Teaching Is Like … NUTS, aka New Untenured Teachers
Amber Chandler shares practical tips and resources for helping new teachers find support, resilience, and balance.
Just a few minutes ago, I ran out to the store to buy hamburger meat because I forgot to lay it out this morning, and my son is dying for a smash burger. I ran in, grabbed a few other things that I probably don’t need, and checked out. The receipt was a mile long, and I crumpled it up. As I walked out the door, I absentmindedly threw my keys into the garbage instead of the ball of paper. So, what is the first thing you do when something like this happens? Of course, I looked around to see if anyone had witnessed it, and of course I looked right into the eyes of a guy who was walking into the store. Immediately, I looked away and stuck my hand down into the trash, hoping that the keys had not sunk to the bottom. Luckily, they were easy to retrieve, but the man turned back and said, “Some days, the waves just keep knocking you down.”
Teaching is like standing at the edge of the ocean. You wade in with your big ideas, and the waves keep coming.
I mumbled something unimportant; but as usual, when I’m thinking about what to write, I find inspiration in the little things that happen in my life. As an English teacher, the world is full of metaphors and similes, symbolism and imagery. Anyway, I knew I was going to write about new teachers, my current obsession (not in a creepy way, in a “I really want to help them way”). My district recently extended its mentoring program to include years two through four instead of just the mandated first year. I had gotten a grant from the AFT to create a support system for new teachers, and it worked out well, so our collaboration with the district was started. I’m now the K-12 district leader for NUTS, our snappy acronym for New Untenured Teachers. This is a unique collaboration, and it is one I think is super important. You can read about it here.
The random man who witnessed my idiocy had piqued my interest with his pithy comment. What he said is true, for sure, and it occurred to me, like most things do, to be connected to teaching. Teaching is like standing at the edge of the ocean. You wade in with your big ideas, and the waves keep coming. As that inspirational poster plastered throughout classrooms says, “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” The origin of that quote is Jon Kabat-Zinn, and until today I wasn’t too fond of it. After all, I’m more of a wave jumper, and surfing seems pretty hard to do, but here we are. As I think of the NUTS in our program, it makes good sense. They are definitely just wading into the ocean, and I know that the waves keep coming. They absolutely have to learn to surf or at least jump the waves like I do until they can get past where they are breaking.
The smallest acts of kindness and support can make all the difference.
Standing at the edge of the ocean is comparable to the beginning of a school year. There are so many waves, but you have to wade in. You have to make it past the breaking point; but those waves are no joke. There are plenty of ways to be knocked over, and the waves of expectation are overwhelming. Assigning lockers. Tons of forms to hand out and collect. Names to learn. Meetings that should have been an email to attend. Icebreakers. Teaching routines. Figuring out where to park and which fridge you can put your lunch in. All of that is before you share a single smidge of content! There are also parents, benchmark testing, data dive meetings; and that doesn’t even take into account that all of this is new and unfamiliar, much less that many NUTS are still in graduate school starting a semester. They also probably have a part-time job, right? With all of that being said, I’m here to tell you to wade in; your teaching community will be there.
My book Everything New Teachers Need to Know But Are Afraid to Ask is where I first began talking (obsessively?) about how to support new teachers. First and foremost, veteran teachers or even less-new ones need to be a life jacket for new teachers. Or, at the very least, a lifebuoy—one of those round rings that lifeguards throw to someone struggling in the water. Before you run away from my endless figurative language, there are some practical ways that we can help new teachers get through these first few months. The smallest acts of kindness and support can make all the difference. Here are a few:
Help new teachers with the logistics of your particular building. Bathrooms, faculty rooms, parking, where the copier is, and how to find coffee; these are just a few of the things to consider. Also, think about things that might be different in your building that no one would find in an orientation packet. Union shirt Wednesdays? Everyone dresses up for Halloween. Think about potentially embarrassing situations, and let them know.
Channel your inner 22-year-old.
Remember when asking a question seemed like a sign that you were not a grown-up or that you weren’t a good teacher? Try to bring to mind the sheer amount of time it took to plan, write lessons, and get everything ready because you were always working to get through the day and prep for the next. Share My Lesson has webinars to support the mental health of teachers and students, and this webinar is a great place to start. Also, new teachers are going to need to do their Continuing Teacher and Leader Education hours, and there are great opportunities to earn an hour of professional development credit through many different webinars. Here’s one of my favorite new resources, the AI Educator Brain, and it’s one of my favorites because who wouldn’t love a webinar from the HipHop Teacher?
Share your stuff!
I have file cabinets full of old “stuff,” in Band-Aid-colored folders. Luckily, I also have folders on my desktop for everything I teach. Even if the new teachers don’t choose to use your materials or if they modify them, it is really good for the NUTS to know what is expected. Share My Lesson has curated collections for new teachers, a Welcome to Teaching Conversation Series, and Social Emotional Learning Lessons and Resources. Again, the new teachers may not choose to use what you provide, but helping them become immersed in great resources will never hurt.
Run interference.
If you see a new teacher trapped by a gossiper or complainer, help them escape. New teachers need to stay away from people who can bring them down. You don’t have to tell the new teacher what you are doing, but you might want to clue them in—that’s up to you. If Gabby Gossiper spreads rumors all the time or Cathy Complainer corners a new teacher and the poor NUT is trapped, free the person!
Candy. Coffee. Chips.
New teachers need to know that they are seen and that we want to get to know them. Small gifts will be a great boost, and I don’t know anyone who gives gifts and doesn’t feel good about it. Any gift will do, of course, but if you happen to have noticed that a new teacher drinks cinnamon tea, giving that as a gift will help the teacher feel more connected.
There’s more than a good chance that these small acts of kindness will impact the new teacher positively. We all know it can be lonely, and the stress is, well, like one wave after another, right? Standing at the edge of an ocean is a lot like teaching, especially in the beginning. That island of retirement is literally out of sight, and the days can seem to last forever. I do like this analogy, and I’m also reminded of a great adage: Never swim alone.
New Teacher Collection
We know as a new educator, you must have a lot of questions (and may be a bit nervous), but that’s where Share My Lesson comes in. We’ve put together a set of resources and practical tools from experts and educators in the field – just for you!
Amber Chandler is a National Board Certified middle school ELA teacher in Hamburg, New York with a Master’s Degree in Literature, as well as a School Building Leader certification. She is the 2018 Association for Middle Level Educators’ “Educator of the Year.” Amber has enjoyed a wide variety of... See More
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