Happy Valentine's Day!
Dear New Teachers,

We hope you have felt the love we have for our teachers through this newsletter so far. Below is the next edition of First Class. The topics in this edition include:
  • Special Education
  • Human Resources (W2)
  • Mentoring Support
  • Library Services (curriculum support)
  • Classroom Content
  • A+ Course Credits
  • Professional Development
  • Employee incentives and Discounts

As a reminder, the New Teacher Tool Kit has helpful information and resources for you to reference as a new teacher for the NYC Department of Education. Be on the look-out for the April newsletter; the next and last content edition of the school year. 

The New Teacher Support Team
Special Education
The Special Education Office has compiled the resources below to help new teachers build awareness around special education processes and disability awareness. You can learn more about disability awareness, help participants to identify the medical and social models of disability, and help participants in gaining the ability to define and discuss types of disabilities.

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) Program

The NYC DOE, in partnership with RethinkEd, is providing schools in districts 1–32 who support students with autism in special classes, with the opportunity to participate in a virtual, year-long professional learning opportunity (PLO). This cohort is offered to special education teachers, guidance counselors, school social workers, and school psychologists who currently provide direct support for students with autism. Participants will be trained in the principles of ABA to build school building and classroom support. For more information, visit the NYC DOE Rethink Community Schools Professional Learning Landing Page. 

Commitment includes: 
  • Attending 2 synchronous monthly PLC’s during the school day for 1.5 hours each 
  • Attending 2 synchronous monthly coaching sessions for 1 hour each 
  • Accessing Rethink Skills and Behavior Platform for Behavioral Resources to Support Classroom and Students (case study with ongoing progress monitoring) 
  • Completing 40 hours of asynchronous ABA professional development modules (to be completed by June 30, 2022) 

In order to participate, you must have your principal’s permission. If you are interested and commit to the requirements, your principal must complete this survey nominating staff from your school by February 18, 2022. 

Transition and College Access Centers (TCAC)

TCAC supports schools and families by facilitating a seamless transition for students from school to adult life. All students are provided with experiences that foster their academic, social-emotional, and vocational growth and excellence, facilitating multiple pathways to graduation and success after high school. In each borough, TCACs offers support through professional development which can be found at the TCAC Professional Learning Catalogue. TCACs also offer transition consultancy services which are individualized services to meet the needs of students, depending on their post-school goals in the transition domains of employment, education, and independent living.  

Transition consultancies may include the following topics below:  
  • Career Paths for employment  
  • College and Vocational training  
  • Housing options  
  • Financial Wellness Programs 
  • Agencies to support the domains of transition  
  • ACCES-VR support  
  • Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) education  
  • College Accessibility Offices 
  • Transition Consultancy Request Form: Request Form.  

For questions or more information about TCACs, please contact nyctcacs@schools.nyc.gov.  

Free Webinars for Families

The Beyond Access Series continues to provide free webinars for families of children with disabilities on topics related to special education. Past sessions have covered Special Education Recovery Services, Social Emotional Learning, Supporting Literacy, Assistive technologies and much more. Upcoming sessions include Reading and Writing Strategies, Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Social Emotional Learning, Interventions and Transitions. These sessions are live every Tuesday at 7:30 PM and are recorded so that they can be accessed at any time on the Beyond Access YouTube Channel. Please share this information with families that might be interested. To learn more about the series or be added to the mailing list, please email beyondaccess@schools.nyc.gov.  

Professional Learning (PL) Opportunities

  1. The Regional Partnership Center (RPC) offers training on how to support positive behaviors in the classroom. Each RPC has its own registration page for each borough. Please click on your borough’s link to see their professional learning offerings: Staten Island RPC, Brooklyn RPC, Bronx RPC, Queens RPC, and Manhattan RPC. 
  2. In order to help support students with mask wearing, this asynchronous webinar will provide information for educators on supporting students with disabilities in wearing masks. Participants will review the ABCs of behavior and how they relate to wearing a mask. They will also review the Prevent, Teach, Response (PTR) Framework to plan strategies and supports.
  3. New teachers are encouraged to review Special Education: Meeting the Needs of All Learners, an asynchronous webinar that introduces foundational concepts of special education including quality IEP development and implementation, Specially Designed Instruction (SDI), transition planning, and SESIS (Special Education Student Information System) for new special education teachers. Additional information on progress monitoring IEP goals will help you ensure that students with IEPs are making progress in their individualized programs. 
  4. You can also access many helpful special education resources and a variety of Central Professional Learning (PL) opportunities at Special Education Professional Learning Opportunities on the InfoHub. Learn more about IEPs, navigating SESIS, specially designed instruction, literacy interventions, and positive behavior supports by clicking here to access the Special Education Office Professional Learning catalog or email them directly at specialeducationpd@schools.nyc.gov.  
Human Resources
W2 Distribution

Your W-2 is a record of your earnings and tax withheld for the year. You use the information found on your W-2 to file your federal, state, and local tax returns. Each tax year, the Office of Payroll Administration (OPA) provides a W-2 to all DOE employees during the month of January. 
 
Delivery of your tax forms is done via either physical mail to your address on file with the NYC Office of Payroll Administration (if you did not enroll in electronic delivery) or via electronic delivery. Regardless of the type of delivery selected, all employees can download electronic copies of their tax forms in NYCAPS Employee Self-Service (ESS). 
 
​Your W-2 Form is now available! To print your tax forms from NYCAPS ESS:
  1. Log in to NYCAPS ESS. 
  2. Click on Electronic W-2 Delivery. 
  3. Under the Tax Summary, click on the year 2021.
  4. Click Print Tax Forms.
  5. Type the last four digits of your SSN and select the form you would like to open: W-2 or 1095-C (if applicable). 
  6. The PDF will now open, allowing you to print.
​For more information, log in to the HR Connect Web Portal with your DOE User ID and Password and review the following links:
 
For assistance with logging into the HR Connect Web Portal, email portalsupport@schools.nyc.gov
Mentoring Support
Knowing Students

What does it mean to know your students versus knowing about your students? Please read pages 25-29 of the Culturally-Responsive-Sustaining-Education Framework to learn more!

Topics include:
  • Creating a welcoming and affirming environment
  • Fostering high expectations and rigorous instruction
  • Identifying inclusive curriculum and assessment
  • Engaging in ongoing professional learning and support
Library Services
The Department of Library Services has a subscription to TeachingBooks! TeachingBooks is a website with over 200,000 resources that bring books to life by introducing students to authors and illustrators. It provides lesson plans, author pronunciations, videos of authors discussing their books, complete book readings, read-along audiobook performances, reader’s advisory, book trailers, links to outside resources, and all things related to authors and illustrators of children’s and young adult books. It is the perfect complement to use when introducing a book to your class.

TeachingBooks is not just for ELA teachers and librarians; there are cross-curricular resources for Math, Science, and Social Studies as well.
Classroom Content

Check out WeTeachNYC! It is the NYCDOE’s website for educators to find curricular and instructional resources. Popular search terms include:

  • Black history curriculum
  • Civic education
  • Instructional leadership

If you have questions, email WeTeachNYC@schools.nyc.gov. 
A+ Course Credits

For information about A+ course credits please visit the HR Connect Employee Web Portal and search: “MA+30 Differential and A+ Courses” for more information.   
Professional Development Opportunities

I Teach NYC provides the latest career development and professional learning opportunities for educators in New York City. Subscribe to I Teach NYC notifications by entering your email address in the right-hand side bar of the I TeachNYC home page.
Employee Incentives & Discounts

Click here to find a listing of special discounts, incentives and offers available to DOE employees. Find everything from discounts on virtual activities to cell phone carrier discounts.