The number of variables a teacher experiences as they enter a classroom for the first time as a full-time employee can be overwhelming. Knowing that you are in charge of several children, while balancing the lack of experience it takes to be a highly proficient teacher is a major challenge.
Understanding the appropriate pedagogies for a particular level, while applying theories learned during post-secondary, trying to adjust to the rapid movements of advancing technology, and preparing lesson plans that meet state or national standards and objectives, to name a few, can induce a mind-blowing anxiety. But relax. It will be okay! And you will have a community full of help.
Expectations and Guidelines
An educator must understand the idea of expectations as a professional. You are a significant component in changing and enhancing students’ lives. And it is not an easy or quick fix. Teaching requires patience and an open mind. Read that last part again.
To walk in with a rigid expectation that everything will go your way, that everything you do in the classroom will change their world, must be tucked away or completely disregarded. You will learn that what you think is your best-designed lesson may fall flat; there is not just one way of getting answers; and just because you did something one way, you may still need to do it that particular way again.
Open-mindedness means you need to seek out answers and apply varying strategies to challenge your students. It requires patience and time. It even sometimes requires letting go of certain theoretical learning and reading your variable, your students, to meet their needs at their levels. This is just the beginning of understanding your role and expectations from your administration.
As a guideline for a new teacher, read your faculty handbook from start to finish. Read the Student Code of Conduct from start to finish. These will both provide a perspective of philosophy for your school district, such as mission statements, traditionalism versus progressivism, and appropriate discipline strategies.
Ask for help. The worst thing you can do as a new teacher is shut your door and try to survive. Veteran teachers, or even mid-career teachers, have most answers to your questions. As well, they may help adjust some of your lessons or provide materials or activities that have been successful for them. Take advantage of your peers and their resources. You may be surprised how much support they are willing to provide to help you transition into the best teacher possible.
Experiential Lessons
Build relationships; if you desire the most successful contributors to society. Quite a few students will attend knowing that school is the only stable place in their lives. Your role is to build that relationship so they can trust and learn from you. You may be the only provider of the appropriate way to behave and be successful in their chosen fields of work. Even the advanced and upper-level students, though they don’t always show it. Students will need every bit of your time to make it through their challenging lives.
Good principals will sacrifice any time they can find, which seems impossible at times, to help you succeed. Ask tough questions of them. Invite them into your classrooms for feedback and accept their suggestions. Most of them have taught at one point in their lives, and their involvement in being an evaluator means they have observed numerous lessons in completely different styles or formats. Principals can share a whole picture that sometimes eludes new teachers because they are hyper-focused on one area: survival.
Another experience is to understand that bell-to-bell is important for new teachers. But, more importantly, don’t sacrifice the instruction and assessment portion in order to “fill time.” Students need to be engaged and challenged, so while a worksheet following a reading might keep them doing something, don’t let it simply be a regurgitation of locating information. Focus on making it relevant to their lives, which will lead to actual learning.
Saying “no” may be one of the most important lessons for new teachers. Be friendly but not their friend (until after graduation). You are here to build relationships, but not to let students do everything they ask because you are the cool teacher. Children will often take advantage if they know they can get away with something with new teachers and substitutes. It’s difficult to return to a more disciplined classroom if they have been able to go to the bathroom whenever they desire or visit the nurse because of some ridiculous reason or two.
Finally, teachers are always expected to be on duty. Balance your professional life with your personal life. Exercise, hang out with friends and family, and find hobbies. You will need this stimulation to maintain your mental and physical health throughout your career.
Preparation for Growth and Professional Development
Principals are tasked with figuring out the best professional development for all teachers, while balancing out the state-mandated requirements, such as mandated reporting, safety, and security training, Handle with Care (appropriate behavior management techniques), and special education requirements or updates, for example.
So, share your thoughts with your principal because this will have an effect on you and your career. Have a group of new teachers? Suggest training or a topic that will allow you and your peers to collaborate. Principals will appreciate the direction you want to move toward, especially if it will help multiple educators’ growth.
If you would like to be an AP (Advanced Placement) teacher someday, search out and attend a training workshop. Need help with classroom discipline or considering advanced degrees? Besides using your school, look outside of those boundaries for presentations or workshops. Again, collaborate with department chairpersons and building administration.
Your experience in education will be different from everyone else’s. You need to find the most appropriate pathways for you to achieve success, understand your purpose for others’ lives, and be able to reflect to be an agent of change within students’ lives.
Educators never stop learning; check out our available graduate degree programs to hone your skills and promote lifelong learning and academic excellence.
