How to Survive Your First Year as a Teacher

Whether you are a career-changer or brand new to the job market, your first year of teaching can be a very stressful and trying experience. No amount of college-level education classes can fully prepare you for your first moment in front of the classroom.

As one who had endured their first year of teaching and lived to tell about it, let me offer you seven steps that will help you survive those first few months in teaching:

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Education books
• A plan

1. Not enough can be said about the value of building a community with faculty members. Other teachers on campus have experience under their belts. They have learned the tricks of the trade. They know the 'ins' and the 'outs' of your school. If you have questions about how to handle a situation with a student, talk to other teachers to see what works for them.

2. Know who is who at your school. Know the name of your school's technology facilitator, reading coach, grade-level guidance counselor, grade-level administrator, media specialist, and department chair. Introduce yourself to these people. Build a rapport with them. They will be your go-to people the minute a situation arises.

3. Maximize your time well. The last thing you want to do is to spend hours after school grading papers. You also do not want to jeopardize time with your friends or family to grade papers. However, if you utilize your time well, you will have no problem keeping your head above water. If you know you will be going for a doctor visit, bring some papers to grade while you're in the waiting room. If you take public transportation to work, get some work done while you commute. Maintaining productivity by filling in those moments that you would normally spend simply sitting will free up your time outside of work.

4. The important thing to remember is the difference between a rule and a procedure. You should limit the number of your classroom rules to around five. However, procedures are your methods for conducting class-rules that govern behavior. Spend your first three weeks teaching procedures, the rule of 3=33. Three weeks of procedure reinforcement equals the other 33 weeks of smooth sailing.

5. Establish boundaries and maintain consistency. If you establish consequences in your room, stick with them. If students know that you're consequences are inconsistent, they're likely to exceed their limits. As previously mentioned, your students are consistently sizing you up, wondering what they can get away with. I once had a veteran teacher give me this piece of advice: don't smile until winter break. That way, the kids don't think you're a pushover. Some may not agree with that, but it worked for me!

6. Take some time for reflection at the end of each day or week. Reflection may sound like a trivial thing to do, but when you're a teacher, self-assessment is imperative. Which strategies worked? Which didn't? Were there moments where you surrendered control to your students? Times you lost your head? What can you do differently in your classroom? Taking the time to reflect causes you to develop a plan of action-a necessity for an effective classroom.

7. Keep at it. The idea of perseverance may sound trite, but there is so much truth to this idea. Quite frankly, the statistics are against new teachers. Over 50% of teachers quit within the first three years. It may be rough at first. However, it does get better. It will get better. If making a difference isn't enough to motivate you to press on in your career, I don't know what will.

Tips & Warnings

• Hopefully, you're not scared away. If I survived my first year working in one of the most prestigious counties in Florida, anyone can. I came to the table with no experience, no direction, no clue. Initially, I didn't even really have a desire to teach. I nearly resigned several times during my career. Three years later, I'm still going strong, still fighting through the adversity. It's not a profitable career, nor is it for the faint of heart. However, it's very rewarding. To be quite honest, I can't think of a more noble profession than working as an educator. Take a deep breath. Relax. You're going to make it.

[gpcs]

on 11/26/2007 Coulda used these tips during my shortlived stint as a substitute teacher. Middle school gym --- a nightmare I will never forget! Welcome aboard!
-George