Letter to a First Year Teacher

I recently trained to be a mentor for new teachers. On day one, we were asked to write a letter to our younger selves. As is typical in pretty much all forced professional development, many of us begrudgingly began the task with a roll of our eyes. But soon, the room was silent. It was an engrossing and challenging exercise of introspection. Here is what I had to say to my younger self.

To Ms. Wentlent, on your first day of teaching at age 22:

You are where you are supposed to be. I know you’re overwhelmed at the number of classes you’ve been given to teach, drained by the long drive to school and back, exhausted by the hours spent prepping lesson plans each night, and intimidated by those seniors who are only four years younger than you. But you chose teaching for the first reasons! Compassion, optimism, and a love of learning are the elements from which you were made. Eventually, you will build upon that foundation to become a confident, firm, but kind teacher who wakes up excited to go to school on Monday morning. You will become the best version of yourself! I promise you’ll no longer feel like you’re performing in the classroom, and that “Ms. Wentlent” and “Anna” will no longer be separate people.

But it’s going to take time to get there. Be patient with yourself. Please, oh please, be patient with yourself. You don’t know everything, you’re brand new at this, and you are expected to make mistakes. Talk to your principal, observe your colleagues at work, read and then re-read The First Day of School by Harry and Rosemary Wong, and when you need it, ASK FOR HELP! There is nothing to be gained from being the smartest person in the room.

And when you overhear a student talking about you in the hallway or receive a critical parent email, try your best to cast off the critics. This quote from Theodore Roosevelt will become one of your favorites: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasm, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause…”

Love, Anna

Do you have advice for first year teachers? Share with us in the comments below!