Advice for New Teachers

The first year of teaching is like no other experience on this earth. In her article, "Phases of First-Year Teaching," Ellen Moir notes that, "most new teachers struggle to keep their heads above water." Although I am still in this very rocky survival phase of first-year teaching, I pass down these pearls of wisdom to other new teachers, that we can make it through this difficult year together.

Express Yourself

You cannot keep all of your thoughts and feelings inside you. The independence of a teacher is a beautiful thing, but the isolation is not. Last year, since I was only a student teacher this semester, I had my master teacher for support. She was a wonderful person, to whom I could vent about my struggles, chatter about my excitement, and brag about my students' work. She also showed me the beauty of having these types of relationships with other teachers for the support that they provide. This year, I have made it a priority to put forth the effort to make friends.

Plan well to prevent problems, but be flexible.

It is in my nature to be organized and over-prepared. It was not until I actually began student teaching that I realized why God created me this way... because I am meant to teach. Each day last semester in which I had a well-planned lesson, the day went well, while the one day that I did not take time to think about and plan my classed were a disaster. I spent the entire day telling the kids to be quiet and asking them to pay attention. Interesting lessons keep kids involved, and interesting lessons come from thoughtful planning. Thoughtful planning takes time, which is unfortunately my most limited resource these days, but I am learning to block out time for planning, since it is truly essential.

Be resourceful!

Your job as a teacher is not to create resources; it is just to find the resources you need and use them correctly. Although I sometimes laugh at the ideas the textbook teacher resource book suggests, there are other times that the ideas are actually quite helpful. The Internet is a great source for finding resources, but other teachers are probably the best. Talking to other teachers who have taught the unit before has proved to be quite beneficial.

Reflect, Rethink, Revise, and Reassure

Developing the habit of reflection has been one of the most valuable impacts of this semester. It has allowed me to think about my lessons as I write my reflections. In the process, I have learned about myself and my style as a teacher, as well as about what works and what doesn't in teaching. As I reflect each day, I can rethink my methods and revise my unit plan to suit the needs of my students. Also, the reflection process is an important time to reassure myself as well. I highly recommend taking time every day to tell yourself what you did right.

Encourage, Edify, and Enlighten

Students desperately need to be encouraged. They need to be told when they are doing something right, caught being good. They don't need to be told why their essay is bad; they need to be edified and told how it could be made better. Yeats once said, "Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." Our job as teachers is not to stuff information inside students' heads, but to enlighten students and inspire them. If they think that you hate them, and that they are stupid, they will not be enlightened, and they will not be learning. Never miss an opportunity to tell a student what he or she is doing well.

Just remember... it is easy enough to be a good teacher, but who wants to be good when you can be great.