New Teacher Academy continues through ninth year

July 19, 2022 — DENTON — The New Teacher Academy (NTA) at Texas Woman’s University continued into its ninth consecutive year and third as an online event. This summer, the NTA welcomed 118 participants with engaging sessions on classroom management, a teacher/principal panel, and more.

The ever-growing event, developed in 2014 by Sarah McMahan, PhD, and Rebecca Fredrickson, EdD, in the Department of Teacher Education, is reaching more teachers as an online event. McMahan and Fredrickson have collected data that indicates 96% of participants prefer the flexibility of the online option on Zoom. 

It fits the College of Professional Education’s goal of being in communities for communities. Teachers participated from across Texas with one even mentioning, “with gas prices so high, I am so grateful NTA was online. I couldn’t attend otherwise.”

Another attendee told Fredrickson, “I loved learning so many ideas about what I can do to prepare for the start of school.” Others appreciated that the NTA is free and found it to be encouraging, helpful and stress relieving. 

The New Teacher Academy is a collective partnership with iteachTexas, an alternative certification program that provides extra mentoring support and professional development to TWU graduates and iteachTexas candidates who are beginning their first years of teaching.

The majority of participants in the 2022 NTA showed interest in a smaller online version during the winter holidays. As a result, the planning committee is building a less-structured version. 

“It will allow participants to have deeper conversations on challenges they face in their first two years,” said McMahan. 

Participants can expect topics on:

• Classroom management
• Technology integration
• Navigating challenging situations with parents and families

“Engaging alumni in opportunities to give back allows us to continue to support them and share with them opportunities about furthering their education in graduate programs,” said McMahan.

Page last updated 12:29 PM, July 19, 2022