Scholastic™ Opens a New "Newbie Teacher" Service
Scholastic™ launched a new service aimed at capturing new teachers and bringing them into the Scholastic™ sphere of influence.
The new Help for New Teachers site is called, "First Class."
This marketing strategy makes sense for Scholastic™ because up to 50% of new teachers leave the profession within three to five years, so the teacher market is in flux.
In addition, "Baby Boom Age" teachers are retiring in increasing numbers.
Sidebar
Unfortunately, the reason for so many new teachers leaving the profession is unrelated to a lack of instructional materials. Teachers have access to a plethora of materials…self-created, in district and from the Internet.
Classroom Toolkit provides enough of these zero-cost resources to help almost any teacher through multiple years.
New Teachers need help in coping with the school systems that employ them since most of these school systems fail to provide the help and support that new teachers need.
Teacher survival and career longevity requires self-support and personal learning skills that are largely unavailable in school districts.
In addition, most of the resources, tips and help available on First Class seems to be geared to elementary school teachers.
Here is a link to Scholastic's new service…
Help for New Teachers:
What's on Offer
Scholastic" offers the traditional mix of "resources, tools and tips" with this new service. A newsletter, coupons and special offers, and a new teacher help line are also on tap.
Menu Style Help
Some of what Scholastic™ includes with this service includes:
Classroom Planning
Managing your Class
Lesson Planning
Grading and Assessing Student Work
Classroom Organization
Organizing your Classroom
Finding Classroom Resources
Communications and Public Relations
Working with Colleagues
Communicating with Families
Personal Professional Development
Time Management
Teacher Professional Development
Printable Materials
School Days Mini-Book
Autumn Activities
Book Report Alternatives
Jargon-Based Topics
Connect with Kids and Parents of Different Cultures
Bias-Proof your Classroom
How to Choose the Best Multicultural Books
Many Cultures, Many Languages
Teaching English Language Learners (ELLs)
Teaching ELL: General Instructional Strategies
Teaching ELL: Speaking Strategies
Success for ESL Students
Reaching Out to Non-English Speaking Parents
Scholastic™ requires that teacher register (and provide the name of their school) in order to use many of the free materials on offer.
Link to register for the First Class service…
Will this Strategy Work for Scholastic?
First Class is not Scholastic's first try at reaching new teachers. However, Scholastic never tried to connect the new teacher market with all of its divisions like they are doing with this marketing effort.
The First Class effort might stand a greater chance of success if the company were a bit less focused on selling books and materials from their product line, and more focused upon what the real factors are that force so many of our new teachers to leave the profession so soon "out of the starting gate."
Although Scholastic™ recognizes the "new teacher burnout rate," it's solution based upon selling more of its materials is yet to be validated.
However, the site is broad and deep…and worth your time if you choose to visit.
