A New
Teacher’s
Plea
A beginning teacher needs a manageable
workload, a good mentor, and a community.
Brian K. Jones
I’m a novice teacher, and I think about quitting at least once a month. When I talk with friends about work, I get the impression that the only reason they believe my stories
is that they’re so horrible that I can’t
possibly be making them up. Who
could make up such stories about what
that one kid in 5th period did this week,
how late I had to stay to coach soccer
practice and then supervise a football
game, or what a new law about high-stakes tests means for my job security?
But it’s not all bad. I love teaching
and learning about science. There are
few greater pleasures than watching
a student studying cells intensely in
class—drawing them, identifying them
under a microscope, creating analogies
for the organelles’ functions—and then
seeing that student’s well-earned look of
pride when he or she makes an A on the
test. Even watching a perennial slacker’s
face show some excitement when I
mention that Star Wars lied (because
there’s no sound in space) can make
teaching seem like one of the most fun
jobs in the world.
The problem is that sometimes I’m
too overwhelmed to get excited about
my work. I’m too busy with routine
tasks to give a few minutes after school
to a student who needs help. I’m too
burdened with planning my next lesson
to reflect on the lesson I just gave. I’m
too worried about students’ test scores
to remember that students also need
time for creative and critical thinking.
I need help.
Many new teachers struggle with
knowing what to teach, what resources
they have to teach it, how quickly to
teach it, how to engage different kinds
of learners, and how to prepare students for high-stakes tests (Kardos &
Johnson, 2008). And if that weren’t
enough, new teachers also have to build
relationships with colleagues, learn the
