The guilt of the unexperienced teacher?

Question

I've been working as a teacher merely for five months. In general, things are going well but, there are times that some children don't understand and I can't help thinking that may be I'm doing something wrong. Other times I feel that may be I expect too much of ten year old pupils. And every time the lesson fails to live up to my expectations I feel discouraged and disappointed. I'm doing the best I can but the results do not always satisfy me. What should I do?

Fast typing. That's all!

Thanks for the "support"! Your "kindness" is waisted here you know...

Answer 1

Maggie,

As a classroom teacher of eight years, my advice to you is to learn to FORGIVE YOURSELF.

Just strive to get better every year you remain in the classroom. The mistakes you make in your first years cannot be excuses you make in your later years.

Teaching is the one profession many THINK they know what it is, but until you stand in front of a classroom day after day and teach, the many are clueless.

Yahoo! Answerers can be cruel, but to be an effective teacher, you must learn to forgive yourself first and get better second.

Answer 2

Hello again Maggie! I often feel this way myself and I've been teaching for nearly 2 years now! The only advice that I can give you (and myself) when I feel like this is:

1. Don't feel bad when they don't understand! If they did, you wouldn't have a job because they'd get through the course on their own!

2. The ones who want to learn will learn anyway, the ones who don't will forget about it (this is what a fellow colleague of mine who had been teaching for 15 years told me when I told her what you just told us-these words bring me great comfort when I feel like you do and so far, I've found out that she's right!).

3. Worrying about your classes is perfectly normal! In fact, it's a sign that you're a good teacher and will become even better! In my experience, it's also a sign that I'm getting better in a particular aspect of my classroom practice (e.g. differentiation). It may be the same for you!

4. Whenever I feel discouraged, I remind myself that I have to 'get things wrong' or be 'dissatisfied' or 'expect too much', as every 'mistake' or 'thing that goes wrong' means that I will get it right next time (either during revision or with other classes)! I never realise how much I've learned until I look back through my teaching files from now to when I did my PGCE course! I'm always surprised by how much I've changed since being a teacher! Also, it might be worth watching other teachers teaching your subjects. Very often, I come away feeling reassured by the fact that I'm doing as much as (and sometimes more than) they could in my lessons and even come away with new ideas for problems that I have at a particular time (e.g. ideas for classroom activities)!

Hope this helps!

Answer 3

Wow. I completely agree with "teacher..."

You are doing the best you can.
Take a step back and some deep breaths.
One day at a time....sometimes it's one lesson at a time!
I've been teaching 6 years and I know teachers who have taught 30 years with the same problems: Am I reaching my students? Are they getting it? Did I not teach this well enough?
Find a mentor teacher on your team and talk daily about your ideas for lessons. If they've taught that lesson before, they'll have ideas for you. I did that and it went well, or I tried this and it helped, etc.
You've made it five months. A few more and you can say you survived your first year. I remember my first year and sometimes it's all you can do to get through the day.
Best of luck. And don't let the answers on here get you down. Keep up the good work.

Answer 4

In my last job, I worked with probationer teachers who were undertaking their first few years of teaching.

Very few of them 'got everything right' at first bid.

Relax! You've only been at it for 5 months. That's no time.

Having said that, you are obviously starting to worry yourself, which results in what you describe as discouragement and disappointment.

You need to start asking for more guidance, sharing your experiences and concerns and therefore being proactive about solving the problems you feel you are facing.

Remember, every teacher in your school was new once, and they WILL understand! One of the brilliant things about being in the teaching profession is that overall it attracts colleagues who are more than willing to put themselves out for the good of others (that, after all, is what the job largely entails!), so you should be able to find some sort of mentoring, be it from one or more members of staff, that can help you.

And if it takes you a bit longer than the usual year to qualify, don't worry about it! You are certainly not alone, and far better that it takes a bit longer and you get the experience and support you need than you get pushed through when you're not really ready yet.

It's the mark of a good teacher that you want to push your kids to attain the best they can, rather than just delivering your curriculum ad infinitum, regardless of the consequences.

Chin up, go seek advice and support, and don't feel like you have to do this entirely on your own. Ask another member of staff (or your mentor if you have one) to come and observe a few of your sessions and get proper feedback - only then can you identify any problem areas and begin to improve.

Answer 5

I doubt there has ever been a new teacher that didn't feel they could be doing better.

You're just learning.

I agree with others about talking to other teachers, doing post-mortems of your lessons with them, even getting help in planning them.

It will always be the case that some kids don't understand this or that thing.

Talking to experienced teachers beforehand will likely help identify the spefici tough points.

If you can't find teachers to meet with face-to-face (which would be truly tragic, but some schools don't really support this), then try some email discussion lists or other on-line groups for teachers.

You can run lesson ideas past them beforehand, and ask for analysis when things go wrong.

People learn differently. People who did well in school tend to be language mavens and strong verbally and conceptually. Some students will learn this way, others won't.

Look for ways to address the different styles of learning, such as visual and kinesthetic.

I don't know how much flexibility you have, but as teacher, your role isn't to fill their little heads with knowledge -- it's to get them to construct knowledge in their own little heads.

Lecture is much less effective than combinations of activities, small group discussion, and brief explanations and demonstrations.

The more you can get them actively involved in their learning -- and helping each other -- the better.

But mostly, worry not. All teachers go through this (or so I understand -- used to work with teachers, never been one).

You'll be better next year, and even better the next.

You'll collect ways of approaching the more difficult content that works better, you'll tweak, you'll grow.

When some students seem lost, try having other students try to help them.

And try to relax.

Teaching is HARD.

Learning is hard, too, and sometimes a kid gets something after it was "covered".

Answer 6

I understand how you must feel. I am a math teacher and most of the math concepts are abstract and needs a lot of imagination. Sometimes, I am successful in giving them concrete examples, simple to complex thinking directions. But even I dont think, I am quite upto the mark.
For eg: When I say that two points are always collinear points as they lie on a single line, they argue that we can show you how there can be two DIFFRENT lines passing through two points. How can they be collinear, then?
I had to change my statement as "If there exists any such line that can pass through both the points, then such 'line' is a LINE and its such POINTS that are collinear.
What I do now, is I try to study what's been previously taught to them, and how and in what ways are they likely to connect their previous knowledge with what they would be learning next. Sometimes words spell almost the same and student tend to get confused as to what is what. Right from spellings, concepts, images, sounds, thoughts, etc.
When they give incorrect answers that are seemingly irrelevant, try thinking under what setting are they likely to connect the 'irrelevant answer' with the question asked and so on.
Also make a list of all the 'confusions and errors' that they have in in their thoughts. You can then study the pattern of such misunderstandings. Also experienced teachers or colleagues can contribute their own experiences. When these are clubbed together you will have fair idea of how you should plan your teaching further.

Answer 7

I think most of the teachers have felt what you are experiencing. First thing: can't you ask your colleagues to help you? Don't be shy, asking advice never means you are a bad teacher. Then every time you are disappointed try to analyse exactly what has happened. Write down in a book, all the things the kids have said or done (their reaction) during the lesson, then analyse your tasks, in particular the way you explained them what to do. Never forget to ask a pupil to explain the task to the other ones to check they all have understood you and never forget to give examples. At the beginning, explain them the goal(s) of the lesson. When you prepare your lessons never take what the pupils are supposed to know for granted, prepare short activities to check it before starting the lesson. Good luck.

Answer 8

As a new teacher, you sometimes are under the impression that you have to teach your students EVERYTHING! That is just not possible. Learn to slow down and teach for depth of understanding. Take some pressure off yourself and some pressure off the students. Relax, take a breath, slow down.

As an example: Every year from third grade on, teachers try to teach the parts of speech. If elementary students were 100% effective at learning this, it wouldn't be taught in middle school and again in high school. Kids will learn at their own pace and when they are ready.

Continue doing your best. It will all come together (and then fall completely apart again at the beginning of the next school year....just kidding). You may need to adjust your objectives, but stay with high expectations as your goal.

Answer 9

i've been teaching for about 18 years, and I feel like I'm burned out and used to be more effective when I had more enthusiasm and energy. Don't be too hard on yourself; you'll grown into your own teaching style soon. Learn to use your body. Don't just stand in front, but walk around the room while you talk, pausing at the desks where there's trouble. Try to get everyone involved as much as you can--of course, that's a tall order. I think you've got to inspire passion and you've got to do whatever it takes to bring it out of them. Find out what they're passionate about and start from there.

Answer 10

As a student myself, im telling you dont worry things will get better as the year goes on, seriously. im in highschool, and at the moment i have a really crap teacher who just came out of university and she doesnt know anything about teaching.

My advice is ask the students how they think you are going because that is the only way you can change. if my teacher did that i would tell her to give the actual criteria at the start of the project and not the day before.

It would be better asking the well behaved and honest child in your class, instead of the naughty kid that can make a teachers life hell. But, dont worry. your class will get used to you by each day.

Answer 11

I would encourage you to try not to feel guilty. The key phrase in your question is "I'm doing the best I can". Students as you know have all levels of ability, they come to school with all types of backgrounds and possibly most importantly students have a role in learning.

Try as you might, what you do may be effective with some and not with others. Look at your progress over longer periods of time, not just from day to day. Know too that not all students will learn the same amount.