Curious about the problems you’ll encounter as a new teacher and the support you’ll receive along the way? Check out the experiences of new teachers in Georgia below.
Enriching Teacher Certification Process
“I began my teaching career opening ketchup packets and juice boxes as a lunchroom monitor at the elementary school where my wife worked. It was there that I discovered a love and passion for working with students to help them achieve their dreams and potential.
I was working in the television broadcasting industry at the time. I visited some schools that had an audio/video program as a guest speaker and talked to the teacher afterward about teaching. I discovered that I could start teaching with my journalism degree and industry experience while I pursued a teaching certificate. That is when I started looking for a place where I could teach audio/video production, using my industry expertise.
I applied for a program to pursue teacher certification. The professors were wonderful, and they helped me feel prepared to teach. I now volunteer with that same certification program, mentoring adults changing careers who are pursuing teaching certifications. This past year, I was named a finalist for Georgia Teacher of the Year. I owe it all to the people who helped me during my certification journey.”
Supportive Administrators
“My first year as a teacher, I was worried about how to interact with parents. I thought that because I did not go the traditional route, they would think less of me or feel like I was not qualified. An administrator suggested workshops to help me continue to learn about being an educator and helped me to be confident. It worked! After three years of teaching at the school, I was promoted to Teacher Support Specialist and began leading teacher support workshops.”
Access to Curriculum & Resources
“When I decided to go into teaching, I already had a four-year degree, so I began pursuing a Masters In Teaching (MAT) that would allow me to teach while at the same time obtaining teacher certification. It was a lot to juggle. Luckily, I was able to connect with other teachers in my district who taught the same classes. They shared their standards-aligned classroom syllabus, lesson plans, learning modules, and assessments. I had the resources I needed on day one to step into my classroom and be successful.”
Collaborative Coaches & Mentors
“Though I am the child of a teacher and had done some tutoring in the past, I didn’t necessarily know what it meant to teach. I was 21, only a few years older than some of my students. I heavily questioned how I could teach students who, in a way, could be considered my peers.
Luckily, I co-taught classes my first year with a mentor colleague. I spent my mornings, 2-4 classes, and after school with him. He started out by asking me to teach small components of a lesson and gradually had me teach more and more frequently. He encouraged me to set timers for specific sections so I could maintain consistent pacing.
The classes we taught together were back to back, so sometimes I would observe him teaching the first class then I would repeat the lesson in the second class. Eventually, he would randomly tell me that I was teaching the first lesson of the day, and then we would debrief afterward. He is truthfully the one who taught me what I know about teaching.”
Welcoming School Community
“I have a natural rapport with students, but it took a long time to turn that into a classroom management tool. My first few years of teaching were very bumpy roads in the realm of classroom expectations and procedures. I did not set up daily routines well, and I was not firm in enforcing what routines I had, so it didn’t take long for disruptive classes to become an issue.
Thankfully, every teacher around me, as well as my direct Assistant Principal (AP), was supportive in helping build my toolkit. Mr. Peterson, my AP, taught me to use visible timers for each activity. Heather helped me develop my lessons so that there were clear transitions from activity to activity. Jason taught me how to spin students’ questions into a meaningful conversation, increasing their engagement in the lesson. Emily taught me some of her favorite “classroom calls,” consistent ways to draw the attention of the classroom back to me. I became a better teacher because I was lucky enough to have a great school community to learn from. I just had to be willing to ask for help.”