Tips for First Year Teachers

The beginning of the year is always filled with lots of emotions - excitement, energy, worry, stress. I remember those emotions being even more intense as a first year teacher and it truly was a whirlwind of a year. Here are some key tips I wish I knew going into my first year of teaching.

• Relationships - Focus on fostering and building trusting relationships with everyone in the school community (colleagues, parents, students, etc). This is the most important component of a school community and what teaching is all about.

• Ask Questions - There will be A LOT you won’t know right away (where’s the printer, how do I upload grades, etc) and that is okay. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You will find everyone is willing to help and it builds those relationships.

• Structure and Norms- It’s important to create some sort of structure/expectations within your classroom for the students early on. It helps set the framework for the year and students thrive when they know what to expect. This is the place to develop the shared norms for the year. It is important for students to be part of this process and contribute to what the classroom community will look like.

• Flexibility - Be flexible when it comes to your planning and teaching. You might find the awesome lesson you spent all night planning totally flops within the first five minutes or you notice that picture day cuts into your class time and throws off your whole weekly plan. Being flexible can help eliminate some stress when curveballs fly in.

• Communication - Try to be proactive when it comes to communication. This is especially true with the parents of your students. I try to personally communicate with parents every few weeks. Sometimes it can be as simple as a quick positive email about something their child did during the day. This helps foster a trusting relationship between you and the parents!

I am sure you could find hundreds of other tips out there about your first year. At the end of the day just be sure to be patient with yourself and have fun! You are finally getting to teach and achieve what you set out to do, so enjoy the experience. No teacher is perfect and it’s okay to make mistakes. Deep breaths, take it one day at a time, and have fun.