The First Year of Teaching - Highs and Lows

Your first year of teaching is launched and I can imagine that it's an been exciting and overwhelming experience.  In recent months you’ve student taught, completed college requirements, graduated, applied for jobs, interviewed, and landed a position. You attended new teacher sessions, set-up your classroom, prepared for the opening day, and kicked-off the school year.  And now, you’ve completed the first month of your first year of teaching!  The past months have been a roller coaster with days of excitement and anticipation while other days were filled with anxiety and total exhaustion.   

Studies show that most first-year teachers typically experiences ups and downs that can be divided into six defined phases*  that fall into a monthly structure.  Take a look at this chart and see if you can place yourself in any of the early phases.

Phases of First Year Teaching
Phase	When	Description
Anticipation	Graduation - first weeks of teaching	New teachers enter the classroom with a tremendous commitment to making a difference for students.
Survival	September & October	They struggle to keep their head above water.  There is little time to stop and reflect on how thing are going.  They experience extreme exhaustion.
Disillusionment	November & December	Weeks of non-stop work and stress.  New teachers question their commitment and competence. This is the toughest challenge for the new teacher.
Rejuvenation	Holiday Break - March	A slow rise in the new teacher's attitude toward teaching.  Rest and a normal lifestyle over the holiday break helps.  The break offers a time to regroup, organize, and plan.  They experience renewed hope!
Reflection	April & May	The novice is reflecting on the year's activities and on what worked and what didn’t.  They're thinking about changes they'll make in the future.
Anticipation	June -August	They have new feeling of excitement and they begin planning for the next school year.

While not every new teacher experiences these phases at the same time, being award of this information can help you better understand and respect this developmental process.  By acknowledging the ebb and flow of the first year, you can be aware of pitfalls and plan strategies to make the early teaching transitions easier.  Teaching is an extremely challenging profession, and while it does get easier with time, it's vital that beginners understand and respect the process it take to survive the first year.

Here are few ideas that might help relieve the stress of the survival phase.  Early in the year it's a good idea to reflect on your organizations skills, take steps to simplify curriculum planning, respect and trust your own skills, and the practice ESP—Eat, Sleep, and Play.

Organize: Review personal and classroom organizational systems.  Evaluate what’s working and what isn’t and then decide on a couple of changes that can be made right now.  Small changes can create amazing gains in productivity.  If those shifts involve students, be explicit and share the new new procedures.  

Simplify: By now you're probably aware of the vast amount of curricular resources available to you.  Between district materials, journal articles, your own files, and the internet you have no lack of enrichment materials to enhance instruction. Sometimes too much of a good thing can be a problem due to time limitations for planning and teaching.  Pick a few good resources and use them as your primary materials.  In the future you can add more content, but first become familiar and comfortable with the curriculum. 

Trust Yourself: Don’t discount what you bring to the classroom.  You’ve studied long hours to obtain your degree and teacher certification plus you’ve done many hours of fieldwork.  You’ll always have more to learn no matter how long you teach; however, trust that you’ll be successful and be confident in your abilities.  Look at small accomplishments and celebrate your successes.  Keep a running record of the things you do well each week! That may sound corny, but it's a real energy booster!

Practice ESP:   Eat well, get enough Sleep, and take time to Play a little bit each week.   In the "Play" clip, Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way, discusses taking an Artist Date.  Right now your art is the art and craft of teaching and it needs to be nurtured!

*Moir, E. (1999) The stages of teacher's first year. A better beginning: Supporting and mentoring new teachers, 19-23.

"They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel."     

                                                                                                          -Carol Buchner

Reading Aloud Pays Dividends

Some of my favorite childhood memories were the times my mother and I would go to the Chicago Public Library at North and California Avenues.  Together we would browse the shelves and choose special books to bring home.  Some of my favorite titles were those from the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by Betty MacDonald. The stories starred a small lady who lived in an “up-side-down” house in a lively neighborhood inhabited by children with bad habits.  I adored the MacDonald's series and I loved the hours my mother and I spent engrossed in magical tales!  I've tried to pass on my mothers joy of reading with my own children,  grandkids, and the many students I've taught over the years.  Spending quality time reading together is priceless.  I’m sure many of you have similar memories and favorite books that were part of your childhood experiences! 

Now that you have your own classroom, you'll want read-alouds to be an integral part of the school day.  Set aside 15-20 minutes everyday to share reading as a means to build community, to expose children to new books, authors, and genres, plus to remind children why they love reading.  Read books to your students that you absolutely love as your enthusiasm will be contagious!  Respected educator Lucy Calkins, in her book Raising Lifelong Learners; A Parent’s Guide shares, "that when  reading aloud with children, it is the time to go under the 'spell' of a beautiful book and laugh, cry, and get lost in the flow of the story and language".

Reading aloud to children in classrooms is a sure-fire, researched based way to motivate children to read on their own.  The International Reading Association states, “the importance of reading aloud to children on a daily basis can’t be overestimated.  The U.S. Department of Education Commission on Reading took into account over 10,000 studies and found that the most important activity for building the skills and background for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children.”  It’s been shown that children who are read-to are the best readers in the classroom, have large vocabularies, write well, and do better in other subjects as well.  With all this evidence, why wouldn’t every teacher  do read-aloud on a daily basis? 

Reading aloud isn’t just for the primary and intermediate grades; it's an ideal strategy for middle school, too.  And remember there are many content area books that support math, science, and social studies.  

Plan your shared reading  like you would any other subject.  Post it on your daily schedule, write the current title into your lesson plan book, and make read-alouds a dedicated event each day.  If testing, assemblies, or other activities infringe on class time, always keep the daily read-aloud session on the schedule; it's well worth the time!

You are never too old, too wacky, too wild to pick up a book and read to a child.    -Dr. Seuss

Featuring One of Our Own: A Classroom Tour...
Natalie VandenBos welcomes you to her 3rd grade classroom at District 33's Indian Knoll Elementary School in West Chicago, Illinois!

                                                                                                                                                                         

You Can Learn Anything: Success through Effort

Over the years, you probably had teachers who believed in you and encouraged you to do your best work.  Who knows, without their support, you may not be where you are today!  However, as you developed and became more independent, you shifted the locus of support from your teacher's opinions  to your own belief in yourself.  That shift allowed you to take control of your own growth. development, and future destiny.  At times we all waffle back and forth between faith in ourselves and an occasional need for a pat-on-the-back.

Now that you’re a teacher, you’ll be supporting your students as they grow, take risks, and ultimately to take responsibility for developing their own skills.   When students believe they are capable and can learn, they make a greater investment in themselves and in their education.  When students discover their own power,  remarkable things start to happen.  Bear Bryant, longtime head coach of the University of Alabama football team, had an interesting way to expressing this growth model.  He stated,  “If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit, you'll be a winner. The price of victory is high, but so are the rewards”.

The You Only Have to Know one Thing: You Can Learn Anything video will  be a valuable discussion starter for motivating student to take responsibility for their own learning.  And for older students, you'll want to also show the John Legend Success Through Effort video in which he talks about his ongoing growth over the years.  There's no better time review the importances of commitment and effort than at the beginning of the school year!

Featuring Our Own: Classroom Tours

Welcome to Sara Snider's 4th grade classroom at Copeland Manor School in District 70 in
Libertyvill, IL.  

And…
Welcome to Maggie Clerkin's classroom at Goudy School in District 299, Chicago, IL.  Maggie is teaching middle school language arts.  

Coming Attractions…

In the next edition we'll visit the classrooms of Melissa Strum and Natalie VandenBos!

Maximizing Instructional Time

A sign in the front of a classroom at Mastery Charter School’s Shoemaker Campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, reads, “We have 90,000 minutes this year; make each one count,” Having those minutes count can be extremely challenging.  Consider the ways some of those 90,000 minutes might be lost or frittered away.   Ineffective classroom procedures, students fooling around before starting on assignments, or excessive time spent distributing or collecting materials are a few time wasters that might let the sands of the hour glass drain away. A 7^th grade math teacher, Chris McCloud, is featured on Teaching Channel discussing how he addresses time management with his student.    

Although there are many aspects of time management that could be discussed, this post is focused on maximizing instructional time.  With the demands of the Common Core State Standards, teaching bell to bell is the expectation.  Consequently, instructional practices need to be introduced to students just as explicitly as management procedures. 

At the most basic level, time management is actually priority management.  By choosing essential questions, unit goals, and lesson objectives teachers are able to create instructional priorities and identify specific outcomes. When a teacher posts and shares objectives, students have an idea of the lesson's focus and what they’ll be learning.  Education researcher Robert Marzano has developed nine High Yield Instructional Strategies.  His research indicates that sharing objectives and providing students with feedback could account for a 27 percentile gain in achievement.

  

 High student engagement helps move students towards academic success.  By ramping up participation with both the teacher and peers, more learning takes place than when students work independently. Cooperative learning activities and other small group work encourages total participation and engages them in the learning process.  By adding a little time pressure students stay connected and are held more accountable to use time wisely.  Timers often motivate students to complete the task with a minimum of chatter. When the timer goes off, students put their hands in the air and stop working just like they do on an episode of Food Network’s Chopped!  Small timers work well and can be purchased cheaply at the dollar store.  And as you know, the Smart Board timers is an excellent tool because it’s visible to students so they can self-monitor.

“Academic learning time has to do with quality; it is the amount of time students spend actively working on tasks of an appropriate difficulty.  Success breeds success.  When a teacher targets the instruction of a new concept or skill so students can succeed at least 75% of the time, students are more engaged and achieve at higher levels”.  Time-on-Task: A Teaching Strategy that Accelerates Learning  

Featuring One of Our Own: A Classroom Tour

Elizabeth Walton is teaching at Smart Intermediate School in Davenport, Iowa.  She has been assigned to six sections of 8th grade math and one section of 6th grade math.  Classes started on Monday, August 18th, so Elizabeth is already in the swing of things!  She sent some wonderful photos of her new classroom!  

Back to School Night

With school opening in a few weeks, Back to School Night or Fall Open House isn’t far behind.  Different school district’s schedule these events according to their own calendar, but Back to School Night usually happen during the first three weeks of the school year.  The event's goals are always the same: to have parents and teachers meet one another and to review classroom expectations.  Back to School Night often starts with a welcome from the principal and parent teacher association president.  Them parents move to their child’s classroom for a twenty to thirty minute teacher presentation.  In middle schools the procedure is somewhat different.  Parents may actually follow the student's schedule and move from room to room for short presentations.

Plan ahead and know exactly what you'll discuss and consider what handouts you'll share.  Pinterest has some interesting examples of open house materials.  Take some time to see what other teachers use.  While parents usually sits at the child’s desk,  you may want to ask the custodian for a few folding chairs for those folks who can't manage student-sized chair.  If children come with their parents, have them sit on the floor in the front of the room so parents can use the chairs and comfortably listen to your comments.  The evening’s agenda might look as follows.

-Introduce Yourself: Give an overview of your education and some information about who you are as a person.  Why did you choose to go into teaching as a profession and say a little bit about your what interests you in “real life”.  You don’t have to share that you’re a first year teacher, but if asked, say “yes”.  Mentions that you spent a year as an intern while here at Loyola.

-Give an Overview of the Year: Highlight some of the exciting curriculum you’ll be covering at your grade level and some of the special events or project you have planned.  This is difficult to do as a first year teacher because you’re still trying to figure that out yourself.  Talk to the other grade-level teachers to get an overview of the curriculum and the usual field trips taken at your grade level.  Instead of giving a synopsis of the whole year, you might choose to just cover your plans for September.  Don’t spend too much time talking about standardized assessments; you can share more about that at a later time.

-Share the Daily Schedule and Management Plan:  Parents want to know what days the kids will need to bring gym shoes and return library books.  A printed copy of the schedule is always appreciated.  Also, discuss your behavior management plan.  Send a copy of the plan home along with a sign-off sheet that indicates that the parent and child read the plan together. Be sure you get all copies returned as these copies may come in handy if parents or children later claim they didn't know your expectations.  Keep the discussion of classroom management positive and upbeat.  Emphasize that your goal is to help students learn internal controls so they can develop strong academic skills.

-Communication Expectations: Share the ways you’ll communicate with home. Introduce your intentions for a classroom newsletter or blog and give parents your school email address.  Let them know that you will return emails or phone calls in a timely manner, but most likely, not until the end of the school day.  Have them complete an email/phone sheet so you have their contact information.   While the school office has the same information, it’s very convenient to have it available in your grade book when you need to make a home contact.

There are common issues that always seem to come-up at Back to School Night sessions. Some parents think the event is a parent teacher conference and they want to talk to you about their child’s academic progress.  Let parents know that the evening is not for that purpose.  You may even want to post the date for parent teacher conferences on the board for reference.  If parents feels a need to meet with you before conferences, schedule an appointment for a later date.

Lastly, send home several announcements about Back To School Night.  The school's office will send out an announcement, but your invitation trumps anything that comes from the office.  After all, if you put the effort into preparation, you'll want the parents to attend.  Don’t forget to have a sign-in sheet so you'll remember which parents attended.  Send home printed materials to parents who wasn't there.

Tell me and I forget.  Teach me and I remember.  Involve me and I learn.

                                                                                                         Benjamin Franklin