Avoiding The New-Teacher Blues: What I Wish I'd Known When I Started Out

By Kati Begen, EdSource

January 3, 2023

It’s 2014 and I have just taken over a middle school science classroom in October. The class has been without a credentialed teacher because theirs quit in August. The students are wild because they have been without consistent structure and expectations for months. Enter me — a credential student, young, inexperienced and full of potential and hope.

While I would love to share with you that I had a “Stand and Deliver” type impact on my students, that would be a lie. I spent most mornings trying to hype myself up in my car to muster the energy to simply unbuckle my seatbelt. I spend most evenings crying to my mom and husband, feeling helpless in this new position. My first year of teaching was the hardest year of my life.

Fast-forward to 202, and now I am an experienced teacher who is on a mission to support new teachers as they wade through the muck of the first year in the classroom.

Teaching is a fickle beast. It is sometimes thankless, overwhelming and exhausting. It is also affirming, heart-warming and exciting. These two experiences occur simultaneously, making teaching a job where heart and passion need to be a factor. Once we accept that teaching is not a picture-perfect vocation, real growth can happen. Over the years, I have compiled some tips for new teachers, one I wish someone had shared with me:

I wish I could go back in time and share these tips with myself, sitting in the car crying every day. Teaching is tough, but it’s also the best career out there. Instead of sitting at a desk all day like some other careers, I get to learn about new trends, listen to good music and have meaningful conversations with amazing students. I get to laugh at their weird jokes, see them grow into young adults and watch as they come out of their metaphorical cocoons. Above all, I get to be a driving force in a student’s day, pushing them to be the best version of themselves. So dear reader, please don’t be afraid of the profession! Embrace the craziness and have fun with it!

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Kati Begen is a high school biology educator and credential coach in Fresno. She is currently working on her doctorate in curriculum and assessment at Southern Wesleyan University.

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