LCHS New Teacher Homepage

Welcome to LCHS! As a new member of our faculty, you probably have many questions, and that's why this site exists! Below you will find links to information which (hopefully) answer a new teacher's most pressing concerns.

With a population of about 15,000 people, Lincoln is located in the heart of central Illinois. It is located on Interstate 55 between Springfield and Bloomington (about 30 minutes to each town). Lincoln also has a rich history; it is said that Abraham Lincoln christened the town, his namesake, with a watermelon. It is a community with many of the modern conveniences, yet it retains a small-town feel. In Lincoln, many business, recreational, and housing opportunities await you. Just a small sampling of these conveniences are linked below. A map of the town may help you get around at first.

Lincoln Community High School educates nearly 1,000 each year, and like the town, has a rich history. In addition to their academic studies, students are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of extracurricular activities, including sports, music, drama, and speech. Our school is well known in the area for having excellent basketball and speech teams. The 2002 State Speech Tournament was hosted by LCHS , and it was a rousing success. Links to school events, activities, and staff information are available at the LCHS web site. Some specific areas which may be of interest as you begin your career at LCHS are linked below:

Voicemail/E-Mail Directory

Teacher Websites

Curriculum Design and Development

Perhaps the most important tasks ahead of you in the weeks and years to come is the design and implementation of curriculum. Each department has curriculum guides for scope and sequence, and as a school, we have recently begun mapping our curriculum. However, within these guidelines, you have quite a bit of freedom about how you which to teach your individual content. For a copy of your department's curriculum guide, see your department head. The links below may also be of help to you as you begin this important process.

LCHS Curriculum Handbook

LCHS-Generated Rubrics for Various Disciplines

Write On LCHS (writing handbook in the style of Write On Illinois;
has information on different genres in writing,
models of good writing, specific rubrics for various disciplines, etc.)

Illinois State Board of Education - State Standards

A Little Bit of Everything - Planning, Organization, Etc.

Best Practices of Teaching and Learning (Article)

Lesson Planning Sites / Links:
    Teachers.Net
    The Lesson Planning Center
    Education World
    Ask Eric
    The Lesson Plans Page
    Adprima
    Illinois Education Association (tons of great links here!)

Rubric Generators:
    Teach-nology
    Rubistar

Teacher Evaluations / Professional Development

At LCHS, non-tenured teachers are evaluated by an administrator twice a year (once each semester) for four years. The administrator assigned to you will ask you to pick a day and hour, and he/she will accommodate your request to the best of their ability. The administrator assigned to you will schedule a pre-observation conference with you in which you will show the unit/lesson plan for the observed period, your plan book, your attendance/grade records, and (if possible) a list of professional goals and how you intend to reach them. The links below can give you ideas for your own growth as a professional and ways to achieve your goals.

Educational Journals

Professional Development Opportunities through the IEA

Connecting with Parents

Interactions with parents need not be cause for apprehension. Parents, like other stakeholders in the community, are most interested in seeing their children succeed and finding ways to help them do so. The links below contain information about preparing for and successfully interacting with parents, whether at the scheduled parent/teacher conference in November, in another type of parental conference, or over the phone.

Student-Led Conferences (Ideas from LCHS teachers)

Helping Parents Help Their Children

Forms / Tips for Interacting With Parents

Classroom Management

The area of classroom management is a challenging one for new and veteran teachers alike. The best advice is to keep your behavior management plan simple and follow through on the indicated consequences. And, as in all areas of teaching, be flexible and make adjustments as necessary if something is not working. The links below give good ideas and/or examples of behavior management plans and classroom management strategies to create and keep a good learning environment.

Motivating Students

Classroom Organization

Classroom Arrangement Ideas

Behavior Management Tips / Forms

Classroom Management Mistakes

Classroom Management & M ore (Lots of Information)

The Really Big List of Classroom Management Resources (really the name!)

LCHS Education Association

As a new member of the LCHS faculty, you will be asked if you wish to join our union - the LCHSEA (Education Association). Our union is affiliated with the National Education Association and the Illinois Education Association. You may choose not to join, but as a matter of state law, you will still have to pay "fair share" dues, which amounts to a member's dues minus the local association fees. Dues are deducted automatically from your paycheck for the months worked (September-May), but deductions usually run from October to June. You should read the literature provided by our union president, Betty Harberts. Please ask your mentor or see Betty for further information about union membership, dues, protection provided, etc.

What Do I Do If...?

The first year is full of new situations, some of which might cause confusion. The links below are to directions on "what to do if.." a given situation occurs.

Fire
Earthquake
Intruder in the Building
Medical Emergency
Sick Leave (see "Who Do I Contact for?")
Personal Days (see "Who Do I Contact for?")

Who Do I Contact for...?

Absences:            Joyce Hubbard
Discipline:            Todd Poelker/Laurie Lundin
Activities:        Darrell Hanslow
Pay/Insurance:   Linda Leslie
Activity Funds:   Mindy Courtwright
Mess Kits:            Nurse Diane Stephenson
Classroom Repairs: Bob Humbert
Keys:                        Todd Poelker

Mentor/Protege Tips

At LCHS, a mentoring program was established in the last few years to help new teachers make the transition from novice to veteran. Volunteers are chosen by the administration and offered the chance to be a mentor. Whenever possible, a mentor from your own discipline will be assigned to you. The links below give some helpful information to assist in building a good mentor/protege relationship.

LCHS Mentor Criteria

Additional Helpful Links:

A Day in the Life at LCHS

While juggling curriculum, classroom management and a personal life (what is that?), you will also need to know the schedules that make up a day in the life at LCHS. We have several different schedules in addition to the regular daily schedule. There are three lunch periods, and they come somewhere between 4th and 6th hours of the day. As always, if you don't know, please ask - our staff is by and large friendly and ready to help.

2002-2003 LCHS School Calendar
Regular Class Schedule
A & B Club Schedule
School Improvement Day Schedule (11:05 dismissal)
Teacher In-Service Schedule (1:15 dismissal)
Vacation Schedule (2:00 dismissal)
Pep Assembly Schedule (see "Assemblies")
Daily Announcements/Lunch Menu

LCHS Student Handbook: The Highlights

It's not just for the kids! The Student Handbook contains a wealth of information which can be helpful to teachers, both novice and experienced. The handbook contains rules, grading scales, policies, schedules, and a daily agenda which some teachers use as a plan book (Personally, I use it for a daily to-do list:-). This handbook will soon be available on the LCHS web site, and you will be given a copy at the teacher in-service on the first day of school. As a new teacher, it is quite likely that you will be in charge of an extracurricular activity; therefore, knowledge of the extracurricular code is of the utmost importance. Be sure to read through the code before starting your season/activity.

How Do I Get Started?

Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is an experienced teacher! Although it does take a while to become accustomed and adjusted enough to be really comfortable in the classroom, there is a wealth of information available on the Internet to help new teachers through the challenges of the first year. The links listed below give helpful, useful advice on getting started on your new career.

Technology

LCHS has a great deal of technology available, both for students and for teachers. We have three all-school labs that have high-speed Internet access. The labs are located on the second floor of the school, adjacent to the IMC (library). In addition, each teacher has a computer in the classroom, and many classrooms have more than one computer available. Our technology coordinator, Barb Waymire, is available for assistance, both in the labs and in the classroom.

Forms

Aargh, the dreaded paperwork! Really, it is not as bad as it seems. The most important forms are linked below, and they are also available in the Main Office in the forms room (directly across the hall from Ms. Stover's office).

Field Trip Permission Slips for Students
Field Trip Request
Professional Day Request/Reimbursement
Personal Day Request
Pre-Excused Sick Day (Appointment for self or family member) Request
College Course Approval
College Course Reimbursement (up to 6 hours per contract year)
Building Use Request
Student Referral for Services

Some forms need to be filled out at the time of request, including behavior referral forms (pick up in the Assistant Principals' Office) and purchase order forms (pick in the forms room)

Assemblies

We love our school, and we like to show it through all-school assemblies - pep or otherwise. On pep assembly days, we will follow the pep assembly schedule. When we have other all-school assemblies, schedules will be given ahead of time. The Assistant Principals' Office will give a seating chart for the assembly (held in the school auditorium) and you should follow the instructions on that form. You need to take your students to the auditorium at the assigned time, have them sit in the assigned area, re-take attendance once they're seated (yes, they may try to escape:-), and sit with them for the duration of the assembly. If any of them are disruptive, ask another teacher to watch your students and remove them from the auditorium. It is at your discretion whether or not you take them to the Assistant Principals' Office for their disruption or handle it on your own.

Contact Information

If you have any other questions or concerns, please contact me - Jennifer Lester Gouin - at the following e-mail address: j_gouin@yahoo.com