We’ve all been there. The beginning of the first year of teaching can be daunting, to say the least. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. First year horror stories abound. The number of teachers who quit after the first year or two of teaching matches or exceeds the number of teachers who stick with the profession.
My theory is that teachers leave the biz for lack of knowledge. College only can do so much in preparation. We hear of how much better student teaching was back in the day than it is now, and how poorly prepared prospective educators are these days. There may be validity in that, but lamenting these things doesn’t solve problems. We need solutions. Here is my attempt to offer some solutions. We’ll call it the New Teacher Survival Kit.
Periodically throughout the school year, I intend to offer some articles about how to be a successful first year teacher. These articles can apply to first year teachers as well as those who seem to be teaching their twentieth first year. Hopefully there will be a beneficial nugget here and there for everyone.
To begin with, I want to look back at some of the articles I have written that I wish I would have known about when I was starting out. Even if you don’t read them all at one time, I recommend bookmarking this page and returning as time permits. Even read the ones that don’t seem interesting. Especially read the ones that don’t seem interesting. The things that seem least interesting often appear so because of our own personal weaknesses…
- 10 Things I Wish I Knew As A First Year Teacher
- The Single Most Important Advice Anyone Can Give To A First Year Teacher
- 5 Keys To Educating People
- Classroom Management: The Key To Your Success
- A Customer Service Oriented Classroom Experience
- 6 Motivation Methods
- 4 Ways To Effectively Deal With Important People
- Finishing Strong
- 06-07: A Year In Review
- Finding Excellent Educators To Emulate
- Efficient vs. Effective
- 7 Questions That Will Save Your Career
- Organization Leads To Sanity
- 9 Reasons To Quit Teaching (And 10 Reasons To Stick)
- Arguing Is Normal, isn’t It?
- 5 Habits of Highly Effective Teachers
- 15 Tips To Stay Positive
- All Work And No Play Makes Joel A Dull Boy
