ALT-7 Surviving your first Year as a Teacher
Whether you're about to go into your own classroom for the first time or are wondering if you will make it until May without drowning yourself in the five-gallon aquarium that has more spit-wads than fish at this moment-you may be asking yourself: "have I got what it takes to survive as a teacher?"
Whether you've got what it takes to be a master teacher or even a successful one is either ahead of you or behind you at this point. What you basically want to know is whether this particular school year will sail into port with you still aboard. And well might you ask.
Every year, hundreds of teachers throw in the towel. Excuse themselves from the playing field. Bow out gracefully. In a sidebar to her article "Burned Out: Has Stress pushed you into the Danger Zone?" appearing in the February, 2007, Reader's Digest, p. 156, Dianne Hales reports that "while burnout can occur in almost any job, researchers have consistently found high burnout rates in the following fields:..." Guess which profession tops the list? Teaching.
Will you be one of those who flamed out after the first year or will you earn the esteemed title of retired educator?
As a proud retired educator who has watched many an enthusiastic, knowledgeable, promising young teacher fall in the traces like an overworked railroad mule, I have a few hints to help you make it through the first year. After that, my dear, you're on your own.
Hint #1: Realize that every word that comes out of your mouth is now sacred. Oh, yes. If you say it, your students will believe it to be the literal truth. This is not to say that they will follow your instructions, only that if you tell them you're going to do something, you had darn well better be sure that 1) you can do it, and 2) you do it. If you promise to give everyone who turns in a book report a Snickers bar, you need to check with your mentoring teacher and/or your principal to see if giving Snickers bars is a no-no.
In the same manner, before you drop an opinion, think about how it will sound being repeated at home. "Ms.Grooble said Bolivians are greedy" may not make it to every student's dinner table, but it certainly will to the home where Grampa is Bolivian.
Hint #2: Respect your fellow teachers. Yes, even the lazy ones who assign 20 pages of busy work and do hall duty with eyes shut. Don't ever run down a comrade-in-arms before the troops. If you think a fellow teacher is wrong about a discipline or a fact or an attitude, be brave enough to go to that person face-to-face. You won't get any support in your hour of need if you don't give any.
Hint #3: The secretary, the janitor, the lunchroom worker are all your peers, not your employees. Treat them with respect. They can be mighty allies!
Hint #4: Get a life outside the classroom. Sure, people admire the teacher who stays in her classroom until 7 PM, grades papers until midnight, and is the first one in the building in the morning. They will say many kind words about you at your funeral. The Teaching Life can expand like one of those precious little sponges shaped like butterflies that turns into a full-sized bath-cloth when wet. Just being a teacher can take up every spare moment you have until you never get to enjoy a whole movie, read a book just for fun, or have a conversation that doesn't include the words discipline, accountability component, or integration of technology. If you can't force yourself to do something non-teaching, pick a friend who will not let you rest until you go skiing, shopping, or attend a Three Stooges marathon at the cheap theater.
