Tools and resources

Tools and resources are the heart of the ASSIST website. Few professionals work harder than beginning teachers. These tools and resources are intended to help you work smarter! Primarily, this involves four objectives:

1. Developing a working knowledge of the standards and best practices in our profession
2. Planning teaching carefully and thoroughly
3. Monitoring our practice and reflecting on the results, particularly student learning
4. Forming a community of practice with one's colleagues and helping each other implement these objectives

ASSIST Tools and resources are designed to help beginning teachers work smarter by focusing on these four types of activities. This chart explains the difference between tools and resources:

In summary, the purpose of ASSIST Tools and resources is to...

1. Focus on critical problems of practice embedded in teachers’ work;
2. Provide ways to develop progressive gains in beginning teachers’ knowledge, skills and confidence;
3. Offer contexts for teachers to ask their own questions, engage in inquiry around their own questions and reflect on new understandings about subject matter, teaching and students' learning;
4. Direct attention to student learning and assessment of student learning;
5. Place learning at the center of teaching;
6. Encourage collaborative work among educators in a community of practice that is focused on professional learning about real-world issues and problems.