I've heard lots of terror stories of teacher's first years of teaching. I tried to put on a strong, confident front, but I was absolutely terrified that first day. I looked like one of the students, and my biggest fear was that they would totally ignore me and I would have ZERO control over my classroom. I'm pretty sure I had the same dream for weeks before school started. I was at the front of the classroom trying to teach, my students were going bananas.
I'm proud, and blessed, and happy to say that I had a very good first year of teaching. For the most part, my first year was pretty non eventful and I have a lot of people to thank for that. So here goes...
- God - I know, it sounds extremely cliche and cheesy, but its the truth. I prayed, and prayed A LOT! I prayed weeks before school started. I prayed in my classroom before school started during professional development and on the first day of school. I prayed in the car EVERY day on my way to school, several days on the way home. I prayed in the shower. If a particular student was giving me trouble, I'd sit in their seat before school in the morning and pray for that student. Absolutely, hands down, no way I could have done it without my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I have no idea how people do it without Him. I would have floundered, BIG time.
- Nathan - Nathan has a few years of teaching on me, and he started teaching at a fairly rough school, especially compared to Klein Oak. He gave me his rules and procedures that he uses with his classes. He gave me a realistic idea of what to expect that was much more helpful than my certification classes ever were. He gave me countless pep talks and advice and helped to give me the confidence to kick my first student out of class! (Trust me, the student deserved it and it was long overdue.) He allowed me to talk nonstop about school even though the last thing he wanted to hear or talk about was school. He let me show him new things I learned with the computer even though he had no idea what I was talking about. He held me and let me cry when a class was giving me a hard time. He encouraged me when I got nervous about something at school. He was a big reason of why I got into teaching and my first year of teaching would not have been as successful without him. THANKS BABE! I LOVE YOU!
- My "official" mentor teacher - Cindy Eschenberg - I like to call Cindy my school mom. She reminds me of my own mom in so many ways, and they have so many things in common, its scary. Cindy was/is my big emotional supporter at school. We didn't teach the same classes, so she couldn't always help me with lessons plans, but she was/is the best person to vent to. I remember running into her classroom during my conference period, balling my eyes out because of an awful class (more to come on that class in another post). She just let me cry, hugged me, and then gave me some rather useful ideas of how to handle the class. On the one class that I taught 2nd semester that she could help me with, she let me bounce ideas off of her, and gave me great ideas and resources to use as well. We had the same conference period my first year, and we spent a lot of time talking and her encouraging me. She was/is my biggest cheerleader and fan, she inspires a lot of confidence.
- My "unofficial" mentor teacher - Don Sajda - Don definitely took me under his wing that first year. When I first met Don I was standing in front of the hallway gate, looking longingly (as opposed to walking INTO the hallway gate, that's another blog) at my classroom door that was on the other side of the gate the first day of professional development. I think at first he was trying to figure out if I was a student or a teacher, but he showed me how to bypass the gate through a back stairway. He stood and talked to me at the CTE professional development where I knew no one and the people that I did know hadn't shown up yet, keeping me from feeling even more awkward and out of place than I already did. Little did I know that that day was "Tell-the-new-teacher-she-looks-like-a-student-Day", as before he saved me, I had about 5 people tell me that. He let me sit across from him at the lunch table and always provided great conversation. Or depending on other people's conversations, we'd throw looks at each other like "Oh my gosh, if he/she doesn't shut up we might have to get the duct tape out". He gave me his homemade beer at Christmas, which Nathan thoroughly enjoyed. I was happy to return the favor with a homemade "25 Years of Service" clock when he got stiffed for his 25...I think 25 years in Klein ISD clock. He invited me to throw darts at Molly's, (which I finally beat him 3 years later, so he'd had a few beers and I was totally sober, I'm still claiming the victory!) He reminds me a lot of my dad, typical engineer. Not the most sensitive guy, but always ready with practical advice and encouragement, and a soft spot for cookies. ;)
- Ms. Ditta - Ms. Ditta was my supervising principal my first year. She was a huge encouragement and always willing to talk. She also happened to be the principal of one of my most challenging students, and thanks to her, there were lots of days that student was in ISS and I didn't have to deal with him.
- My department chair - Pat McClintock - I was slightly nervous about having a department chair. Nathan had a truly awful team leader at JV and she made his life miserable. Thankfully, that was not the case with Pat. She was there when I needed her, but she didn't hover and micro-manage. And she pretty much made my year at the end of the year when she told me she was really glad she hired me.
- Mr. Dristas - He hired me, so obviously, he makes the special list. Even though he signed me up for some really lame training this year that made me want to shoot myself in the head...I suppose I'll forgive him. ;)
- Ms. Kirksey and all of the amazing secretaries - I learned real quick who was REALLY in charge of the school. ;) They answered my hundreds of questions and always with a smile.
There is another teacher who was a big part of my success. She basically gave me all of my lesson plans and really helped with the actual "teaching" part. Unfortunately, some things happened at the beginning of this year and we have since gone our separate ways. But I will never forget all of her help.
Those aren't all of the people who made my year successful, just some of the major ones. I'm thankful that I work at a great school, where it truly feels like a family. I was so scared to kick my first student out of class, thinking for sure the principals would send them right back to me saying "It was no big deal, deal with it". But that never happened and I've always felt supported.
Kids come and go, but its the staff and how they work with each other, that either makes or breaks a school.
