... I am a first year teacher and I absolutely love my job! I recently moved to Alexandria from Massachusetts after graduating from Westfield State College with a Bachelors of Science in Education in Elementary Education with a concentration in Reading. When I was in college I always remember people coming back after graduating and saying that there is so much that they wished they had learned in college. I do somewhat agree with that, but a lot of the struggles that I have had so far have been something that no college course could have possibly prepared me for. Even in student teaching I always had someone to go to when I needed a question answered immediately. While I do have an AMAZING team that is always willing to help, they aren’t always with me and I need to make so many decisions on the spot. There is no way you could ever learn what to do in every situation while in college, it’s just not possible. What I have been prepared for is how to make a good judgment call. Having been involved with the NEA during college has also helped to prepare me because I do know about some of the different liability issues that they don’t necessarily teach you in college.

Finding a job was a nerve-wracking process. I was going to interviews and feeling great, but then never hearing about the jobs. I received a phone call on a Thursday for an interview the next day, Friday, at Parklawn. My interview was around 11am and by 5pm I had a job offer! I was so excited but I was extremely nervous as well.  I knew that only two days later I the teacher work week would be starting and the following Monday I would start teaching! That week was absolutely insane and I was constantly either in my classroom or at the store buying things for my classroom. The amount of money I spent was absolutely outrageous, but I knew it was an investment and that it would all be worth it in the end.

As a first year teacher, I knew it was up against the challenge of how parents and students will react to the fact that I am young. There are a lot of people who are skeptical of new teachers and parents are so protective of their children, all they want is the best for them. Sometimes they think that in order to be an effective teacher you must have years of experience. I know that I am prepared to do my job after 4 years of school plus hours upon hours of experience in different classrooms.

I was very nervous for Open House which occurred a couple days prior to the opening of school. I knew that it was going to be my first impression with students and parents. I wanted my students to be excited about coming to school the next week and the parents to be comfortable about entrusting their children with me. I did have one father who asked if it was my first year teaching and I obviously told him the truth and while he didn’t get excited over the fact that I was a new teacher, he didn’t react negatively. The lack of reaction did ease some of my fears. I just kept reminding myself that I was as prepared as I would ever be and that I was hired for a reason.

My principal obviously believed that I could make a difference in the lives of the children I work with. That is my ultimate goal. Obviously I want my student to achieve to their highest potential, but it is so much more than that. I want them to look back and know that I made an impact in their life and I helped them both academically and personally. Everyone can look back and think about teachers that made an impact on their life; I want to be that teacher.

My school has a high mobility rate, which is a challenge I have never faced before. I have had students coming in and out of my classroom since day one and it creates a challenge for me as a teacher. It feels like just as my classroom community is finally getting to a comfortable place a new student comes and it obviously takes time for that student to adjust as well as for the other students to adjust. I currently have 19 kids in my class and I have already become attached. I have truly been able to get to know each of them and all I want is for them to succeed. I have such high aspirations for all of them, although they may be different for each of them.

Going into Back to School night I felt more comfortable because I knew my students and more importantly they knew me. One of the most rewarding things I heard that night was when I mother and father I had not met yet came up to me and told me that they felt like they knew me already because their daughter talked about me all the time at home. That obviously shows me that I am doing my job and that I have already formed a lasting relationship with my students. I’m not going to lie and say that I wasn’t nervous at all at Back to School night, I most definitely was. I had to prove myself to these parents because they had heard about me from their children and I needed to make sure that everything that they thought about me was positive. I spend a lot of time putting together my presentation and handouts and making my classroom look perfect.

I have accepted the fact that I do need to reteach things over and over again and as frustrating as that was at the beginning for me, it has become second nature. I have also accepted that my children LOVE to talk and they are a very talkative class. They have already come so far and I’m so excited to see where I can take them.

Next week is Parent Teacher Conferences and the end of week 10…how time flies when you’re having fun!