One down... many more to go
Today I passed one of the most important milestones of a teaching career: finished my first year.
When I started in September, all the other teachers patted me sympathetically on the shoulder. Throughout the year, as if offering condolences, they would say, "the first year is the hardest." At certain points of the year, as I wandered the halls in a daze, other teachers would look at me with pity. But even with all of this, I was still surprised at how many people genuinely asked me if I was going to continue teaching this year.
The first year really is a trial by fire at the end of which many people decide that education is "not for them." The third year is the next big milestone that also sees a lot of teachers quit the profession. So I am still expecting a couple of hard years ahead. Nevertheless, I am confident that next year will be easier. Clearer expectations and experience will make things much smoother. The final real milestone, from what I hear, is the fifth year, after which things finally begin to easier, like clockwork.
So I feel pretty good that I am done with my first year. Very good, in fact.
My challenge for the summer will be to learn to relax and disconnect from the stress of the job. Teaching is one of those jobs that is never done. There is always something that can be done. Even if you are done with grading and your lesson plans are ready for the week, there is always extra planning, pedagogical research, creating alternate materials for students that finish early, or creating plans for students that don't get the lesson the first time, or preparing the books for next year, or adjusting my ideas for the ever-changing standards that the government expects us to reach... even now, having just finished the year, it is hard for me not to start creating worksheets or plans for the new book I have to teach in September, or to go back and revise the crappy first year teacher lessons I taught this year. I could literally spend every day from here until September doing work.
Fortunately, I am leaving for Nepal on Sunday. I will be writing more about that soon. But for now (and until the end of July), please check out the blog that belongs to the group that I am going to Nepal with:
http://highrocknepal.wordpress.com/
(I included the link on the "friend's blogs" section on the side, but for some reason it doesn't regularly register as having been updated). This blog has videos and posts from many of the members that are going on the trip, some of which are already there. I will be blogging on there from time to time about my experience in Nepal. I will try to do that here too, but I don't know what my access to technology will be other there.
When I started in September, all the other teachers patted me sympathetically on the shoulder. Throughout the year, as if offering condolences, they would say, "the first year is the hardest." At certain points of the year, as I wandered the halls in a daze, other teachers would look at me with pity. But even with all of this, I was still surprised at how many people genuinely asked me if I was going to continue teaching this year.
The first year really is a trial by fire at the end of which many people decide that education is "not for them." The third year is the next big milestone that also sees a lot of teachers quit the profession. So I am still expecting a couple of hard years ahead. Nevertheless, I am confident that next year will be easier. Clearer expectations and experience will make things much smoother. The final real milestone, from what I hear, is the fifth year, after which things finally begin to easier, like clockwork.
So I feel pretty good that I am done with my first year. Very good, in fact.
My challenge for the summer will be to learn to relax and disconnect from the stress of the job. Teaching is one of those jobs that is never done. There is always something that can be done. Even if you are done with grading and your lesson plans are ready for the week, there is always extra planning, pedagogical research, creating alternate materials for students that finish early, or creating plans for students that don't get the lesson the first time, or preparing the books for next year, or adjusting my ideas for the ever-changing standards that the government expects us to reach... even now, having just finished the year, it is hard for me not to start creating worksheets or plans for the new book I have to teach in September, or to go back and revise the crappy first year teacher lessons I taught this year. I could literally spend every day from here until September doing work.
Fortunately, I am leaving for Nepal on Sunday. I will be writing more about that soon. But for now (and until the end of July), please check out the blog that belongs to the group that I am going to Nepal with:
http://highrocknepal.wordpress.com/
(I included the link on the "friend's blogs" section on the side, but for some reason it doesn't regularly register as having been updated). This blog has videos and posts from many of the members that are going on the trip, some of which are already there. I will be blogging on there from time to time about my experience in Nepal. I will try to do that here too, but I don't know what my access to technology will be other there.
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