Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 136: Summer Prep for First-Year Teachers

Transcript

Ep 136: Summer Prep for First-Year Teachers · New Teacher Talk

• 0:01
  Welcome to New Teacher Talk.
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  My name is Abby Bartle,
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  and I am an English teacher at Oswego High School in
• 0:06
  Oswego, Illinois.
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  In today's podcast,
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  I am so excited to share some of my advice and tips for new
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  teachers before you start your first year teaching.
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  I am lucky enough to work with a handful of new teachers in
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  my department,
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  and I have compiled their experiences as their first year
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  comes to an end,
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  as well as my own experiences as a second year teacher to
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  hopefully help you feel a little more calm and confident as
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  you enjoy the summer before your first year.
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  I will take a chronological journey,
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  starting with the end of your student teaching,
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  to your summer plans and prep all the way up to your first
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  days of school,
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  with advice from some teachers who have just finished up
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  their first year.
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  We will conclude by talking about reflecting at the end of
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  your first year,
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  no matter how far away that may seem right now.
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  At this point,
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  your student teaching experience has probably come to an
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  end.
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  Maybe you have a job lined up already,
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  or maybe you're still searching for one.
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  Either way,
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  there are some things that you can do and can think about
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  to prepare yourself for your first year of teaching.
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  Before you leave your student teaching placement,
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  make sure you save all your materials from student
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  teaching, either digitally or as hard copies.
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  You will likely lose access to your school email,
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  so save it all on a personal account.
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  For me,
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  I teach a completely different subject than what I student
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  taught in,
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  but I still look back at my student teaching materials from
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  time to time.
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  Your next order of business is to celebrate.
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  For me, and I'm sure for many of you,
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  student teaching was the most difficult thing that I've
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  ever done.
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  You deserve to celebrate getting through that,
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  and after you celebrate, take some time to relax.
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  However,
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  remember that this is also prime time for job postings at
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  other schools.
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  If you can start looking for jobs during student teaching,
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  that's great,
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  but jobs are also posted all throughout summer up until the
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  first day of school in August or September.
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  When you get your first position,
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  you get to celebrate again.
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  After that, don't think about school until early August.
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  As excited and as anxious as I felt about teaching in June,
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  most of the content-oriented lessons I prepped over the
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  entire summer were moot once August 15th rolled around and
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  I met with my mentor and curriculum team.
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  Those days before the first day of school will be hard with
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  all the prepping that you have to do,
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  but they will be even harder if you spent your entire
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  summer prepping and then you have to redo everything.
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  However,
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  if you're like me and you can't ever relax and do nothing,
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  there are some specific things that you could do over the
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  summer to put your mind at ease.
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  It would be great to develop an organizational method over
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  the summer.
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  This depends on how much information from your school you
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  get ahead of time.
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  Making Google Drive folders or physical binders for each
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  unit, personally I do both,
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  will save you headaches in the fall,
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  but it's not the end of the world to leave that for the
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  school year.
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  Reading the curriculum guide, syllabi,
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  and any novels or textbooks that you'll be using would be a
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  great use of your time.
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  If you can,
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  ask the person who hired you to connect you with a teacher
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  at your school who teaches the same level and content so
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  that you can chat with them prior to your first day.
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  The only real lesson planning you should ever do before
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  your first year would be to prepare some icebreaker
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  activities that you could do on the first few days of
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  school.
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  I would not dive into content over the summer before your
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  first year.
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  Oddly enough, TikTok, Instagram Reels,
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  and various Facebook groups are great places where teachers
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  share icebreaker activities that they do.
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  Save them to look back at them closer to the start of the
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  school year.
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  @strategicclassroom, @history_for_humans, @Randazzled,
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  and @teachengaging ELA on TikTok are great places to start.
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  Try searching your level and content area as a hashtag to
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  find those videos and let the algorithm do the rest of the
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  work for you.
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  There are also Facebook groups for all different levels and
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  content areas.
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  For example, I am a member of Creative High School English,
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  Secondary ELA Teachers,
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  and even more specific groups like Teaching the Crucible.
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  Teachers love to share materials and help one another out,
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  so take advantage of that.
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  After months of job hunting and relaxing,
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  those first days will nonetheless come around.
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  There are some important things that many first-year
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  teachers, including myself, wish they could do over again.
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  There are two things that are key to establish in the first
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  few days of the school year.
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  The first and most important is to create structure,
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  routines, and procedures.
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  The second thing is to build relationships with and between
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  your students.
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  According to one teacher in his first year,
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  I think I was so worried about making the kids like me that
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  I allowed it to be too relaxed in the beginning.
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  That led to a lack of motivation from students as the year
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  went on.
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  Another first-year teacher commiserated,
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  one thing I wish I had done differently at the start is
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  establish and enforce better classroom expectations.
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  I am still fighting against cell phones constantly being
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  out in the room.
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  Additionally,
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  on the rare occasions a student is blatantly disrespectful,
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  I wish I wasn't afraid to send a student to the deans or to
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  make a referral.
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  Creating strong procedures from day one will save you later
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  on.
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  This could be when you hit the tiring October slump and
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  don't feel like teaching,
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  or when you are out sick for a day and you need your
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  students to behave and work while you're gone.
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  That being said, I, along with many other teachers,
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  especially female teachers,
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  have received some unhelpful advice regarding this.
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  We've been told, don't smile until November.
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  While that has good intentions behind it,
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  don't be too lenient on kids at the start,
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  you do need to build relationships with your students.
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  This is the second thing that you should be focused on
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  during those first few days.
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  The best advice I got from my supervisor during student
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  teaching was, let the kids see your personality.
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  This year, my mentor echoed the sentiment, humor,
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  interests,
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  if you mention anything that they're interested in,
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  they'll get hooked.
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  As mentioned, I teach English,
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  and the first lesson I did with my students this year was a
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  homemade version of the New York Times Connections game.
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  I made my own version and had them work in small groups to
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  try and categorize things about me.
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  After I revealed the answers,
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  I had them create their own in their small groups,
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  including information from all four of the students.
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  This was an awesome lesson,
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  as it helped me develop classroom norms for group work and
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  helped me gauge their critical thinking skills,
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  while also teaching them about myself and allowing them to
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  learn about one another.
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  Finding something that connects to content while still
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  breaking the ice is a perfect lesson for the beginning of
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  the year.
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  So, smile before November,
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  but also set high expectations from the start.
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  Be more structured at the start of the year and loosen up
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  as the year goes on.
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  Don't let those cell phones slide,
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  and don't let behaviors go because you want the kids to
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  like you.
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  I've mentioned a few pieces of advice,
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  and I want to share a few more from some of the teachers
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  I'm lucky enough to work with.
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  From a first year teacher,
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  I think the best advice I've received is to expect
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  excellence from your students and overwhelm them with
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  kindness when they mess up.
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  If I can inspire my students to see themselves as capable,
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  then they will strive to succeed.
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  If I can encourage them to try again after messing up,
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  then they will never fail.
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  From a third year teacher,
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  what works for one class might not work for another,
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  even if they're in the same grade.
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  Each group has its own dynamic, and flexibility is key.
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  And from another first-year teacher,
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  I would say something our boss said to me during my post
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  -observation meeting first semester.
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  She said to me, at the end of the day, it's just a job.
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  What she really meant was mistakes and struggle are
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  expected, even encouraged.
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  It makes you stronger, more adaptable, and resilient.
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  Keep making mistakes, and over time,
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  they will become less and less prevalent.
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  Doing all of this prep work is great,
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  but you are going to mess up.
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  Just like in student teaching,
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  you are going to have bad lessons.
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  You have to let them go.
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  My mentor and my department chair will both tell you that
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  it's something I personally need to work on,
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  being so hard on myself.
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  Your first year and your second year and your third year
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  should be a struggle,
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  but it should also be a time of learning.
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  It will all go by in the blink of an eye, truly,
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  and soon enough, you'll be reflecting on your first year.
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  That reflective moment is so important for growing as a
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  teacher.
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  Just like after student teaching, you need to celebrate.
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  You did it, and you grew.
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  Focus on the good.
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  What did you do well?
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  What do you want to continue doing?
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  Now, focus on areas of growth.
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  What do you want to change for the next year?
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  This might be different rules or procedures,
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  building relationships differently,
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  setting higher expectations,
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  or maybe developing more rigorous lessons.
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  If you can, plan out anything for next year.
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  Prep your calendars, maybe backwards plan the first unit.
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  My mentor does this in May, at the end of the year,
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  during final exams,
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  stating that May me is much smarter than August me.
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  I did this last year, and I can concur.
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  Do the prep early, even if things change,
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  you will have a rough outline of what you want to do,
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  and your August self will really thank you.
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  Look forward to your second year.
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  In so many ways, it is so much easier than year one,
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  as you have lessons planned,
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  and you have experience under your belt.
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  But it is also harder,
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  because you will have higher expectations for yourself,
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  and you'll probably be taking on some extracurriculars or
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  other responsibilities.
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  And finally, for the rest of the summer, relax.
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  Don't think about school.
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  Except maybe to listen to New Teacher Talk podcast.
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  Thank you all so much for listening to New Teacher Talk.
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  I hope you become a regular follower of this New Teacher
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  Talk podcast channel.
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  As a fellow New Teacher,
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  we are here to help one another out.
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  Thank you for listening.