8/12/2019 Open Letter to a First-Year Teacher

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Open Letter to a First-Year Teacher (From aSecond-Year Teacher)

Published Online: July 2! 2"#$

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First Person

By Robert Kolar

ear .e& Teacher!

 You &ill ha/e a tremendous amount o+ pressure &hen you enter your classroom this +all' 0lon &ith the responsibilities outlined by your school1s administration! there are district uidelines!mandatory trainin classes! reuired documents! and additional3/oluntold4 duties! on top o+ lesson plannin! curriculumde/elopment! and a ne/er-endin amount o+ 3necessary4 policies &ith &hich to contend' 5ut don1t let all these responsibilities mae you ner/ous' 6a/in 7ust +inished my +irst year in teachin! 8 &antto o++er some tips that 8 thin may help you sur/i/e your days as a+reshman educator'

Don’t take it personally. 0s 8 &as settin up be+ore my +irst day &ith my students last year! 8 had it +i9ed in my mind ho& much 8 &anted them to 3lie4 bein in my class' 8n the same &ay! 8 enteredmy +irst year o+ teachin ambitious to ha/e all my students 3lie4 me

as a teacher' 8 understood that 8 &as not there to be anyone1s 5FF!and 8 established appropriate personal and pro+essional boundaries! but 8 still &anted to connect &ith my students in a positi/e &ay'

 0+ter a +e& days! 8 ne& this &as not oin to happen &ith all o+them' .o matter &hat 8 did to reach out! 8 had students &ho &ould+all asleep or disenae! students &ho &ould occupy themsel/es

 &ith &or +rom another class! and still others &ho &ould do nothinat all' 8 realied that 8 had to ree/aluate ho& 8 percei/ed theseactions! as &ell as comments and criticism +rom my students (and

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+rom some +aculty members) about my style o+ teachin'

espite ha/in pre/ious careers in the military and la&en+orcement! +ields in &hich it is /ital to de/elop a thic sin! 8realied that 8 &as tain thins too personally' 8 had toacno&lede that there are some thins 8 can1t control! and byconcedin control! 8 allo&ed mysel+ the +reedom to politely inore orrespond constructi/ely to une9pected situations or neati/ecriticisms as they came up' This &as my ey to stayin emotionallyin chec'

Have an outlet. 0t the same time! you should ha/e a &ay toprocess those e/ents that are too personal or pain+ul to inore or

respond to directly' Find a colleaue! pre+erably a /eteran or mentorteacher! to &hom you can e9press your +rustrations and concerns';/ery teacher has been a +irst-year teacher' ;/ery teacher has onethrouh some o+ the same strules you are oin throuh' 0s youo throuh the year! you &ill +ind that /alidation +or your +eelinsand support +rom another teacher can be in/aluable' 0ndremember! it is one thin to compartmentalie your emotions and &ait +or an appropriate outlet' 5ut simply inorin your honest

+eelins may result in problems do&n the line'

 You may also +ind it help+ul to re+lect on your e9periences in &ritinor 7ournalin' This can be done in a /ariety o+ &ays! but a ey is tore+lect on the totality o+ the e9perience (as opposed to 7ustcomplainin about the issue in uestion)' <hat about the e/entconcerned you= <hat &ored &ell in your attempt to resol/e= 0ndmost important! ho& can you mae it better= 0 7ournal is not 7ust an

outlet! but a re+lection and re+erence +or your teachin' 0 model that81/e o+ten turned to is /eteran ;nlish teacher Jim 5ure1senglishcompanion.com! &hich o++ers a rane o+ e9plorationsand tips about li+e in the classroom'

Organize. Tae an in/entory o+ your oraniational personality' 0re you the type to mae lists! neatly stac papers! label +olders! andmethodically date and time-stamp your correspondence= Or are youthe type &ho pre+ers oranied chaos>you no& &here e/erythinis and you ha/e a method to your madness= <e all ha/e ourdi++erent systems! but it helps to no& no& &hat yours &ill be +or

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e/erythin +rom tain attendance to collectin and recei/instudent assinments? +rom restroom procedures to acceptin late &or? +rom main announcements to documentin con+erences'There is no end to the number o+ areas +or &hich an oraniationalprocess may be bene+icial! so don1t o/erburden yoursel+ oncontrollin e/erythin' 8nstead! start plannin &ith the +irst &ee o+school in mind in order to lessen the possibility o+ +orettinsomethin important durin those critical +irst days'

 You can build on the +oundation you create at the start o+ the school year and modi+y your oraniational processes as you learn ne&methods or +ind that certain methods aren1t &orin' For e9ample!e++ecti/e classroom manaement is critical to promote a success+ul

learnin en/ironment! so mae sure to de/elop your e9pectations!policies! and procedures and communicate &ith your students aboutthem' @isibly post your e9pectations as a daily reminder +or yourstudents! re/isit them as o+ten as necessary! and be consistent in your en+orcement' 8n helpin to identi+y ey issues +or oraniinmy classroom! 8 +ound The First Days of School: How to Bean Effective Teacher  by 6arry A' <on and Bosemary T' <onto be e9tremely help+ul'

impli!y. You ha/e probably reconied that the amount o+resources a/ailable to teachers seems to ro& each year at ane9ponential rate' You attend a trainin! read an article! &atch asho& on tele/ision or online! or recei/e a recommendation +romanother educator and the ne9t thin you no& you ha/e shel/es o+ boos and /ideos that are 3per+ect4 +or a lesson or acti/ity' 5e&are:The clichC 3too much o+ a ood thin4 applies here' You ha/e a

limited amount o+ time to &or throuh your curriculum! so be /erycare+ul not to spend /aluable time on somethin that may loopromisin on the sur+ace but &ill yield little in the classroom' 8n myclassroom! 8 had +our shel/es o+ 3pro+essional te9ts4 that held thepotential to supplement my reular resources' 8n the end! 8 usedonly +i/e boos D all o+ them &ere literary re+erence boos' Thescenario is ain to settin a toddler loose in a toy store and sayin!3Pic out &hat loos ood'4 The cart &ill come bac +ull! but only

one toy &ill be the +a/orite' So research! study! &atch the /ideos andsho&s! as +or ad/ice>but be selecti/e &hen it comes to theresources that you acti/ely use +or any i/en unit o+ study' You can

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al&ays discuss chanes durin your pro+essional-learnincommunity meetins i+ somethin better comes alon'

"rust yoursel!. on1t discount &hat you brin to the classroom' You ha/e studied lon hours in both your deree and teachin-certi+ication prorams! trained diliently throuh +ield &or andstudent teachin! and independently labored to satis+y your need +orpersonal and pro+essional de/elopment' You are ready to tae thison' Trust that you &ill be success+ul' 5e con+ident in your abilities'on1t let the +act that you are ne& teacher be a barrier toachie/ement' Loo at e/ery small accomplishment (no matter ho&small it may seem) and remind yoursel+ that you are doin reatthins' 0nd &hen you +inish your +irst year! and that one hard-

 &orin but strulin student stops and says! 3Than you!4 you &ill no& that you ha/e done your 7ob'

8 hope you are e9cited to start your career as a teacher and thatthese small bits o+ ad/ice &ill help you +ind success durin your +irst year'

Sincerely!

Bobert Aolar

 Robert Kolar is entering his second year as a teacher at Taft High School in San Antonio, Texas. He spent his previous 20 years inla enforce!ent and as an active"duty !e!ber of the #.S.!ilitary.