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| Very first class that I taught! |
I feel like these three problems could be helped through personality driven education. In this post I will outline and show parts of this article to explain the three problems and then I will give help and resources that I think could help solve or alleviate them.
Struggling with Classroom Management
"The biggest challenge that surfaces for new teachers is classroom management. A 2004 Public Agenda survey found that 85 percent of teachers believed "new teachers are particularly unprepared for dealing with behavior problems in their classrooms" (p. 3). A separate survey of 500 teachers found that teachers with three years or fewer on the job were more than twice as likely as teachers with more experience (19 percent versus 7 percent) to say that student behavior was a problem in their classrooms (Melnick & Meister, 2008).
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| My 2nd year teaching |
When interviewed, many beginning teachers say their preservice programs did little to prepare them for the realities of classrooms, including dealing with unruly students. "A bigger bag of classroom management tricks would have been helpful," one first-year teacher confessed (Fry, 2007, p. 225).
New teachers universally report feeling particularly overwhelmed by the most difficult students. One Australian first-year teacher interviewed for a case study observed that having a disruptive "student in my classroom is having a significant impact on my interaction with the remainder of the class … As a first-year teacher, I don't have the professional skills to deal with this extreme behavior" (McCormack, Gore, & Thomas, 2006, p. 104). Often, classroom management difficulties can prompt new teachers to jettison many of the research-based instructional practices they learned in college (such as cooperative learning and project-based learning) in favor of a steady diet of lectures and textbooks (Hover & Yeager, 2004)." (Source)
Understanding what students value is a huge indicator in how to manage them. I wrote a post about managing according to personality type. In it, I outline how to use their personality types to come up with a management plan that will work for them. I also have four other post describing the 6 things people value in detail. You can access each through these links: Helper, Player, Feeler, Thinker.
I also think that as we create good relationships and mutual respect, management gets easier. I'm not saying get buddy buddy, because we can't throw out the position of educator, but we can have a sincere relationship with the children we teach. Many need to know that we have expectations for them and we are there to help them. Students can tell when people don't like them, don't believe in the, and expect them to fail. We need to help children know we sincerely want to help them succeed. Sometimes this is harder with certain children, but as we get to really know them and their needs, these relationships can flourish and help students to be and do their best!Burdened by Curricular Freedom
"Another concern that new teachers commonly raise is a lack of guidance and resources for lesson and unit planning. In a recent survey of more than 8,000 Teach for America teachers nationwide, 41 percent said their schools or districts provided them with few or no instructional resources, such as lesson plans. When classroom materials were provided, they were seldom useful; just 15 percent of the respondents reported that materials were of sufficient quality for them to freely use (Mathews, 2011).
Although such curricular freedom may be welcomed by veteran teachers, it appears to be a burden for new teachers, who have not yet developed a robust repertoire of lesson ideas or knowledge of what will work in their classrooms (Fry, 2007). Case studies have observed novice teachers struggling "just trying to come up with enough curriculum" and spending 10 to 12 hours a day juggling lesson planning; grading: and the myriad demands of paperwork, committees, and extracurricular assignments (Fry, 2007, p. 225).
It's worth noting that many schools that have successfully raised low-income students' achievement have taken a distinctly different approach. Rather than letting new teachers sink or swim with lesson planning, they provide binders full of model lesson plans and teaching resources developed by veteran teachers (Chenoweth, 2009)." (Source)
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| My First Mentor |
There are so many resources, but as new teachers we may not know where to look. When I first started I had really supportive people around me to help me find lesson plans and resources. It makes me really sad to hear about others having an opposite experience. I'm hoping to help those getting into teaching to feel like they have great options and resources.
I have a link on my website to many different websites and blogs with fantastic lesson plans and ideas. There are a lot that are free and then a few where you need to play some. One great place for professional lesson plans developed by real teachers is teacherspayteachers.com. A lot of the lesson plans you have to pay some for, but it usually is really reasonable and they also have sales and lots of free downloads.
As you look for resources I would recommend looking that the template I provided to help you plan good lessons for multiple personality types. This will help you provided what your students need in your lesson plans to be engaged. I would also LOVE to help anyone develop lesson plans or find resources. Just email me or comment below and I will be quick to help you out!
Sinking in Unsupportive Environments
"The sink-or-swim nature of many first-year teachers' experiences frequently surfaces as another significant challenge. New teachers often report difficult interactions with colleagues, ranging from "benign neglect" of administrators (Fry, 2007, p. 229) to lack of cooperation or even hostility from veteran teachers.
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| Dressing up for Halloween with the other teachers (Mrs. Cook) |
One first-year teacher, for example, said a colleague flatly refused to share his lesson plans, which was "unfortunate my first year, sinking down and getting no help" (Hover & Yaeger, 2004, p. 21). Another teacher reported that a veteran member of her department came into her classes, propped his feet up on her desk, and disrupted her teaching by throwing out historical facts. "It was so degrading," she said (Hover & Yeager, 2004, p. 20).
More than anything else, novice teachers often appear to yearn for, yet seldom receive, meaningful feedback on their teaching from experienced colleagues and administrators (Fry, 2007; McCormack, Gore, & Thomas, 2006). Regrettably, teacher mentors, ostensibly assigned to provide this support, were sometimes part of the problem, dispensing little guidance, if not bad advice (Fry, 2007). In the words of one new teacher, "Some of the teachers who are mentors shouldn't be. They're not nurturing people; they've just been here the longest, and they want [the mentor position]" (Hover & Yaeger, 2004, p. 20)." (Source)
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| Mr. Christensen- 4th grade teacher during collaboration time. |
Please send my link or posts to anyone who you think could use or want them! Thanks!
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