A “Must-Read” Illustrated Welcome to Beginning Teachers

Welcome to Teaching! An Illustrated Guide to the Best Profession in the World 
By Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey
(Corwin, 2024 – Learn more)

Reviewed by Alison Prochaska

Welcome to Teaching! An Illustrated Guide to the Best Profession in the World is an engaging text that highlights the most essential parts of teaching and learning.

The book is filled with Taryl Hansen’s lively illustrations and infographics that make it a quick and easy read, and the included QR codes extend learning beyond the pages of the text by showcasing strategies in action in real classrooms.

This book does not just tell you how to teach. It shows you!

As a leader of professional development, I am always looking for resources to share with teachers. From the visually appealing infographics to the classroom videos, this book has a wealth of information to share! As I was reading, I easily made connections between the text’s tools and our new teacher orientation program needs. You could build an entire year of new teacher development activities and sessions around the sections of this book.

The book’s synopsis markets it as “Your hands-on guide to thriving your first year of teaching,” but it also could be a guide for thriving as an evaluator. It’s easy to note an area of growth for teachers during observations, but it’s not always as easy to provide effective resources that will assist that teacher in strengthening their practice. This book provides solutions to those common pitfalls we often see in classrooms of teachers in their first few years of teaching.

Each section of the book emphasizes the most important aspects of teaching: creating the climate for learning, planning for learning, engagement in learning, and assessment of learning. The authors then provide additional effective instructional moves and strategies. The provided classroom videos clarify what these look like in practice with real students, an invaluable resource for teachers who could benefit from the modeling.

How can I set up my classroom for success at the start of the year? What types of questions or activities elicit the highest engagement? What are some strategies for effectively communicating with students’ families? How can I successfully manage student behavior?

Welcome to Teaching! has the answers to these questions and more. This is a must read for any teacher looking to develop their practice or any leader who supports teachers in their development.

 Alison Prochaska has been working in schools for almost 20 years. During her career, she has served as a paraprofessional, junior high ELA teacher, assistant principal, and instructional coach. Currently, she is the Coordinator for Teaching & Learning of River Grove School District 85.5, a PreK-8th grade district just outside of Chicago.

Alison has Master’s degrees in Curriculum & Instruction and Educational Leadership. She plans and delivers professional development for all staff, designs and facilitates the district’s new teacher and mentor program, oversees all assessment and analyzes achievement data. She is passionate about school improvement and developing effective teachers.