I was so thrilled to spend a weekend with new educators at the CTA New Educator weekend in Northern California. I presented two different presentations related to classroom management for new teachers: When Your Usual Bag of Tricks Doesn’t Work: Behavioral Interventions That Help All Students Succeed! and You Have a Special Education Student in Your Classroom – Now What?
5 Classroom Management Tips for New Teachers
After having time to reflect on the weekend, here are some thoughts I had:
#1: We Are All Different
New teachers come from so many different backgrounds and have such varied experiences. I was amazed and impressed with all of the differences. I met teachers that have come from the business world, some who were fresh out of school, and others returning to teaching after time off to parent their own kids. What an amazing group of professionals! The future looks bright for our students!
#2: It’s Time to Address Overwhelm
Fatigue and overwhelm are very real this time of year and new teachers report being overwhelmed as the biggest issue they deal with. There is so much to do and just enough time! That highlights exactly how important it is to provide on-going support and direct coaching related to how to manage the pressures of the job.
#3: More Support is Necessary
Supporting new teachers is CRITICAL to keeping good people in the field. Teaching is a hard job and teachers need ongoing support. When you take the time to compare the amount of support they do receive compared to that of other industries, it’s amazing they do the job they do! (I compare it to a brain surgeon…if we had a surgeon do all of their education and then just put them into surgery, there would be some concerns. Should the same be true with teaching?)
#4: Balance is a Struggle
Helping new teachers learn work life and home life balance is critical. This is not something that just comes naturally to teachers and is absolutely necessary to keep teachers happy and healthy. Teachers need coaching and mentoring to learn these skills.
#5: Training is Minimal for Classroom Management
Classroom management and student behavior continue to be the main struggle that new teachers face. Teachers report that they have one (maybe two) classes on classroom management, yet are expected to have a system that works. It’s critical that we offer more support when it comes to classroom management for new teachers!
If you are struggling with behavior management, you need the Classroom Behavior Toolkit. These 10 resources will help you create a classroom management system that works for you and your students. Grab yours HERE.
