First year

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First year
By Melissa

I am a first year teacher, in third grade. To answer your questions:

1. My first day went pretty well. I had a LOT planned, and I didn't get to nearly half of it, but I was able to start off on the right foot with my students
by beginning in a firm manner, and getting to know them throughout the day.
2. My biggest area of concern is teaching reading. In college, my reading methods courses just went through philosophies, not strategies. I just heard over and over.... "children learn to read by reading." Well, that's fine if they can already read, but what about the 3rd grader who barely knows the alphabet.

I had a parent call me on the 3rd day of school to tell me her daughter was crying every night b/c she couldn't read what I wrote on the chalkborad.

3. I have a wonderful team of 5 other teachers who help me out constantly. Plus, I am always online, here and other places, looking for new information and ideas. I also read a LOT of strategy books.

4. My administration is wonderful. I recently had a conference with my principal about my goals for the year, and she had lots of ideas and resources for me to use. I know that lots of other people do not have this kind of support, so I feel very lucky.

5. They didn't teach me about the massive amounts of paperwork, keeping records, or enriching higher achieving students. However, I am one who firmly believes that I must keep learning, and there is only so much they can teach in college.

Hope this helps.