Page 45 - 2023-Mag_90-2

DKG Practice/Program

more than a worksheet. We also provided time to discuss end-of-the-year expectations about testing,
organization, and paperwork.
When the March meeting ended, there were no quick goodbyes. Instead, people remained to talk. One
new teacher told us the induction program was what she needed because she was not getting sufficient
support from the program provided by her district. Such news encouraged us. We knew there were
disparities for teacher-induction programs in school districts when we started the program; we now knew
we were filling an important gap in our surrounding communities.
Future Goals

Thinking toward next year, we are strategizing how to increase attendance and participation. We want
to maintain the current participants but expand to additional schools. In 2022–2023, we reached five
counties in our region, but the primary participants were in the fields of elementary education and special
education. We see a gap in serving early-career educators at the middle and high school levels and plan to
address this in the upcoming year.
We surveyed the interns and new teachers during our March event to determine topics for next year.
Topics aligned with their interests will allow us to continue focusing on the needs of the current participants
while introducing new participants to our events. Our topics for 2023–2024 are (a) home/work balance
and educator self-care, (b) social-emotional learning, (c) assessment and data collection, and (d) time
management with paperwork.

Reflecting on the Program

The success of the program is evident in the relationships built by the veteran educators (i.e., faculty,
staff, and DKG members) with the new teachers and interns. The DKG members in the schools are the
key to encouraging novice teachers to attend our events with them. The goal for next year is to use our
relationships with veteran teachers in surrounding schools to identify several non-members who will
commit to this work. All educators can reflect on how they felt as new teachers and the prospect of adding
one more thing to their plate. However, through an experience such as the one we are building in this
partnership, we hope new educators will leave these events having built relationships with one another and
with our DKG members, knowing we will support them through this process.

Dr. Michele A. McKie, member of Alpha Epsilon Chapter in Georgia State Organization, is Assessment Director and Assistant Professor at Georgia
Southwestern State University. She serves her DKG chapter as vice president. She completed her dissertation from Valdosta State University with a focus
on interns serving as teachers of record. michele.mckie@gsw.edu

Collegial Exchange · 43