of the Summer NTI program? My daily instructional routines are more consistent and strong. Starting each day with a briefing (bridging and set induction), moving into a solid lesson, and wrapping up with a debriefing (reflective questioning and conclusion) has made my teaching so much more efficient. I think that these daily routines help maintain student engagement and classroom management. Having my policies and procedures posters have enabled me to remind students of what the expectations are in my class without a lengthy discussion or student rebuttal. The students who have had me in the past are really noticing a difference in my teaching style and have even asked, "where did Ms. Dale go". They probably mean that in a negative way considering my classes in years prior have been fairly unstructured and disorganized, allowing for too much free time and socializing. My new students appear to have more respect for me and are functioning at a higher level than my introduction classes in the past. I'm hoping that as the semester progresses, that I will continue to tighten up my instruction by improving my ability to better utilize my administrative duty time. This is the strongest start to the year that I have had to date and I owe it all to what I learned from class this summer. I wish I could have completed Summer NTI prior to my first year of teaching- the impact of the experience is truly priceless.