Teachers who took part in our December 2021 Twitter Chat addressing safe learning environments reported increased capacity for reducing incidents of harassment, intimidation and bullying in schools. Because school safety is vital for student academic performance and their social-emotional well-being, it is important that new teachers gain awareness and confidence in this area early in their careers.

In fall 2021, Rutgers Alternate Route launched its Content Conversation Series. The Content Conversation Series is an initiative created for educators to learn collaboratively. A volunteer facilitator is selected by Rutgers Alternate Route to lead a virtual hour-long session on a skill, topic, or resource relevant to an instructional content area. For the fall Content Conversation, attendees discussed implementing the Next Generation Science Sciences (NGSS) from veteran science educator, Minal Thakur.

Faced with responding to the needs of our communities during the height of the pandemic, our faculty and staff proved exceptional at every turn, starting with the sheer logistical challenge of turning an in-person learning landscape into remote classrooms nearly overnight. Returning to in-person instruction brought new challenges. To even begin, we needed to connect with our staff and understand what they needed to be successful. We did our best to ensure the safety and health of our faculty and staff, but even our most valiant efforts did not please everyone. At the beginning of the school year, we too had teachers resigning at the eleventh hour.  All the while we continued to recruit new hires who would be a great fit and who wanted to be in-person with scholars. I’d be lying if I told you this was easy.

As one of the many alternate route teaching programs in New Jersey, the Rutgers Alternate Route program recognizes the potential for technology in education and leverages the power of social media to support increasing competency in this area for new teachers. The program hosts Twitter Chats attended by current teaching candidates, course instructors, and guest commentators who are seasoned education professionals and savvy users of social media. In an hour-long synchronized group discussion, candidates volley ideas that expand their knowledge of tools and practices. The overwhelming majority of candidates leave the chat energized and inspired to try new practices and explore new tools. They also express feeling understood and less alone thanks to the transparency of other chat participants.