More on the Roller coaster of the First Year

The first year is the hardest and most important year when it comes to teaching. It is the year that determines what of teacher a person will be. To ensure that the first year is successful I wanted to see what advice there was on how to get through the first year of teaching. That first is like a roller coaster with five distinct stages: Anticipation, Survival, Disillusionment, Rejuvenation, and Reflection. There are different ways to make the most of each phase.

The first phase of the first year is anticipation and occurs during July and August. During this stage you should create and hold on your vision of a great teacher. A teacher in this stage is excited and idealistic, to make the most of it begin making connections with other teacher in your school, keep a journal (record daily success and progress toward long term goals), and also begin a notebook with ideas for next year. This way you will get in the habit of reflecting on even the littlest bit of good while the year makes your excitement wan.

The next phase is survival. School has actually started and the work will start piling on.  Despite the feeling of not having enough time in a day, continue to keep your journal to maintain your momentum. Find out what other teacher are doing as their lessons so you have a starting point. Make at least one good teacher friend.

By October the stress and exhaustion will make it easy to fall into a “pit of despair.” The workload coupled with discipline issues makes this the stage that most teachers consider leaving the profession. Thus the “Disillusionment” phase. Don’t be too discouraged because this will be the hardest challenge as a new teacher. Reach out to friends, family. And especially your peers as your self-esteem may be at an all-time low. Ask for help and advice other have also experienced al, this. Keep finding small successes through your journal.

You will return from winter break renewed and relaxed. This is the stage of rejuvenation. Once you hit this stage you’re into the home stretch of your first year. To make the most of this new energy focus on developing your curriculum. Try something new; how did it work? Note that for next year. Examine your vision of teaching and see how it has changed into something more realistic.

Once school is just about done reflect on how you and your students have grown. Celebrate it with your students. Start planning for next year with your  "Ideas for Next Year" notebook. Do not neglect your peer relationships over the last few months and summer; this relationship will still be need helpful during your second year of teaching.

            This advice should help to get through the ups and downs of my first year teaching. It seems that a really good way to make the most of that year is through documentation and building a support group. 

Murray, B. (n.d.). How to surrive your first year of teaching. Retrieved from http://www2.scholastic./browse/article.jsp?id=3749719