First-Year Teachers
Posted by Hope Spencer on 30 Jul 2009 | Posted in: Inspiration and Motivation, Meet the Mailbox®, Professional Development, Relationships and Team Building, Teachers and Teaching
I don’t have to tell you what a busy, exciting time of year this is. But it is an especially thrilling time for first-year teachers. My first year gave me some of the most wonderful, terrifying, and humorous memories of my life! This is such an important topic that I’ve decided to run a short series aimed at first-year teachers, with memories and tips from those of us who’ve been there. For the first blog, I’ve asked my good friend, editor Krystle Short Jones, to share some of her thoughts with us:
At the beginning of the school year, I always found myself overwhelmed with too many tasks and thoughts. I would make a daily list of all the things that needed to be accomplished and rank the tasks in order of importance, so I knew what had to be done that day! Each day, I checked off each task as I completed it. I know it sounds funny, but seeing that list with all the checkmarks at the end of the day made me realize just how much I had accomplished. This allowed me to focus on what I had accomplished and not what I had left to accomplish. I had to remind myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day!
As a new teacher, I had the misconception that I was the only teacher who was nervous. Every teacher tosses and turns the night before school starts. We are just as nervous as the kids. That will never change, no matter how many years you teach! That is the fun of it all. Each year you will be both excited and nervous. Personally, I believe that is what makes great teachers!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help or advice. Visit veteran teachers and ask for suggestions. Sometimes more seasoned teachers may seem standoffish, but it isn’t because they don’t want to help you. They understand how much you have going on and don’t want to bother you. So go to them. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. Who knows? Talking with you might be just the inspiration they need too!
Here’s to a great year!
Krystle
Congratulations to Diane Fangmeyer, Director/Teacher of Covenant Kids Preschool, Covenant Presbyterian Church; Omaha, Nebraska! She is the winner of a copy of the Big Book of Monthly Ideas, PreK-K.
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38 Responses to “First-Year Teachers”
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More Comments Pages: [1] 2 3 4 » Show All Comments
I am a first year teaching teaching 3rd grade for the first time! I am very excited, but feel overwhelmed with curriculum. I want to start the year off with an apple unit, complete with Johnny Chapman stories, apple tasting and apple descriptive words/descriptions. If any teacher has done a unit similar to this, any ideas would be most helpful!
I have many apple related books, including the Gail Gibbons book, “Apples to Oregon”, and Steven Kellog’s “Johnny Appleseed”. Is there any other book that are appropriate for 3rd graders retaining to this topic?
Also, I need to complete a parent letter decribing myself and up coming lessons that the students and parents can look forward to… any advice on this?? I think I am most nervous about this letter than anything else!
After 25 years I still can’t sleep the night before school starts! We all need to remember that the parents are nervous too as to who their child’s teacher will be and what the new teacher will be like. Teachers are with the children more than their parents most days. Talk about teachers being role models….
Good luck to all, the advice from everyone is great. Thank you Hope and Krystle!
Way back in student teaching, a cooperating teacher told me that I must never work through all lunches and specials. She required that I eat in the staff room at least twice a week, without bringing in any work. Her reason? She said teaching can be an isolating task if you’re not careful and that by sharing lunch, I’d never get too isolated from those that can help me laugh, cry, or try something new. Her words have proven more true than I could have imagined. The fact that so many of us blog is a testament to a teachers’ need for fellowship. So, in terms of advice, I echo what’s been posted: borrow, share, and take time to build those relationships. Remember: teaching is a high output profession where we spend lots of our time and talent filling up the tanks of our students. It’s paramount we come up for air and get a refill of energy from time to time.
I begin my 25th year this year! Time has flown by! I am so blessed to have been able to do something I am so passionate about. Even after 25 yrs I was thinking the other day if I knew how to do this. Don’t sweat the small stuff. DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT!Don’t be worried about stealing ideas from seasoned teachers. It is the greatest compliment! To tell you the truth, I steal from others after 25 yrs!
The beginning of every school year is the chance to start fresh and improve our teaching. Every year I take time to write down ideas, thoughts and goals to improve my classroom and curriculum. I keep this idea list throughout the year and check it anytime I am feeling stale and need a boost.
After over 16 years in the classroom I enjoy sharing what I know with new teachers and I do love their fresh ideas and enthusiasm! Here are 2 suggestions to help new teachers succeed during their first year:
1. To handle behavior in the classroom it is much easier to set firm boundaries and be a little more ’strict’ early in the year and lighten up as the children know the routines and expectations than it is to try to regain order in an out of control classroom later on.
2. Teach with your calendar! buy a large desk calendar and post it over your desk. On the calendar use different colors to label report card dates, holidays, special events, faculty meetings, your themes,etc. Also be sure to jot reminders of songs, skills and objectives you want to teach as your children gain in their abilities. (ex. I start to focus more on the name of the current month in January after my students have a good understanding of the days of the week, so in January I have a reminder to start teaching them the Macarena Months song)
Great ideas! I was looking for something like this when I started last year- this will be very helpful for this year!
Teaching is one of the very few professions that allows us to have a new beginning every year. Though this is my 3rd year teaching I still have the first day jitters. Lots to get done with little time to do it in. Last year, I was talking with my administrator and we were discussing how far not only I had come, but how far my students had come. I definitely would agree that you can not judge your entire career on your first year. The tearful days, sleepless nights, and anxiety are all worth it. My principal was very supportive and I found there were many wonderful people willing to offer suggestions. I once had an instructor in college tell us, “You don’t have to re-invent the wheel” use your resources!
Best of luck to all the teachers that are preparing for the first year of teaching. You are not alone.
I am so glad that Leigh-Ann posted because I am exactly where she is right now. I was interviewed and hired three days before school started in a pk special needs position. It was a very rough year but I have a wonderful aide who helped me out tremendously. My advice is to ask for help from your neighbors when needed. They have all been in your shoes and are more than willing to give advice and help out.
This is my second year in this position and it is sure to be a true challenge. We are universal so I will have a true mix of abilities and I need to be prepared to offer a theme and modify for the children who are advanced as well as delayed. This is a very hard job at times but the rewards are unmeasurable.
I too am trying to plan ahead. I have the themes planned out week by week for the first part of the year but I haven’t gotten as far as the crafts and activities. (I am not that organized.) But I have been able to paint my classroom and re-arrange the furniture to be more appropriate. I have also ordered some bigger pieces of furniture with the stimulus moneys offered through special ed. Check with administrators on what is offered or available.
Have a great year. I hope to with the help of Mailbox Magazine to give me ideas.
I am so excited and nervous about the new school year. I recently received my new assignment as a 2nd grade teacher. For the past three years, I have been a kindergarten assistant. It is such a big help to read Krystle’s post and all the other comments. Thank you and I hope we will all have a great year.
This is going to be my first year teaching. I student taught in Kindergarten and 1st grade, but will be teaching 2nd grade this year. I did one semester of subbing so I have some experience in 2nd grade but am really starting to get nervous. I really enjoy looking through all the comments and websites about first year teachers. It helps calm me!!!
My first year wasn’t great. It got to the point where I would go home and cry. My second year, I got a job at a different school and it was a thousand times better. My advice is: Promise yourself that you will teach at least 2 years. Don’t quit after the first one, because your first year is not an accurate example of how the following years will go. Also, it may be that you would do better in another grade level, different school or school district. Just don’t quit after year one.
I am a second year teacher and I truly am more nervous this year then last year. Last year I was only given a 2 week notice of my new position due to an unexpected change in staff. I think I was most nervous about knowing what to teach and if I was ready to get the four year olds ready for kindergarten. Thankfully as the year went on, and the parents and children were very pleased with my teaching, the nervousness went away.
Now that I am getting ready for the new year to start, I am now nervous of all the readiness I need to do before I begin. Last year I had no choice but to get ready ASAP, this year procrastination seems to be what is making me nervous.
I vowed to have my entire years lesson plans in place with the projects all ready to go (at least the samples) before school starts this year. So far, I have 6 weeks of plans on paper. I know I will accomplish what I set out to do, I just can’t wait to see it happen.
Teaching has been a fantastic experience for me and I am really excited to begin the new year. I am going to miss all the children from my first year of teaching and I know they will always have a very special place in my heart!
Best of luck to all teachers, the new and the improved!!