Having spent more than 30-weeks with their assigned new teachers, showing them the tricks of the trade and observing their lessons and interactions with students, mentors of our new teachers have concluded their new teaching colleagues had an awesome first year. They make it clear that it is possible for a new teacher to make an immediate impact right from the start of their teaching career or to establish themselves quickly as an impact teacher once they learn the teaching ropes from effective mentors like themselves.

Nothing beats free, and having a library card gives you free access to thousands of educational resources. A library card also opens up unique and diverse events that expand your horizons. During Black History Month, libraries are essential in making sure Black stories are heard.

Throughout New Jersey, libraries are showcasing Black authors, artists, storytellers and more - in person and virtually. Many of these events feature local New Jerseyans who have created history or are in the middle of creating history.

During my classes last February, we watched a video that highlights the book, Fugitive Pedagogy, written by Dr. Jarvis Givens, Assistant Professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The video provides an introduction to the term fugitive pedagogy coined by Dr. Givens which he defines as African-Americans' physical and intellectual acts that explicitly challenged antiblack protocols of educational domination; actions that often took place in discreet or partially concealed fashion. Dr. Jarvis' focus in the video is on the teacher and the textbook and how insurgent intellectuals use competing narratives of black life to offer a liberating educational experience in segregated black schools. Following the viewing, candidates in my classes, first-year teachers from diverse age groups and backgrounds, shared their impressions from the video. While their comments reflect a range of reactions, one commonality is that they each found the video compelling.

January is National Mentoring Month!

Over the summer, Rutgers Alternate Route connected with our mentors to share what it was like working with their mentees. The response was unanimous: Rutgers Alternate Route mentors LOVED working with their mentees!

We've gathered mentor responses and organized them into a blog to highlight these meaningful relationships.

Rutgers Alternate Route strives to offer new teachers the best resources and necessary advice from seasoned educators.

During our fall meeting for Diverse Teachers For Diverse Schools (DTDS), we asked our veteran instructors share ideas and activities based off of questions from novice teachers.

We turned this advice into a blog so it may be shared with educators far and wide!