麻豆传媒入口

Welcome to the profession! I鈥檓 so glad you鈥檙e here. This vocation has made me into a better version of myself, and I鈥檓 forever grateful. I hope your journey is just as transformative. 

Being a teacher is unlike anything else I can describe: It鈥檚 one of the most meaningful and one of the hardest things I鈥檝e ever done. My first year, especially, was a tough one. In fact, my first day was a scene right out of a comedy.

Allow me to set the stage: I had five back-to-back hours of high school math classes. In each class, I decided I needed to do something really fun and engaging and also 鈥渕ath-y鈥� to make sure my students left feeling like this was going to be the best math class they had ever taken.

I Didn鈥檛 Know What I Didn鈥檛 Know 

I had them make paper airplanes, and then we went out to the hallway to fly them (and measure their central tendencies, of course鈥攎ean, median, mode, all that good stuff).

That was when everything went wrong.

You can probably imagine what happens when you tell 35 high school students that they can start throwing paper airplanes. All of a sudden, there was a great cloud of college-ruled notebook paper thundering in a clash and then pouring down like hail. The planes鈥� owners laughed and kept launching planes鈥� and not one intended math problem got done. 

At the time, I didn鈥檛 know how to pivot from my plans, so this chaos repeated four more times. I burst into tears the moment the last bell rang, feeling out of control in my own classroom. 

My Advice for New Teachers

Since that day, I鈥檝e thought about what went wrong and why. On my good days, these are the dispositions I try to have.

1. Be reflective. Perhaps the single most impactful practice I鈥檝e cultivated is daily reflection. I jot notes about what could鈥檝e been better straight into my slide deck at the end of the day, like 鈥淭his example was too cumbersome. Change next year.鈥� Or 鈥淎llow a calculator for this question.鈥� Or 鈥淭ry groups of two to three instead of four.鈥� Or, in the case of the airplanes, 鈥淣ever again, Peterson.鈥� (Let鈥檚 be honest鈥擨 didn鈥檛 need a note to remember that one.)

It鈥檚 been just as important for me to write about what went right and enjoy the small, ordinary moments. I鈥檝e done this through the blog, documenting something good, beautiful, or funny every day that I鈥檝e been with kids. If that鈥檚 not for you, think about finding a fellow educator whom you can text every day, or consider opening a social media account where you post a daily picture or video that highlights something good (with family permission if you include student pictures or names).聽

While I haven鈥檛 gone back and read every single post I鈥檝e ever written, there鈥檚 something about this intentional act that sears these memories into my heart. It sustains and liberates me. 

2. Be proactive. The longer you teach, the more you鈥檒l anticipate where you鈥檒l need to scaffold. You can cultivate this disposition by considering these questions: How will students respond to this task? How long will it take? If I give them 10 minutes, will some finish early? Will they start to distract the others?

As you begin your teaching journey, think through each procedure, task, prompt, and assignment you give. If students don鈥檛 respond the way you thought they would, go back to number one, Reflect: Why didn鈥檛 they? Did it go better or worse than anticipated? What part isn鈥檛 sitting right with me? How can I adjust to improve learning?

With Airplane Day, I had too large of a goal: Have fun! Slowly, I learned to have smaller鈥攁nd clearer鈥攇oals. While I still took ideas from other teachers, I made them my own, so that I鈥檇 be comfortable in my own space. 

One of the best moves I made was chunking my lessons: I鈥檇 do some examples, then students would work together (while listening to instrumental pop covers because they鈥檙e peaceful and fun and signal that it鈥檚 time to collaborate), and then we鈥檇 repeat. No part lasted longer than 10鈥�20 minutes. The more you teach, the more comfortable you鈥檒l get expanding your teaching style. In the beginning, start small and clear. Before I attempted Airplane Day, I should have felt in control. Today, I鈥檇 be able to implement that activity with fidelity and success. Teaching is not a sprint; it鈥檚 a marathon. The goal is to continually improve, not to 鈥渓and.鈥�

3. Be collaborative. Find your people. These are the educators who teach like you want to teach, who speak to kids with joy, dignity, compassion, and humor. They鈥檙e the teachers who are excited to have you on their team. These are teachers who love what they do. Get close to them. Observe them during your plan time. Allow them to remind you that although this work is hard, it鈥檚 so worth it. This job isn鈥檛 sustainable if you try to do it alone. If you have a team that you can rely on and will share the workload and the emotional load, you鈥檒l grow faster than you ever imagined. 

4. Be patient. A great teacher is patient with their students, and they鈥檙e patient with themselves. Honestly, my pace as a first-year teacher wasn鈥檛 sustainable. But here鈥檚 the good news: My first-year pace didn鈥檛 remain my normal. I certainly became faster at grading, lesson planning, and responding to emails. Yet, because I developed a reflective mindset, I also started making more time for the work I love and began to find ways to spend less time doing the things that drained me. Can I cut out grading altogether? No. Can I find ways for students to assess themselves or make my grading load lighter? Absolutely. Give yourself the gift of time. Be patient and stay curious. 

You鈥檒l Grow Into The Teacher You Want to Be

I love who I am when I鈥檓 with my students, but it didn鈥檛 start that way. I had to cultivate these mindsets; I had to learn more about my students鈥攁nd about myself. This is incredibly joyous, important, and hard work. There will be days you question if it鈥檚 worth the work.

May you find the people who will sustain you and remind you that this work matters. May you delight in your students鈥攖heir brilliance and their quirks. May you find the good in your day, tuck it into your heart, and work to replicate it. May you always know: You are enough.