Teaching survival
I remember myfirst year in the classroom. I entered teaching after working in a different field. A friend was principal of the school and he called on me to complete the year for a teacher who had resigned. It was March and the class was sixth grade.
I lacked the typical methodology courses that Ed majors had attended in college. Much of my teaching style and classroom management came from experience. But, here I was facing a class of sixth graders. I charged into class and the next couple of months were as much a learning experience for me as they were for them. By the end of my second year my teaching ability and classroom management skills had improved tremendously. A decade later, I am still learning. Each year my current level of performance is challenged and I am forced to move forward or throw in the towel.
What advice could I offer to new teachers? The following are 10 things I wish someone would have told me.
A friend once said, "If you can do anything else, do it." I agree. Statistics tell us that 1 in 3 new teachers will quit during the first 3 years. I in 2 will do something else in the first five years. Working conditions can obviously motivate tenure decisions. However, a teacher needs to be clear and frequently remind why he or she is a teacher. For me, teaching is not something I do; teaching is who I am.
Effective teachers know their subject. Commit to be a life-long learner. Students know when we fake it and it costs us credibility. Equally as troublesome is that we risk giving misinformation.
Every class takes on its own unique personality and dynamics. Teachers need to be in tune with students and with the class in general. We can be so committed to our lesson plans that we hinder learning. We need to know when students are having a difficult time and why.
One of my classes helped me learn this lesson. The class had a particular difficult relationship with a teacher. I had the students the period following their daily visit with this teacher. Most days they entered my classroom angry and frustrated. I had a choice as a teacher. I could immediately try to press them into starting class and have a class of disengaged students or allow them a few minutes to vent. Then, they were ready and we were able to complete our work for the day.
Some student problems in class can be mitigated if teachers will find out what is going on. Students may not know a healthy way or have a safe outlet to express frustration so the classroom is the place where they spend most of their days, have most of their friends, and is viewed as non-threatening. Honestly, most are not concerned with office visits unless they fear punitive action by parents.
New teachers usually like to prepare lessons. Do it! Prepare in every way that you can for the presentation of a lesson. Include different ways of presenting the information and some form of assessment.
Some teachers are simply focused on delivering the material or personal fulfillment in the teaching process. Bruce Wilkerson in "The Seven Laws of the Learner", sorts teachers into three groups: (1) those who love the content; (2) those who love the teaching process; and (3) those who love students.
Look for those who connect with your teaching. Watch for the light to come on. When it does, work with it.
I often tell new teachers that you need to be honest about the nature of your students. Some are genuinely bad and the system usually sorts through these eventually or they self-eliminate.
Most are basically good kids. Good kids can have bad days. They could have problems at home or may be struggling at school. Adolescent students experience the irritation of developmental changes as well as frequent relational problems. Classroom disruptions must be dealt with, but be careful of assuming the kid is a behavior problem based solely on your observations.
I actually base my assessment of the nature of students on the character they demonstrate at school. One of the strangest cases I have ever experienced was a student who seldom had a week without a write-up or a trip to the office. But, the student was not a behavior problem though classroom disruptions were frequent. I finally decided that instead of writing the student another office referral that I would see what was going on in the student's life.
I found the student was in terrible turmoil over a situation at home and had no one to talk to. The student's frustration and depression were manifesting in the only safe place the student knew - my classroom. After that encounter our relationship took on a different tone. The disruptions did not stop but my reaction did. As the year came to an end, the frequency of disruptions diminished. The student learned to confide in me and still does though the student has moved on.
I usually have a good laugh when young teachers tell me their idealistic plans for the first year. Usually by Christmas the plans are revised. After Spring Break the plan is to finish the year. Find a mentor whether or not your school offers a mentoring program for young teachers. Be sure the person that you choose as a mentor wants to be your mentor so they are cooperative in the process.
I often tell my students that I am a benevolent dictator in my class. I am responsible for what happens in the class and they are expected to cooperate. However, I am benevolent which means I am committed to their well-being. I demonstrate my "benevolence" during the year by having "treat" days or video days and sometimes we have "free" days. My "free" days are usually reserved for those times in the year when I know the workload in our courses is very heavy and they could use a chance in my class to catch up.
We are in a time when teachers having unethical and illegal relationships with students seems to be a weekly occurrence. Be a friend but not a buddy. Friends have a kind word and seek the best for their friends but you are not their social "buddy" and this is all the more true in high school. Young teachers can easily forget that seniors are still teenagers though the age difference between teacher and student may not be that large.
Guard your character. View peer relationships with other teachers as your primacy social contacts at school and not your students. Sometimes teachers may be attracted to certain students because these students seem to understand the teacher's ego needs better than other adults. Remember, students have no accurate concept of your ego needs. Do not screw up their lives because you're lonely and insecure. Find adult relationships to meet these needs.
Along the lines of character, be careful how you conduct yourself away from school. Teachers like entertainers and athletes are role models whether they want to be or not. School districts used to impose very strict codes of conduct on teachers outside of the classroom. While most of these guidelines are gone today the need to guard your character is ever-present.
Many of your students need a willing guiding force in their lives. Be a mentor. Mentors have to push beyond the professionalism that distances teachers from students. You cannot be their buddy but you can be human. You can demonstrate concern for their lives. You can develop a relationship of trust with them so they feel safe in your presence and open to your wisdom.
Teaching is an exciting field. Students need your influence if you are committed to be an effective teacher.
