What’s your most important advice for first-year teachers? Lots of new teachers are getting ready for their first first day, and they need all the support we can offer.
My advice is simple.
Don’t judge yourself. Specifically, don’t use your first year as a predictor for your future performance.
I often say to people in new positions, “The best thing about the first year is the second year.” And that’s true. But it’s especially important to remember in your first year teaching, because everything feels new and difficult the first year. And with that comes an essential need to assess your performance and improve.
Assess, yes. Extrapolate, no.
You will learn so much. In the first few years of teaching, you’ll learn more about teaching than you could have possibly learned as an undergraduate. Also more about music. Also more about life. And with that, you will see growth in your skills that you probably can’t imagine in the first month of your first year.
So the challenge is – can you push yourself to get better and accept that you’re not there yet? Because the only way to be excited for Year Two is: don’t judge yourself for Year One.