With any profession, the first day can make you feel like a deer in the headlights. You don’t know the environment, and everything is unfamiliar. You are trying to navigate a world unknown to you while these fast moving lights are coming directly towards. This is for any first year teacher or aspiring teacher. This post is for the ones who want to feel as if they are not in the unknown. These are the lessons from my first year teaching. Whether you are in your first year about to go back in-person or about to begin a student teaching internship, this is a useful post for any teacher.
Introduction
My first year teaching full-time was the 2019-2020 school year which was an interesting one with schools shutting down in March. It was an interesting year to say the least. In some ways, my story is a unique one. While teaching full-time, I was finishing up my Master’s degree. In addition, I was teaching 4 different classes (Spanish 1, 2, 3, and 4) while being the sponsor of Spanish Club, Spanish Honor Society, 10th grade, and a school program that we call Ministry Teams.
I definitely had experience in a classroom. I had already completed my student teaching. I had volunteered in various classroom settings since I was 13. I had known for years that I would be a teacher. I had been teaching 2 homeschool students for a year and a half. But, being a full-time teacher is different than any of those experiences. I am thankful for those experiences as I would not have been as effective without them, but my expectations that it was going to be smooth sailing was far from true.
Perhaps, I came in too overconfident. I’m teaching at a Christian private school. As a graduate from a Christian private school, I trusted my intuitions about how private schools operate. In many ways, I was not shocked by some things that would seem unusual if I had been at a public school. But, I would be in for various lessons before the year was over.
List of Advice
- It’s a lot of work, so make “me time” a scheduled time. I had always known that teaching was hard and not for the faint of heart. I never would know how many hours that I would end up spending each day outside of school working on making lesson plans and materials. For a first year teacher (without a textbook), I was working super hard trying to give students a high quality education. For the first year teacher making materials for the first time, there will be many days that you will want to take a week off to catch up on sleep. Just hang in there. Take time set apart each day to unwind. There will never be a moment where this is not work that has to be done. You have to schedule your personal time. You will not have a second to yourself unless you find time for it. Put aside a MINIMUM of 2 hours scheduled for your personal relaxation. Do whatever relaxes you: writing, singing, gaming, calling a friend, baking, or whatever will help you unwind. After 8 grueling hours at school and more hours of behind the scenes work, you will thank me for telling you to schedule your free time.
- Relationships with students are key. My biggest concern was that I would be unable to form relationships with the students. I was worried about nothing. There will be students who will cling to you. Be warm and welcoming with the students. Receptive students are more likely to enjoy your class and work hard in it. I learn a lot from the students. They are my slang translators as new slang that comes out of which I am unaware. This will come in various ways. It happens almost without knowing. After a while, you will notice how you have inside jokes with your students, and you begin forming relationships with their friends who you do not teach when they bring them to your classroom. The smallest of actions have big impacts. I go to school events which really makes the students (and their parents) really happy to see me. I may not always love the sport, but I go to a lot of the students’ games because I love seeing them play. I go to the music concerts because I love hearing their voices. I go to the drama productions to see their talents shine. The students even had me do a small cameo in a video portion of their drama production. These things matter. Some students begin to think that you do not care if you never show up to any of these things. Even if you do not have much after school time (because our time is limited), you can do things during the school day. During lunch, I may sit with some of the kids. I get to learn a lot more about them just by spending a few measly minutes with them at lunch by staying at their table for a bit. Sometimes, I will do that even when I do not have lunch duty because I like spending time with them. Because of my relationship with the students, they feel at ease and maintain a greater interest in my class. I can notice a stark contrast between the students with whom I have a closer relationship and those with whom I do not.
- Not every lesson has to be the perfect lesson. This is something that I am still learning. Not everyday is going to be the lesson that is super fun and engaging. Students will not go home everyday to tell their parents about something that they did in my class. With that said, it should not be a discouragement when those days occur. Some days are better than others, and all we can do is reflect and make it better for next time. Reflection is a highly important tool. We are not just teachers for one year (hopefully). For lessons that are not our superstar lessons, we will find ways to make it better each year. My first year I called “survival.” It was all about making the lessons. My second year is “experimentation.” It is about trying new things to see what works. I will continue learning things year after year and getting better. There will never be a year where every lesson goes perfectly because we have students with different personalities and backgrounds come into our classes each year which makes us adjust our plans. Be okay with the days where not everything was great and learn from them.
- Parent Partnership is essential. PERIOD. This may be one of the most overlooked and underrated tips by teachers. I am thankful to be at a school where parents are super involved because I recognize that is something that is not common. It is a part of the mission of my school. I try to make it a habit to send positive emails home to parents about things that their kids are doing well at the school. The parents appreciate hearing nice things as they want to be involved in their kids learning. When I did research on a good method for language acquisition, I sent it to the parents to encourage their kids to spend 20 minutes/day on Spanish. Parent partnership is one of the greatest assets to a teacher. You will need to use it. Find ways that work for you to get parents on board with your class. I got complaints from the students that their parents were getting on them to actually spend 20 minutes on Spanish daily. I have parents email me to ask me to tell them anytime their kids have unsatisfactory behavior in class for them to talk with them about at home. If the parents are on your side, you know that anything that happens during the year that they will have your back. I often look forward to meeting with parents for conferences because they can be so supportive when you help them. I have had parents tell me to contact them if I need anything including food or classroom materials. I have actual parents offering to buy me stuff for my class. When we went virtual in March 2020, I had to continue going to the school building because the wifi at my home was poor quality. There were parents who bought lunch for the teachers at the school free of charge. There was one parent who at the beginning of school got me fresh eggs and for Christmas, I got homemade bread with homemade butter. This is only a scratch on the surface of the brilliance of strong parent partnership. Find ways to partner with your parents because it will make your job so much better.
- The More Duties As Assigned is Important to Know. As previously mentioned, I am sponsoring Spanish Club and Spanish Honor Society. I am also a Ministry Team Sponsor and the 10th Grade Class Sponsor. (Additionally when we went virtual, I was part of the team who worked on technology to get the school to distance learning as quickly as possible.) All of this as a first year teacher is a lot to add to preparing for 4 different classes each day. I love each of my commitments, but as soon as you get hired, ask about each of your commitments and plan accordingly because each of those tasks can add up with your already dwindling time. Learn the power of saying “no.” Being a first year teacher is overwhelming, and having a million other tasks will not help any. If you truly cannot take on the extra stuff, you have to learn to politely reject because you will be asked to do more. You cannot do it all.
- Enjoy It. You are learning and navigating a new environment. Enjoy and cherish each moment. Cherish the students that are in your class. After they graduated, I found myself missing the students who were once in my class who I would never be teaching again, even more so because we were online for the last 2 months of school. I love my work, and I find ways to love it more each week. Not everything is perfect, but I am constantly reminded how much I love my job. I found a school that I love and cherish. I spend time with students that I adore. I would not be anywhere else.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, there is a plethora of thoughts that I could go into as it was an interesting first year. I learned so many lessons as a first-year teacher, and some will only be learned from experience. I learned spontaneity, creativity, thick skin, and more. I periodically ask students how they are doing in the class and what things can realistically be changed in order to help them grow. Sometimes, the students will recognize that you are doing your best and are working hard. I got many compliments from students last year that they enjoyed the class even though it may have required a lot of work from them at times. (I am also blessed with students who recognize that the job is not an easy one which requires many hours of rigorous labor which they do not see.)
Each school is different, and it will have a different fit for different people. We make am impact on the school in the same way that the school impacts us. I want to hear from you, notetakers. From the teachers in the crowd, what is a lesson that you learned from your first year teaching? What is the biggest mistake that you see new teachers make?
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