new teachers. Invariably the question
comes up, Now that you know what
you know, what would you have done
differently on that first morning in the
Bronx?
For a long time, I offered convoluted
answers about classroom management
systems or not letting the students see
me sweat, but the truth is, I didn’t really
know. I was still looking at the Fausto
debacle as a personal failure, through
the lens of my equation for success that
had served me as a student when the
variables were all within my control.
As a new teacher, I had approached
my job with the same mind-set: I’m
the authority figure in the classroom.
I deserve the credit or the blame if my
effort, intelligence, and people skills
succeed or fail.
But as a new teacher, you don’t know
what you don’t know. My grit and wit
alone couldn’t bring about a positive
4th grade year for my students. I had
bought into the fallacy—propagated by
the marketing for my alternative certification program—that basically anybody
smart and willing can jump in and do
this.
A New Equation
for Staying Afloat
Now with a master’s degree, years of
experience, and National Board certification, I realize that a much more
accurate equation for a teacher’s success
encompasses a sea of factors. The first
three I list are within the teacher’s
control; the rest are not. The absence of
any of these elements risks sinking the
whole ship, as I learned in the Bronx.
Comfort with Your Teacher Persona
As Dan, I don’t really care if a kid tucks
in his shirt. As Mr. Brown, little matters
more. As Dan, I utter a curse word every
now and then. As Mr. Brown, foul language offends me deeply.
You can’t entirely be yourself as a
teacher; you have to cultivate a teacher
persona—a blend of your real self and
the benevolent pedagogical manipulator
and authority figure that teachers must
be. Kids can sense phoniness or fear;
they certainly sniffed out and exploited
my greenness on that first day in the
Bronx. Losing your composure in front
of students is bad, bad news. Many
young people have a perverse desire to
push their teachers’ buttons; if you wear
them on your sleeve, they’re going to
get pushed. My nascent teacher persona
was a panicked one. I screamed at my
students several times in my rookie
Professional Teaching Standards, which
is “knowledge of students.” The first
part of that is learning students’ names
as soon as is humanly possible. New
teachers have a lot on their plates, but
all is for naught if you offend a student
two weeks into the year by blanking on
her name.
Familiarity with the School Community
In the Bronx, my classroom was my
fiefdom—Mr. Brown’s room. It was the
one place where I was in charge. I loved
shutting my door on all the outside
unpleasantness. I believed that if I could
It all boils down to coming across as well-
organized and kind—these are the two qualities
that stand out to students more than any other.
year. When I did, I accomplished my
short-term goal of achieving momentary
silence but wreaked unknowable
damage to my hopes for a nurturing
team atmosphere.
Finding and embracing one’s teacher
persona takes time and practice. It’s
especially hard for new graduates
venturing for the first time into the
professional sector, when they are often
charged with teaching students only a
little younger than they are. Still, it’s an
important realization for new teachers
to make—that they must build a hybrid
between their authentic personalities
and their roles as professional educators. The best way to do this is to
closely observe and reflect on a variety
of teachers in action, then try out some
of their strategies.
It all boils down to coming across
as well-organized and kind—these
are the two qualities that stand out
to students more than any other. To
get there, follow the first teaching
standard from the National Board for
just get my room under control, I’d be
on top.
