Secrets for Secondary School Teachers (25 page)

Diversify your life.
Structure your lifestyle in such a way that you take time away from teaching to do other things. Hang around non-teachers. Pursue or create interests in other areas so when one aspect of your life isn’t going as well as you like, you have others to help you feel fulfilled.

Nourish yourself with love.
Surround yourself with others who love and care for you and whom you can love in return. If you don’t currently have a supportive family, a loving partner, or enough stimulating friends around, look hard at yourself and what you can do to fill in these gaps. If needed, get some emotional help for yourself in the form of counseling or support groups.

Get enough sleep.
People can occasionally forgo food much easier than they can forgo sleep. After school, go home and take a nap. Reenergize for the evening ahead, so you’ll have the energy to socialize, pursue other interests, or do school-related work later on.

Teach your friends and family what it means for you to be a teacher.
Educate them about the stresses and strains you face
every day. Keep them informed about your struggles. Invite them to become part of your teaching world, or they will be left behind.

Leave your personal problems at home.
Focus on your students during the workday. If you allow yourself to become distracted and distressed by other issues in your life, you will not only frustrate yourself because you can’t do much about them at school, but you will also shortchange your students. If you have some real problems in your life, get some help.

Seek counseling and continued growth.
You don’t have to have severe problems or major issues to get some help from a professional. Counseling is highly recommended for beginning teachers because of the pressures you experience and the personal changes you undergo. There will be few times in your life when you encounter so many new things about yourself and the world. A counselor can help you make sense of what you are living through and integrate those insights into your work and life.

D
EVELOP A
S
UPPORT
G
ROUP

If your school or district doesn’t schedule time for you to meet with other new teachers, arrange to do so on your own. Getting together with other novices will allow you to share your experiences, exchange suggestions for improved practice, and help you see that you are not alone in your experiences. As mentioned above, emphasize the positive. Stay away from playing “I can top that. Would you believe what happened to me last week?” There will be bad class periods, even some bad days, but there will be good ones, too. Don’t let your enthusiasm be crushed. The learning curve is tremendous the first year—Analyze what is working well and how your students are progressing, and make a point of continuing with the strategies that are proving effective. Plan some strictly social
activities, too. Plan an early breakfast with the other new teachers. Have a potluck dinner with all of your families.

I
NTERNET
S
UPPORT

Many teachers find that electronic bulletin boards and chat rooms provide a convenient means by which to interact with other beginning teachers. If you wake up at 3:00 in the morning alert and ready, you can go online and find other responsive souls. There are always live chat rooms with ongoing conversations and scheduled topics. You can also find archived discussions. Participants post questions and receive answers related to teaching specific content, developing relationships with mentors, responding to administration, ideas for lessons, and so on. They share personal examples, offer support, and give feedback. These are ongoing professional discussions you can benefit from, and all you need is a computer and an Internet connection.

You will find there are predictable phases that new teachers experience along with the daily and weekly ups and downs. In August, there is the excitement of obtaining the new position. By the end of September, teachers begin to feel overwhelmed by all the expectations from students, parents, and administrators, and move into a survival mode. As the year ends, teachers experience frustration at the lack of time needed to accomplish all they had hoped to do. Then, as the two-week, end-of-the-year vacation takes place, there is time for relaxation, time for friends and family, and time for reflection on what has been accomplished. As the second semester continues, feelings continue to change toward the positive as many procedures become routine and teachers can plan for the rest of the school year. The end of the year tends to be a stimulating time as teachers look back over the first year with pride in their achievements and think about changes they would like to make for the next year. And so, once again they feel the excitement and dedication a new year brings.

F
INDING
B
ALANCE

A certain amount of stress in your job is not only normal but desirable. In moderate doses, stress is another word for excitement and activation: it means you care deeply about what you are doing. It is also normal to worry a bit about what you are doing, and how you are doing it; remember, you are facing a new set of challenges every day. Your job, however, is to keep the level of stress within manageable limits so it does not significantly deprive you of sleep or reasonable peace of mind. If you find yourself in over your head (as you sometimes will), you must ask for help from those you trust. After all, isn’t that what you teach your students?

  17  

Planning for Your Future

T
eaching is an ongoing activity that requires continual professional growth; that is, if you want to avoid becoming like some of the burnouts you see going through the motions in your school, counting the months until retirement. Don’t kid yourself—once upon a time, they were just like you: Filled with enthusiasm and excitement. Determined to change the world. Convinced they would be different from the older teachers they made fun of. Look at them now.

What distinguishes those teachers who remain passionately committed to their jobs from those who have all but given up is that the former group has worked hard to keep themselves fresh and vibrant. They love what they do because they teach what they love.

If you hope to have a long, distinguished career as a teacher—not as someone who does a credible job but rather as one who strives for excellence—then the seeds for this passion must be planted now. Much depends on who you choose as your mentors, who you surround yourself with as a support system, and how hard you are willing to work on your growth and development. Just like an athlete who works out every
day, practices skills religiously, studies new innovations, and keeps himself or herself in peak physical shape, you, too, must devote yourself to superb conditioning—not only of your body but your mind and your spirit as well.

In this book, we have presented constructive advice, from the perspectives of a teacher, a teacher educator, and a student, on what it takes not only to survive your first year in the profession but also to truly flourish. This may help you get through the first year, but what happens after that?

Ironically, in some ways, your first year is the easiest one in the sense that you have no worries about keeping your excitement and enthusiasm at peak levels. Unfortunately, as some teachers gain experience, they also lose some of the spark they once had, the innocence that led them to believe anything was possible.

Right now, you have something very, very precious: your own strong belief that you will be different. You will be the kind of teacher who keeps the momentum going, who continues to commit yourself to future growth, who is always learning, always reinventing yourself. You will be the kind of teacher whom students revere and admire, not just for what you know but for who you are as a human being. Your love and compassion and empathy are transparent, for anyone to see. The kids know how much you care.

This image of the kind of teacher you wish to be can indeed be your reality. Much depends on how committed you remain to following through with your intentions.

B
ECOME
W
HAT
Y
OU
W
ISH FOR
Y
OUR
S
TUDENTS

If you want your students to become fearless, constructive risk takers, show them the way by how you lead your own life. If you want them to venture into the unknown, do so yourself. Share the ideas you read about, the new skills you are learning, the travel that has changed your life. Talk about
the issues facing the community, the state, the nation. If you would like them to be the kinds of people who are honest, truth seeking, and sincere, then be that yourself. More than anything you say, kids pay attention to who you are.

T
RAVEL

There is only so much that you can learn from school and books and movies. See the world or as much of it as you can. Expose yourself to different cultures. Collect stories of your adventures that make your classes come alive. Integrate the pictures you take and the artifacts you bring home into your lessons.

C
ONTINUING
E
DUCATION

Most states require continued education as part of an ongoing licensing process. You must receive a certain number of university credits or professional development education credits to recertify. Some school districts offer their own professional development courses. Through continuing education, you will learn new ideas, develop new skills, broaden your knowledge base, and keep abreast of the latest developments in your field.

P
ROFESSIONAL
O
RGANIZATIONS

Join teacher organizations on the local, state, and national levels. Your content area professional organization will provide you with social contacts and educational programs. These organizations sponsor annual conferences with sessions on best practices, innovative strategies, how to teach difficult concepts, and integrating technology. Their publications—newsletters and journals—are a great way to keep current on issues in the field. Often there are themed issues. The organizations’ Web sites also offer excellent resources and references.

Table 17.1
Professional Organizations

N
ATIONAL
B
OARD FOR
P
ROFESSIONAL
T
EACHING
S
TANDARDS