Even though my first year of teaching was over 30 years ago, I am sure some of the problems I encountered will still exist for new teachers in contemporary schools. Even though the technologies have changed, making some tasks much easier, there are still many “grit” tasks that all teachers face.
Firstly, as a walk down memory lane, I began teaching with 42 Year 4 children in an inner suburban religious school. We used either the Gestetner or spirit duplicator to make multiple copies of worksheets as the new fang-dangled photocopiers were slow and expensive! The Gestetner worked on a typed carbon stencil and the ink was squeezed through the stencil at high speed to leave its copy on the paper. A very messy process! The spirit duplicator (hand cranked) used methylated spirits (hence the name “spirit”) and could be smelled rooms away!
When it came time to write reports, they were written by hand and as correction fluid was not allowed, if you made a mistake, you had to start all over again!
What Still Holds True in Your First Year of Teaching
So even though technologies have changed, many things remain the same … the professional requirements of teachers, the administrative tasks, the art of teaching 30 plus children each day across a range of subjects (as a primary generalist teacher), the need for classroom management, the need to cater for diverse students and the need to assess and provide feedback on student work.
In recent years the professional demands on teachers have increased (partly due to the rise in the AITSL Professional Standards for Teachers in Australia). I think teachers now face more diversity in their classrooms as immigration has become a global phenomenon and they are required to keep abreast of contemporary pedagogical approaches and the use of ICT.
I feel I have a special affinity with new teachers as my Masters of Education thesis was about proposing an alternative mentorship program for beginning teachers to assist them in the first few years of teaching. Part of the purpose of this blog is to offer advice to new teachers they might find useful to keep them in the teaching profession. You can’t put an old head on new shoulders, but we can share our collective wisdom with each other. It is about working smarter, not harder!
What Still Catches New Teachers Out
Some first-year problems have barely changed since my Gestetner days. Others have grown. In my work with preservice teachers, four come up again and again.
Workload. Planning, marking and reporting will fill every evening if you let them. Pick two weeknights that stay work-free and protect them. Reuse what works, too. A unit you plan well once will serve you for years.
Behaviour. Most first-year behaviour trouble starts in the first fortnight, before routines settle. Teach your routines as carefully as you teach content. Then practise them until they run without you. These routines for the first days of school are a good place to start.
Parents and carers. Make your first contact with each family a positive one. A short note or phone call in Term 1 makes a harder conversation in Term 3 far easier.
Assessment. You will collect more evidence than you can use. Before each unit, decide which few pieces of evidence will shape your report comments. Quick formative assessment checks then tell you who needs more help along the way.
Ask for Help Early
The new teachers who struggle most are often the ones who wait too long to ask. Your mentor, your year-level partner and your deputy all survived a hard first year. They expect questions from you.
Ask in week two, while the problem is small. A five-minute chat about one unsettled student is easier than a meeting about a whole class in Term 2. Experienced colleagues ask each other for help all the time. You are allowed to as well.
Where to Go Next
This blog has grown a lot since I wrote this post in 2019. If you are in your first year of teaching, you might like to read Tips for New Teachers next. After that, try these ways to calm your classroom before trouble starts. When you are ready to plan a full unit, this guide to planning backwards from the outcome walks you through it step by step.
What topics would you like to see covered in this blog?
Thank you for these posts Matt. Keep them coming. I am graduating in about a year and very nervous. Does your thesis have advice for new teachers or is it aimed at schools and systems to provide better inductions?
So far, I have done one school placement in a Year 1 class and I am about to go into a year 4 classroom to teach multiplication and division. I feel very under prepared like I don’t know what to say or do. I don’t know how they learn math, in what order to explain it or how to explain it at all. I don’t know practical strategies to teach. Feeling overwhelmed and scared.
Hi Sharon and thank you for finding this site!
My thesis was on a system level and how first-year teachers should be supported at a system level. Of course, this would mean more funds to reduce teacher workloads or appoint mentors, so not much has changed over the years, unfortunately. I am currently writing a blog about teaching strategies and should be published in a few days.
As I curate thousands of tips and tricks for teachers, please have a look at my Pinterest ow Wakelet collections (top menu) as I am sure you will find plenty of useful information there.
Thanks
Matt
Thanks Matt,
I will check out the Pintrest. I think it would be very beneficial to have a more practical degree for teaching and more practical experience too.