Hope’s First Years: Gratitude and Grace

I walked into my first day of teaching with confidence and enthusiasm. I was curious about the children who would walk into our classroom and felt well-prepared with unit plans, a week’s worth of lesson plans, a roster, and a seating chart on my desk. My walls were freshly painted with vibrant colors, my bulletin boards lined with wallpaper, a few classroom mantras posted, floors shone, and the classroom library was organized. My standards and learning targets were posted, and all instructional materials were ready. I was not operating solo. I was ready because I was blessed with the support of an excellent principal, a brilliant teacher team, and a talented master teacher.

During the first three years, most of our new teacher learning was focused on classroom culture, organization, routines, and procedures. This learning was integrated with curriculum unpacking, and we were given ample time to plan instructional units and daily lessons. I was thankful for the time to study, plan, and prep during the academic day.

Moving forward, our instructional coaches launched a multi-year study of practices that resulted in students leading and owning their learning, understanding the demands of grade-level work, and using the environment as a second teacher as we made their thinking visible. From the start, we were taught not to pack our walls with pre – made posters, but to allow our literate environment to be an authentic product of student learning. We posted their emerging ideas as they were making meaning. We also posted culminating assignments with an exemplar, standard, description, scoring tool, and feedback.

Our professional development partners immersed us in literacy across each content area and took us to other school districts to build our learning and teaching savvy. We experienced learning via site – based and external communities of practice that made us smarter about student engagement and academic rigor.

What Worked?

Research and practice reveals keys to retaining talented teachers. My teacher induction lived experience aligned with some of this wisdom and has resulted in me serving in the education profession for over thirty – two years:

• I was genuinely supported by talented school leaders;
• My school – based professional learning was collaborative and focused on organizing for instructional excellence, both nuts and bolts ( routines, procedures, environment, instructional strategies, curriculum-based planning);
• We were given sufficient time for individual and team planning during the academic day;
• Our instructional coaching was well – organized, job – embedded and directly tied to standards, student work and best practices; and
• We learned from other local, national and international practitioners.

Why Do So Many New Teachers Crash and Burn?

Poor or Emerging Leadership

Great leaders surround new teachers with a highly effective support team, talented mentors, and coaches who are accessible and invested in their professional growth. These folks are intentional about ensuring the right people are doing the right work in the right ways, and they consistently examine the impact of daily leadership practices on teacher growth and student learning. They create a community of high support and high expectations.

Less competent leaders function in isolation and do not work well with their teams who are often unclear about their roles. These leaders hand teachers the curriculum materials, share the expectations and return to their offices to ” handle their duties.” They are like the Great Oz behind the curtain.

Irrelevant Professional Learning

Adult learning should be aligned with data. What does data suggest students need to know and be able to do at the grade level? Where are the gaps in student understanding? Where are the high points in the student data? Adult practice gaps and high points? What does the data suggest our school-wide focus should be? Where will we get the best return on our investment for our students? Willy-nilly professional development does not improve teacher practice or student performance.

Insufficient Time for Planning and Prep

According to an Education Week survey ( 2024), teachers spend just 46% of their time actually teaching and spend the rest on non-teaching duties, work an average of 54 hours per week, and spend 12 – 17 hours working beyond their contracted hours without pay. They simply do not have enough time in the day to collaborate, reflect and adjust. Time is platinum in the schoolhouse. Academic day planning periods, when used well, refresh teachers and can lead to excellent student results. In the best cases, this time is owned by teachers and is a hybrid of individual and team work.

Unfocused and Inconsistent Coaching

Instructional coaching delivers a huge bang for the buck when it is done with intention, clear goals, agreements for the work, a plan for how data will be used to assess impact, and a feedback loop between the teacher and the coach. Loosey goosey coaching is faux pas. It is arbitrary, more about compliance than learning, and a waste of time for teachers who may be already overwhelmed. Are teachers dipping out on or diving into coaching in your school district?

Stuck in the Fishbowl

Some districts and/or school leaders do not buy into expanding teachers’ sociological imagination by giving them opportunities to learn from others outside their assigned schools. Other leaders limit learning to classroom visits within their schools. Unfortunately, the egg crate still exists. Some teachers never step outside of their classrooms to learn.

In many districts, folks are always visiting teacher classrooms to assess and provide feedback. Yet, too many teachers are not allowed to get out of the fishbowl to learn from others, especially those garnering major success with students in other cities, states, and nations. Visits to “best practice classrooms” motivate teachers. If planned well, these visits deepen collective efficacy and resilience. This requires a strategic funding plan for travel. It is also a good opportunity for members of the leadership team to co-plan and teach lessons while classroom teachers are away.

Final Thoughts

This is my story of what worked for me and my theories on how to reduce the number of new teachers calling it quits. How about you? How were your first years of teaching? Did you feel burnt out, or were you burning with professional passion? What conditions created your success or challenges? If you are a veteran educator, what has kept you from crashing and burning? What advice would you give new leaders? New teachers?

Thanks for sharing!