The first year in a classroom can be intimidating for many new teachers, but the Ohio Department of Education is trying to make the first year of teaching a little easier.

The department of education awarded two grants to Ohio University this year for programs to give new teachers maximum feedback on their teaching methods, said Associate Professor of Teacher Education Joan Safran.

Both of the grants have been used to pair new teachers with a mentor trained to evaluate their teaching methods, Safran said.

With a $250,000 grant, the secondary education program pairs a first-year teacher, student teacher or a graduate student with a mentor, Safran said.

The mentor, an experienced teacher, shares the classroom with a new teacher to tell him or her on a daily basis how he or she is doing, Safran said.

The mentors are trained for one week over the summer in the criteria they should use to evaluate the teachers. This same criteria, called Praxis III, is part of the new system for assessment of teachers in Ohio, Safran said.

The 15 new teachers and their mentors are divided into two teams and meet twice a month to discuss their teaching methods, she said.

Josh Thomas is fulfilling his student teaching requirement at Federal Hocking Middle School as a part of this program.

Thomas said the program is great because he has a large support system, which makes teaching easier for him.

"To be a successful teacher, you can't do it on your own," Thomas said. "You have to be able to bounce your ideas off other people."

In its second year, the elementary education program received a $320,000 grant, said Assistant Education Professor Susan Murray.

This program pairs 45 new elementary education teachers with a mentor, said Murray.

This year, OU applied for a $200,000 grant to pair 35 new teachers with mentors, Murray said.

Nine of the 35 new teachers are graduate students who will share the classroom with their mentor for a year and receive free tuition and a stipend, Murray said.

This program gives graduate students the benefits of having their own classroom for a year, but it is not as intimidating, because they are not the only teacher she said.

Other new teachers who were hired by school districts have their own classroom and their mentor observes them twice a month, Murray said.

The education department awarded 18 similar grants to colleges across Ohio.

These grants are part of the Goals 2000 program, which pairs colleges and school districts to help the districts and teachers adjust to the new performance-based requirement that uses Praxis III.

It will be implemented by the year 2002, said Roberta Newcomer, a consultant with the division of professional development and teacher licenser.

A symposium has been planned for 1999 where educators can discuss their different programs and decide on future programs, Newcomer said.