UTA's Teacher Induction

http://teachers.net/gazette/MAR08/gruber/PDAS
Professional communication, the 5th domain of PDAS, includes communication with parents. This is a practical article on how to most effectively communicate with parents. Your best communication is face to face, the phone is next, and email is last; remember email can be read by anyone because it is public domain, and it is not the best way to get your point across in most cases. I also recommend talking to experienced teachers at your school for advice on how to best address the parent population at your particular campus.

http://www5.esc13.net/pdas/forms.html
This Region XIII site is a great resource for PDAS information and provides downloadable you will need to complete for your appraisal. These website includes a form you will not likely receive at your campus, the appraiser’s guide to the rating system, which can help you decode the terminology in each domain component and what you need to do to get from “proficient” to “exceeds expectations.”  

http://www.pbs.org/teachers
Domain II, Learner-Centered Instruction, includes technology integration. This site is a great resource for lesson plans that allows you to sort by media type, making it easier to integrate technology into your instruction. Also, check with your campus to see if they have a subscription to Discovery Education’s United Streaming, which allows you to download educational video clips for every discipline.

http://www.honorlevel.com/x47.xml
Managing Student Discipline, part of Domain IV, can sometimes be your biggest challenge. This website offers tips that seem simplistic but are actually very helpful. Pay careful attention to numbers 9 and 10-they are extremely effective and are not typically intuitively learned.

http://wordgeneration.org/event_materials/oconnor-ford.pdf
Domain I, Active, Successful Student Participation, requires students to be engaged, self-directed, and think critically. Teaching “accountable talk,” on pages 23 and 24 of this document, will help with all three. Post the sentence strips in your room so you can prompt students when they’re not sure how to begin a discussion. Also, encourage students to communicate in complete sentences; you will see an improvement in their writing, as well.

http://www.sdcoe.net/lret/avid/welcome.asp?loc=teacher_tools
Although this website is for a particular academic program, the strategies presented are wonderful, higher-level strategies that emphasize self-directed learning. In particular, try to utilize Philosophical Chairs and Socratic Seminars if you teach middle school or above. Students love them and they make students responsible for their own learning. They work well for observations because they are truly learner-centered activities-just make sure they have experience in the activity, first!