Five Essential Tips to Thrive as a First-Year Teacher
During my first year of teaching, I had a student who refused to participate in group work, refused to complete assignments, and usually spent their time sleeping in class and talking about things unrelated to the classroom.
Their parents never answered my calls, so I asked my assistant principal for help. What he told me was not at all what I was expecting.
He said, “Sometimes our students come from broken homes. Abusive parents. Divorced parents. Some of our students come to school solely to eat breakfast and lunch. They have no interest in learning because of their situation at home. Scolding them will only alienate them and cause them to lose respect for you. It’s better to try and win them over through respect and kindness. Only then will they participate in your classroom.”
I made it my goal for the rest of my teaching career to be not just a good teacher, but a good person.
Learn their names immediately
I felt like my students resented me during my first year of teaching. I was so focused on trying to survive my job that I didn’t realize that learning their names was just as important as everything else.
