Go Get'em, New Teacher

What seems to surprise me, without exception, is that no matter how much anticipation, analyses, or preparation is made, things are never quite what one expected they would be. This reminds me of every time I moved somewhere new, took on a new position, and attended one event or another. What has surprised me the most is the degree of misconception I made about becoming a teacher. From the outside looking in, I thought that it was fairly straight-forward; come to school, teach some curriculum, enjoy the company of students and staff, assess for ability, design neat projects, go home, and start again. Instead, this path has left me astounded with the intricacies and complexity of a world that is ever evolving with varying levels of intensity both in emotional and intellectual capacities. The volume of responsibilities school employees are asked of outside of the ongoings of the classroom where hidden to me as part of the general population. As an insider, there are opportunities at every turn, so much so that one can become easily overwhelmed. Knowing when to take up an extra task on top of all other expectations and when to respectfully decline that opportunity is vital.

Likewise, I never knew the emotional complexity in working with thirty children every day of the school year. Even as a substitute teacher I was able to leave my work at school. Having a new group of students each day proved to be something of a relief. There were times when I told myself, "I'll never do that again" or "I could have handled that better," but the reality was that my relationship with that class, student, or lesson had ended at the end of the day. There was not an opportunity to mend a relationship or better reteach a concept lost. The learning curve in having one's own classroom is a drastic one. There is no better lesson than experience, and until a teacher has their own classroom and set of students, there is no way to convey the massive undertaking of being an educator.

The thing I try to remind new teachers at my site is that they should only take on what they are comfortable with. All teachers seem to remember their first year and most reflect on how challenging it was. With that, most site members will be entirely empathetic. The other piece of advice I like to give as it helped me when I was first starting out is to hang in there... it does get better. The sharp learning curve comes with difficult lessons to learn, but valuable all the while, and this is reflected in each year as teaching continues to become that wonderful, exciting, and meaningful career we all thought it would be.