new teacher
I have been thinking of how new teachers or a new teacher from another school and what major adjustments each person has made. Better yet, what would you say is the one thing here at Arapahoe you have done or learned that you feel made you a better teacher? For me I have found working with my new department members and even those outside of my department has been helpful. It is always beneficial for me to collaborate ideas and just see what works for individual teachers for any situation. Just my two cents.
posted by mlindrud at 2:25 PM
9 Comments:
This is my second “new teacher” experience and I must say that this experience is far more intensive. Yes there are a lot of meetings and time obligations, but I do feel that I am a better teacher and faculty member because of Arapahoe. I left my last teaching placement because I felt that I wasn’t challenging myself as a professional. I was getting too comfortable with my teaching and needed a change. Arapahoe has helped put structure to my teaching. I have always done the “non-negotiable” things (expect more out of students, student responsibility, etc.), but they weren’t as formal as they are here.
In a New Special Services Staff meeting, I heard another "new" teacher say something that really resonated with me. She commented that being in an environment that was supportive and professional made her feel like she was more competent as a teacher. This struck a chord with me because I heard this comment not long after coming to Arapahoe from an environment that was neither supportive nor professional. In that position I felt overwhelmed and completely incompetent because there was no support in place for anyone, least of all new teachers. Everyone felt like they were on their own, whether they had been there for 10 days or 10 years. The support and professionalism at Arapahoe made me feel like a better teacher even though I'm quite sure nothing changed in my teaching ability between 3:00 PM on the day I left DPS and 6:45 the next morning when I started at Arapahoe. Having support and resources gives me a confidence that I never before realized was based on the institution in which I worked and the people with whom I worked. I know this is something that I took for granted, but I never will again.
It is amazing the perspective one gains by having spent time in another school and another district. This is my second year teaching and I think I have learned and grown more over the course of the past seven months here at Arapahoe than I learned last year and throughout my entire time spent in college (I want my money back!).
The collaborative atmosphere at AHS has benefited me the most. This year I am teaching three preps that are brand new to me, but the veterans (and even new teachers) have gone out of their way to share their knowledge and resources, with me, thus making my life easier and a bit more “stress-free” (ha-ha). This atmosphere of sharing has made my transition into these new subjects much less intimidating.
The other thing that has helped me grow over the past year is watching other teachers in the building in action. Every person has to establish their own teaching style that fits them, but as I am learning this craft, I can borrow/steal ideas, tactics, lessons, methodology that will help me grow as a teacher and watching those who have done it for years with a great deal of success is an invaluable resource.
The level of professionalism is high as AHS. The community effort helps everyone keep each other accountable. I love working and sharing ideas with my business dept. There's a new energy that I've heard wasn't there a last year.
I think what I’ve benefited most from has been the support and assistance offered through the induction program and, in particular, interactions with Ray and Melissa. Being a “veteran new teacher,” I have had the experience of coming into a building where no formal support was offered – that was tough. Over the years I’ve watched new teachers flounder due to lack of support and have felt limited in my ability to offer them assistance. Yes, sometimes the induction meetings are “just one more thing” to deal with on a busy, long day. On the other hand, think about all of the questions answered since the start of the year that each of us would have had to have discovered on our own. It is not a perfect program, but it is definitely not something to take for granted and it shows the commitment by the school and the district to making sure we are successful.
I have learned so much coming to Arapahoe from a completely different school district. It has been challenging to surrender much of my prior knowledge gained working with a very different population and learning the ropes here at Araphoe. My department, and particularly my mentor, have been life savers. Without my mentor, I would have no idea what was going on around here! Knowing that there are other "newbies" out there and meeting together has also been nice.
I have found that collaborating with both teachers in my department and others in the building has made me a better teacher. I also feel that working at a school like this where the standard has been set so high I can not help but give my best effort which also makes me a better teacher. The last thing I feel has helped me here as a new teacher is getting experience in the classroom. I have found some lessons/ideas that I like doing and are effective and I have found that other lessons/ideas I have done that don’t work or I don’t like how they went.
I think collaboration is one of the biggest keys to success as a teacher. As new teachers, are able to collaborate with the teachers who have been here longer, we can come up with some really great ideas and won't spend days "reinventing the wheel." Likewise, as fresh new faces, we also have the opportunity to share our thoughts with the other teachers and present things in a way that they might not have thought of.
I would agree with Paul that this "new teacher" experience is far more intensive than that of my last school. We did have induction meetings, but they were every other month. We only did journals 2 times each semester and had more festive activities to help us enjoy the "new" school environment and to help us over come all the pressures of “fitting-in.” It is difficult to compare schools when there are so many factors that are not the same. For example our population is larger, the demographics are different, we had mixed office space where AHS has separate departments, and AHS has more veteran teachers than my last school.
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