Guide for New Teachers

As I stated in my previous post, there are lots of things going in your life as a 1st-year teacher. You have to meet your criteria to become a certified teacher, usually within a year of starting to teach; you have classroom observations with hopefully constructive feedback, you have to make sure you are covering the content/subject area you teach (especially important if you are teaching a state-tested subject), you are using good classroom management and you are keeping up with the school or district or state-mandated data points. It is overwhelming, to say the least! As a new teacher, you are still learning how to manage instruction/learning with time management along with maintaining the classroom environment with minimum distractions and behavior issues.

Statistics reveal that 44-50% of teachers leave teaching within 5 years of starting. This is a startling data! This does emphasize my point that new teachers definitely need more structured support in their beginning career years. Especially if you start teaching a state-mandated test subject, you are more stressed, exhausted, and scared. In the state of Texas, the state tests start as early as 3rd grade, and all students test for Reading and Math assessments grade 3 through grade 11. In 4th grade & 7th grade, there is also a Writing test. In addition, Science is tested in 5th grade, & 8th-grade tests include all 4 core content subject areas including Social Studies, Science, Reading & Math. The testing continues as students start high school. High School STAAR (State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness) tests include Algebra, Biology, English I, English II, and the United States History. These are the 5 required tests as of now for HS graduation, but it may change as the Senate Education Committee members are thinking of adding more writing tests. I am not trying to get into the politics of testing here, but only trying to emphasize that school funding is tied closely to the students’ achievement on these state-mandated tests; hence obviously more pressure to the novice teacher!

Although each state has some support in place for new teachers, which the school or district follows; it is not enough or consistent and new teachers can definitely use more structural support during their early learning years. As an example, in Texas there is the Beginning Teacher Induction and Mentoring (BTIM) program designed to increase retention of beginning teachers. Texas Education Code states that public school districts and open-enrollment charter schools may assign a qualified mentor teacher to each classroom teacher who has less than two years of teaching experience in a subject area or grade level. According to NASSP (National Association of Secondary School Principals), beginner teachers should be supported in 4 ways- take a team approach to welcome new teachers, establish an on-going support structure, collect and use feedback, and provide inspiration.

There are resources toolkit available for new teachers which can be explored on the web pages of the Department of Education, NEA (National Education Agency), Edutopia Educational Foundation, and PBS, to mention a few, from the 100’s if not 1000’s online teacher support platforms.

But even if we are 1st-year teachers or 5th, we need to accept that learning never stops. A veteran teacher of 40 years may still need to embed some 21st-century research best practices in the classroom, to be successful. Similarly, new teachers bring zeal, new ideas, fresh perspectives, expertise in a field, and unique energy into the classroom.

Here are some basic tips for new teachers to use in the classroom every single day-

1. Smile, genuinely 
2. Say one encouraging word to every student daily
3. Give immediate feedback 
4. Write informal notes and send positive letters home 
5. Give voice and choice to students; use menus regularly 
6. Check for understanding throughout the day 
7. Use Do now and exit tickets 
8. Make learning relevant and interesting; connect to daily life 
9. Be a role model for students- they are always watching you! 
10. Include all types of learners: kinesthetic, visual and auditory 

Please comment below if you are a teacher, and would like to add a must-have for a 1st-year teacher!