ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how early-career teachers can use the strategies learned during teacher preparation to develop more extensive teaching and thinking skills. Early-career teachers have more responsibility than teacher candidates and spend more continuous time in the classroom. There are several reasons why mentors should encourage early-career teachers to develop systems. The chapter discusses how early-career teachers can design and implement classroom systems. It explains four types of classroom systems: beginning of the year, motivation, classroom management, and instructional. For early-career teachers, there is a significant benefit of collaborating with teacher leaders on the planning and development of a new instructional system. A primary purpose of coaching during the early-career phase of teachers' growth is to help them develop management and instruction strategies that extend across units of instruction. The goal of reflection for early-career teachers is to develop thinking processes that transcend both lesson plan preparation and unit-level instruction.
