Teaching the New Teachers

In July of 2005 I started my first teaching job in a new city. I was teaching seventh grade ELA and my only prior teaching experience was with first grade and kindergarten. There was a two-day induction for all teachers new to the district and we were assigned our classrooms and that was it. 

I waited anxiously for my new colleagues to roll out the red carpet, welcome me with open arms, and tell me what to do. I quickly realized the cavalry was not coming to save the day and I was indeed on my own. 

I persevered that first year and was as successful as I could be. I liked the school and the students. I eventually found colleagues to collaborate with and made some great life long friends. It was harder than I thought it needed to be though. 

A few years later, after another new start in a new city. I found an opportunity to start a new teacher group with a colleague. We met before school with teachers new to our school each week to answer questions, problem solve, and create community. It was exactly what I so desperately wanted back at my first teaching job. 

I have been leading the group for many years now and have seen so many of my new teachers become amazing professionals. A few have advanced their careers by moving school sites and becoming coordinators and coaches. Some have moved to different districts. And still others have left the profession completely. 

Each year I am reminded of the true passion one needs to have to be an educator. It is a dynamic career that is truly different every day. The work is never easy. But sometimes being helpful is as simple as showing someone how to use a copy machine and sometimes it is sitting with them as they vent their frustration, cry, or laugh at the day. I love all of it. 

Working with new teachers not only helps them but also helps me to keep grounded in the work done every day in the classroom. I am proud of the program I have helped to build and would encourage anyone who meets a new teacher to offer whatever assistance you can. Sometimes it feels like you are in the ocean with no one around for miles and a life line from a colleague could make all the difference in the world. It has to me, time and time again.