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Survey: Easier?
Responses (generally unedited and in alphabetical order) to the following question used in a survey to collect data for Becoming a Win-Win Teacher:
How does teaching get easier after the first year?
Note to site visitors: If you would like to comment on these responses or respond to this question, click here. Please include your name and position or position only if you’d prefer anonymity.
Your expectations about students hanging onto your every word and soaking up all your expertise are gone and reality takes its place. You are no longer as deeply disappointed spending hours planning the perfect lesson only to have your students not get it. Plus, it gets much easier to think on your feet and not panic when you have to change things around at the last minute.
—Melody Aldrich, high school English teacher
Yes, maybe after the first 3 years!! You get more confident, learn the way things are and get more comfortable with what works!
—Micki Agresta, high school special education teacher
It really doesn’t [get easier] if you want to be good at what you do. It gets harder every single year. I used to think that eventually, I’d master the practice and just show up for the show. Unfortunately, that isn’t how it works. The more I teach, the more I don’t know. Or, I could say, the more I teach the more I need to know, because the more you teach, the more you realize how unprepared you really are. I am an avid reader and any down time is spent planning a new lesson or figuring out what to do next with a challenging student. The more years of experience have led me to believe I’m even more unprepared for the challenges I face each and every day. So, I always have a teaching book to highlight and read. I am really boring at a party because I don’t know how to talk about anything but teaching.
—Roxie Ahlbrecht, second grade teacher
You know that college didn’t prepare you for all the things you encounter and you are over that shock. You have built up a rapport with fellow colleagues and now have a support system (hopefully) that you can bounce ideas off of. By now, you know the curriculum somewhat, and can spend time beefing that up and adding things to make your lessons better. You have learned how the district operates and who to go to for things or to resolve issues. Your feet are wet and they can’t refer to you as a “new teacher.” I hated being the new one although I have worked in many buildings and districts and even with age and experience, you are the “new teacher.”
—Melissa Albright, sixth grade teacher
You know how to cover your mistakes better.
—Mel Alper, retired high school history teacher
Teaching gets easier after the first year because you have probably realized the significance of teaching beyond the academics.
—Elaine Anderson, attendance improvement facilitator
The first year involves living in survival mode. (“What am I going to do tomorrow?”) Although there will never be enough hours in a day to grade the endless stacks of papers, fill out paper work, respond to phone calls and emails, etc., a veteran teacher will be able to spend more time modifying the curriculum and lessons to design more meaningful learning experiences.
—Sherry L. Annee, high school biology teacher
After the first year you aren’t learning everything for the first time. You’ve already made plenty of mistakes to base your decisions on. Most importantly, you can see the continuum of learning that your students will go through during their time with you and you are better equipped to know how hard to teach each part of every concept. When you are learning content as you go, you have a hard time helping your students to see the “big picture” because you haven’t seen it yet for yourself.
—Lydia Aranda, elementary teacher
Teaching definitely gets easier as you are more prepared and can relax more and have more fun. This is my third year, and so far, it is my best.
—Wendy Aschenbach, high school special ed
You feel comfortable in doing lesson plans, standing in front of kids, being observed by an administrator and knowing how to pace yourself so that you can finish your daily lesson with time for a summary statement.
—assistant superintendent
The first year is the hardest, and I will add the first year teaching in any position or in any school is hard. After that first year it gets easier because you understand the routines of the school. For example, the schedule, the calendar, the paperwork, who will best assist you and answer questions, and you are used to how your classroom layout works best. Another reason that it gets easier is that you know the level the kids are generally at and you are familiar with the curriculum. You know what to expect. While you probably will not use the same lessons year to year, you will teach the same concepts. After the first year you also have a good idea of how to modify and adapt for students with special needs and varying levels. Teaching is never easy, but you do become more comfortable with some of the aspects.
—Susan M. Bailey, middle school reading specialist
When you get to know the system, the staff, and the children, things become easier. I was also able to figure out what works best for me and settle into my own style.
—Carrie Balent, guidance counselor
As with anything new, the experience builds your foundation, each day, each encounter is a building block. You know more about the system, how the logistics help in the organization, you find your rhythm, you belong to the profession, you are part of a community, you know where and how to access the support system.
—Anna Barsanti, student success leader, retired
I wouldn’t say teaching gets easier, [however] with experience, you become a better manager of time. Your first year is about keeping your head above water, learning the curriculum you are teaching, familiarizing yourself with best practices both in instruction and classroom management. All of that learning takes time. I still drive home daily thinking about how I could have done something differently with my students.
—Erin Beers, sixth grade teacher
After the first year I got used to being the authority figure and realized that kids feel better when they know the teacher is in charge.
—John Bickart, Educational Consultant, HS science teacher
Teaching gets easier as you find ways to avoid the irrelevant, streamline the grading, get to the real meat and prepare materials that can be used again.
—Joel Black, high school alternative teacher
It never gets easy! It only gets easier with the slow but steady accumulation of materials and activities, with the comfort level of ongoing classroom experience, and with the new teacher’s incremental assimilation into the life, culture, and history of the building.
—Stephen Bongiovi, high school English teacher
It depends on one’s definition of easy. With experience, you expand your personal toolbox of effective strategies for instruction, assessment, classroom management, and fostering relationships with students, families, and staff members, but in doing so discover that although you have more answers than what you started with, the question of “How can I do this better?” constantly creates a challenge.
—Charla Bunker, fifth grade teacher
For me this is a hard question. I have moved to three schools and four different grade levels in five years. I believe when you are new to a school it becomes easier because you know who to go to or where. You know the expectations of the school district. You also become accustomed to the policies and procedures of the school. I believe it is easier when you have been in a grade level more then one year in the same school. You learned the curriculum. You have a framework to work with the second year so you do not start from scratch you just have to adapt or differentiate. One thing that has carried over all five years is my classroom management. I have adjusted it according to the grade. I have a file which is lists of things I need to do before school starts. I also have my procedures for to be introduced to the new class each year.
—Jennifer Burkholder, first grade teacher
Teaching gets easier after the first year because you get a “re-do” each year. You can re-set your room, your management, your curriculum. To mix metaphors, you’re not reinventing the wheel anymore; you’re building a better mousetrap.
—Jen Buttars, sixth grade math teacher
Your first year is devoted entirely to learning the curriculum and trying to maintain what little control you have. You stay pretty much one day ahead of the students. The second year, the learning curve lessens a bit. You know more about the curriculum and can now deal with discipline and all the things they don’t teach you in college, such as all the paper work, state testing, what happens when kids smart off to you, etc. The third year is when you can start to spread your wings and create new lessons and enjoy being a teacher.
—Diane L. Callahan, middle school science teacher
I am not sure that teaching does get easier or even if I would want it to. The more doors you open in teaching, the more you discover there is to learn... and that is exciting, challenging, inspiring... but not easy.
—Glenn Capelli, educator, consultant, and trainer
After the first you begin to reach your comfort level with the curriculum, students, parents, and administrators.
—Maryann Caprioli, fourth grade special education teacher
After the first year of teaching, I had gathered materials from any place I could find them. The school ordered reading and math books, which made teaching a lot easier. I had some idea on how to teach reading and built upon the skills I had learned. Discipline was easier and I learned to be more consistent in my behavior strategies and expectations. I think teaching got easier as I became more familiar with student ability levels and my ability to teach each child differently. I started grouping students and presenting lessons in a variety of formats so I could reach each child.
—Sallie Chaffin, professional development project coordinator
You have materials already made, you're more familiar with your curriculum and you have more confidence in how to relate to parents and deal with “the system.”
—Amy Donner Chait, special education teacher
New techniques actually allow one to do active brain images of the blood flow of kids who have learning problems and kids who don’t and compare them. It is getting better if not easier, because we are finally getting tools that let you really target learning.
—Paul Clements, school psychologist
After the first year and you stay at the same school, you know the staff, the rules, how to take the attendance the lunch count, how to fill out forms and turn in money for fieldtrips, how to do the reading evaluations and the county math assessment tests, have been through a year of state testing, made mistakes, cried, laughed, and teared up when the last kids of the year leaves your class (Were those the same kids who came through my door 181 days ago?). You know the curriculum, have a data base of lesson plans, a few tricks up your sleeve for classroom management, have a better sense of what works and what does not, only to have to rework those each year. Yeah, teaching gets easier because you have wisdom and experience under your belt!
—Michelle Colbert, teacher of three-year-olds
I found my voice and realized that no matter how unsure I feel on the inside, I still have the teacher “title” and “they” don’t know I am dying inside. I know that some days everything will work and I will feel brilliant, and other days nothing will work and I will feel like a failure. And I know that just about everybody feels like that, so I just need to reach out and ask for help from others, without being embarrassed. (Teachers love to share!) I think if I got to teach the same grade or subject for a few years in a row, I would develop a rhythm. When you are new, you are always just trying to stay ahead of the kids, no matter how many hours you work!
—Cheryl Converse-Rath, sixth grade language arts and social studies teacher
You become aware of your curriculum, school climate, and expectations. This makes everything else flow so much easier!
—Amy Des Chane, professional development project cordinator
You’re so much more comfortable with all the variables that affect teaching, that you then can choose what to work on and know what is important to focus on and what not to worry about.
—Jason Cushner, secondary math teacher
It gets easier if you have a mentor or buddy to work with that will be your sounding board. I was lucky to get a team partner that after 16 years, we're still team teaching.
—Annette Dake, grades K-5 gifted teacher
You have some lessons that really worked in your pocket. You understand your audience better and how to manage a classroom. You also have friends on staff, know your way around the building, know who to go to for what and understand the basic working of the system. This definitely makes life easier.
—Joanne Davidman, family and consumer science educator
Everything is new the first year. There is nothing that prepares you like the experience of doing. The confidence you gain with that first year smoothes the way for future years.
—Holly Davis, elementary school counselor
During the first year you build relationships with other teachers (who are an invaluable source of support), families in the community (the kind that you get siblings or cousins from year after year), and you find your niche in the school. You somewhat know what’s coming and ideally feel more prepared for the bumps that you know will come. I have never had a year that I don’t have a bunch of kids whose older siblings or relatives didn’t have me or at least know of me. That helps.
—Christie DeMello, eighth grade teacher
It only gets slightly easier because teaching gets more demanding every year. However, understanding curriculum, setting routines and personal expectations does get easier. It also helps that knowing a new staff and team members is no longer part of the equation.
—Jill Denson, first grade teacher
You relax and enjoy it more… You add some finesse to your lessons. You remember what worked and repeat it. You remember what did not work, and if you are smart, you reflect, and make changes for the better.
—Carol Dinsdale, special education teacher
Experience helps so much. By the time I had taught five years, I had finally become comfortable in my role as a teacher. I knew what I was supposed to teach and how. I knew how to balance my time as a teacher and my time at home. I knew the school culture as a teacher and not just as a student. Just like with all things, practice makes things easier, and it does get easier after the first year.
—Jolene Dockstader, seventh grade English teacher
Words cannot express how each and every day, month, and year makes teaching an easier road to travel. I sought out colleagues for help and inspiration that kept me motivated. I am a science teacher but the Social Studies teacher down the hall and the Special Education teacher across from me were my lifelines. I was the 5th science teacher my students had that year and the only certified teacher that they had experienced. I was the only science teacher in my building and many of the students had not experienced a science setting. And this was in l989.
—Mary K. Edmunds, high school teacher
You have more tricks in your bag each year. My materials grow year after year as I tweak certain things, based on the students’ needs. Plus you learn after the first year that you do not need to try and conquer the world, you can do it, just in small steps.
—eighth grade English teacher
As I reflect from my first year to now in my third year of teaching, I feel like I’m on the right path and I’m more confident in my position.
—Elementary special education teacher
For me, I really stopped being scared of it all after the first year. I think that experiencing the full cycle of a year in the life of a teacher helped me to see the big picture and begin to understand the ebb and flow of teaching. I discovered things that I wanted to try, things that I wanted to do differently, and things that I wanted to build upon, which helped to fuel my desire to come back again and have another go at it the next year.
—Anissa Emery, high school counselor and English teacher
Even though the students were different, the curriculum was the same and I sort of knew what to expect and how to prepare.
—Michelle Erickson, first grade teacher
I can’t wait until next year! I will be more confident and have more of a background on our school, and areas I can improve. There will be less of a surprise as to what is coming next. At the beginning of the year I was unfamiliar with a few things, like [state] testing, ...reading assesments, parent teacher conferences, character education report cards and our schools unique grading system. Even now in the middle of the year I have fewer questions and feel much more confident.
—Suzanne Faas, fourth through sixth grade teacher (first year)
It does get easier, that’s true. During the first year you have to deal with many surprising situations and you realize that you don’t quite know everything yet. You also get used to flushing your lesson plans down the toilet and you learn that it’s not such a big deal if you skip the irregular past tense today because you have to clear up yet another mess in the classroom.
—Tuija Fagerlund, primary language teacher
Teachers are hard on themselves and quickly learn from flopped lessons, bad management techniques, and the mountains of paperwork they analyze every day.
—Stacy Ferguson, first through third grade teacher
I don’t think it does. My workload has increased, while the resources available to me have decreased, every year. I should mention that I've spent my career in the inner city—things may be different in suburban or rural environments.
—Karen L. Fernandez, high school English and language arts teacher
The more you do something the better you get at it. When you teach in a grade level more than one year, you are able to make decisions easier about curriculum (for example, which lessons to skip in the math manual and how to change or add to them to meet the needs of specific children). You definitely learn a lot and figure out some things to change and do differently after your first year. I make changes every year.
—first grade teacher
There is not as much prep work involved.
—Eric Flowers, high school music and band
Decision-making becomes easier, or at least more familiar, with time. The ebb and flow of the classroom settles into an established set of outlines and regimes. Eventually, after much practice, patience, and persistence, at some point along the way the new teacher becomes able to fly on autopilot.
—Robin Fogarty, author, 10 Things New Teachers Need to Succeed. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2007).
Your confidence grows. You learn where the line is between being friendly and being friends. Once you see that light bulb go on for one student and then another, you are hooked. After a few years, your kids will come back to visit you. They will tell you what you and your class meant to them. You really never will know where your influence ends. I have been teaching for 20 years and I am seeing “grand-students”—the children of my first students. It’s delightful.
—Nancy Foote, secondary math teacher
Teaching gets easier after 3 or 4 years. By then, you have some confidence in your ability to get your act together and come off as a competent professional.
—fourth grade teacher
After the first year or two, you start to find out who you are as a teacher and what works for you. Things come more automatically so you can relax a little, whereas the first couple years are pretty intense. Not knowing exactly who you are as a teacher makes it important to be constantly alert and searching for what does work, what’s necessary, and where to focus energy. After finding out what works for you, your attention can be directed in other ways.
—Mandy Frantti, secondary science teacher
Every day of experience makes you better prepared for the next. I have been doing this for 18 years, and think back to my first 3 years and shudder!
—Julia Frascona, EBD (emotional and behavioral disabiity) teacher
After the first year where you are trying to figure things out, the second year you can start experimenting with your technique and planning. By the third year, you are cruising with what worked yet still working on making your teaching better.
—Jeremy Freedman, high school science teacher
Teachers find what works and does not work, and if they pay attention (some don’t) and are willing to adapt (some aren’t) they eventually eliminate the things that didn't work well or got them in trouble and rely on the best practices. Early in a teaching career, it’s ok to do some vast experimentation of methodology—find out what tools in the instructional tool box work, and which ones don’t. Beginning teachers will soon find they got more than enough preparation about their subject matter through their college preparation, but they did not get enough true teaching experience. Read books. Visit other classrooms (something teachers don’t do often enough). Find a mentor teacher if one is not assigned. Study the process of teaching. Try it out. Work on different techniques. Keep a journal of successes and failures. Teaching gets easier one of two ways: you become a better teacher, or you leave the profession. I think it is about that simple.
—David Friedli, secondary principal
You have more experiences and resources to fall back on... But dedicated teachers keep working just as hard as they did the first year. As your time is freed up by being prepared in one area, you see new needs that you hadn't seen (or had the time to tackle) previously.
—Bill Funkhouser, middle school math teacher
After the first year, you have your feet wet, so to speak. You know your coworkers and school policy. You have lessons you’ve created, an established routine, a set of policies and procedures to govern the room, a binder with ideas to use down the road, extra supplies to help prepare for next year, an understanding of pacing, a better grasp on curriculum, and also and idea of what works and doesn’t work in your own teaching.
—Jason Gehrke, third grade teacher
With-it-ness. Something happens, almost like magic, that allows you to sense the climate in a classroom without specifically focusing on the individual events that are setting that climate. Some fields call it “situational awareness” but it is a type of awareness that is specific to a classroom—it has to do with the sound and the energy of the class. It is an abstraction, but a necessary skill for a successful teacher.
—April Keck Gennaro, elementary teacher
I don’t think teaching ever gets “easy.” Every new class is a new challenge but with experience, confidence develops that gives you the ability to handle whatever comes along.
—Bruce Hammonds, independent educational advisor
You have a bag of tricks to draw upon. Your confidence increases in dealing with all types of people—students, other teachers, the parents, your administrators.
—Tammy Hanna, middle school administrator
You have materials made, you know the curriculums, and procedures.
—Stacy Harris, second grade teacher
After the first year, I found I did not have to be glued to my lesson plan book. I knew lessons that worked and which would not. I felt it was easier to plan lessons after doing it for a year.
—Joani Heavey, elementary music teacher
Teaching gets easier because, hopefully, you’ve created and saved some resources.
—high school assistant principal
If you teach the same courses, it makes it easier to make decisions about what to keep and what to drop because you’ve tried it before and know how it worked or didn’t work. You have a baseline of material from which to draw from so you aren’t always trying to find stuff and evaluate whether it’s useful for you. You feel less like you are in survival mode. Also, you know how things “work” in your particular school.
—high school English teacher
Don’t know, haven’t been here a year yet.
—high school English and reading teacher
You become more familiar with your schools routines and procedures.
—Kenneth Hodge, sixth grade social studies teacher
You get to master the subjects you are teaching, you get to relate with peers and students more easily
—Allan Ilagan, educator
The more experience you gain allows you to see the individuality in each child. You are able to pinpoint their strengths and needs. More experience helps you actually address the different needs of the students with different teaching strategies.
—instructional support teacher
Experience and courage go hand in hand—the ability to speak your mind and the courage to stand by your convictions.
—Marti Johnson, ED behavior specialist
Teaching became easier after the first year because I started seeing myself as a teacher and no longer a college student.
—K-3 teacher
Immense satisfaction knowing you are finally doing what you trained for!
—Linda Keegan, elementary counselor
After year one, I think many of the basic organizational issues should be easier. That is, if you have not developed a lot of bad habits and you have gotten some help from an experienced teacher or counselor.
—Sandra Kenyon, student assistance coordinator
You really get to gauge how long a minute is, and how many minutes are needed for certain classwork, activity, explanation, etc.
—Seta Khajarian, academic advisor
[You are no longer] experiencing all the unknowns for the first time and knowing how to react. Seeing what has worked and what has not as far as lessons, motivation, and discipline.
—Jeff Kirsch, middle school emotional support teacher
You get the hang of discipline. Learning how to play the game. If you’re smart, you realize discipline is about building relationships with your student, involving them in decision making, realizing no two children are in the same place.
—Marilyn Lane, former principal, president CA Association Gifted
[You are] more aware of the procedures and expectations of the administration.
—Reba Lane, principal
After the first year, especially if you stay in the same school, you know how things work. You have had experiences, both good and bad, and learned from them (hopefully). You have made friends with other teachers on staff and feel that you have a group, or at least one person, you can go to for advice or a shoulder to cry on. You have a base of lesson plans that match the curriculum and worked for you. You are no longer starting from scratch. There are now new teachers who know nothing so you have moved up the food chain.
—Diane Laveglia, instructional specialist for staff development
After the first year, you have learned the ropes, and you know who to go to for help. You also know if this is the career for you, but you may have to come back for the second year to be sure.
—Berna Levine, special education supervisor
You can refine your techniques.
—Marvin Marshall, author and educator
Teaching definitely gets easier every year. Not only do you begin to learn more about the profession, but you also learn more about yourself as a teacher. You begin to develop your own style and way of doing things rather than relying on your mentor or cooperating teacher.
—Jacie Bejster Maslyk, elementary principal
Once you begin establishing relationships with colleagues, you develop a support system for the days that you feel like you are losing your mind.
—Michelle Mayrose, Title I reading specialist
You gain experience, understand how the school works, etc. It doesn’t get too much easier. You just get more confident and comfortable.
—David McAndrew, dean of students
After the first year you start to find out how your personality can work for you. You find your teaching style and you learn what works and what doesn’t.
—Teddy Meckstroth, seventh grade science teacher
You get bolder and stronger in your beliefs as you get experience.
—Bonnie Milanak, second grade teacher
You learn all the basics that you should have learned in college, like how to read a manual and some classroom management skills. I guess once you learn those basic things, you can breathe enough to actually step back and start tweaking how you teach so you can start to improve.
—Wonell Miller, elementary teacher
The first year of teaching for me was the most difficult because of the volume of paper work that had to be done. I was overwhelmed with lesson plans, IEP’s, curriculum meetings, standardized testing paperwork to show I was preparing students properly—the list is endless. It made it hard to maintain a high level of energy in my classroom and it was very draining. After the first year, I was able to get a grip on the paperwork and lesson plans were easier. I knew what worked and what did not so it was a mater of fine-tuning my lessons not trying to invent new ones. I also felt more comfortable with the procedures of the school after the first and did not feel like such a burden to the administration. The first year I had a lot of questions but I knew if I did not ask I would not learn.
—Josh Moberg, high school career specialist
It is never easy, but you learn to roll with the punches. You learn not to take it personally.
—Chick Moorman, author, educator
After a year of teaching, I had a much better idea of the workload, how to put theories into practice, and how to interact with the entire school community—students, teachers, staff, and parents.
—Anne Morgan, pre-K at-risk teacher
Experience is the best teacher. You have developed classroom management strategies then adjusted and modified them as needed. You have begun to find your own voice as a teacher-your personality and expectations. You are beginning to be able to adjust expectations and objectives because you have been doing self-evaluations on all aspects of your teaching this past year—looking at and reflecting on all that went really well and all that you would do differently. This reflection must be a part of your teaching in all the years to come. As you grow professionally, you will be more confident about trying new strategies and new ideas from respected mentors, colleagues and administrators. You have a year under your belt and you know the school rules, administrative duties, children, testing procedures, administrator, physical plant, evaluation procedures and expectations, some parents, the custodial and office staff, and sources of information.
—Phyllis O’Brien, curriculum consultant
I am more familiar with curriculum in the practical sense. If I see something while out and about that might connect to my lessons, I get it. Pacing also becomes easier year after year. Knowing when to start preparing for Report Cards or conferences (gathering data).
—Joanne Peters, first grade ESL teacher
Behavior management gets easier after the first year. It is overwhelming to learn how to deal with all the personalities in one classroom, a microcosm of who we all are in the world.
—Aili Pogust, educational consultant
The teacher is more aware of the procedures and expectations of the administration.
—professional development project coordinator
You learn from the mistakes you made the first time round. You feel less like an impostor and more like a real teacher.
—Sione Quaas, elementary teacher
If you learn from your mistakes I believe it does get easier. I believe teaching becomes harder when you try to make it easy. Seeking to improve and face new challenges each year makes you a better teacher and in a sense makes it “easier,” although perhaps “better” is a better word. Teachers that seek to make the job as quick and easy as possible seem to face the most difficulties and tend to be the least satisfied.
—Darren Raichart, junior high special education teacher and coach
Teaching gets easier once you understand the importance of rituals and routines and you have bombed out a few times a week.
—Jean Ramirez, positive behavior support specialist
Teaching gets easier after the first year because like anything else, you gain knowledge and confidence from experience. If something you tried wasn’t as successful as you would have liked, then target those elements for a more improved lesson. You become more familiar with how to teach the different subject areas. You also know the classroom and school staff and routines much better. You now know which discipline methods work better in your classroom. Hopefully, you are a lot more organized!
—Lois Romm, elementary readng teacher
Once you become familiar with your materials, you may change them some but aren’t reinventing the wheel after a while. Also, once you really know the material you can focus more on what really matters, the kids. You do get a sense of how to do things and respond to kids in a productive way. The work doesn’t necessarily get easier; you learn to better manage it.
—Marcia Rosen, reading teacher, specialist, facilitator
I am still in my first year but I have already noticed how things seem a little easier. I have started to establish my own collection of teaching aids, such as tangible teaching materials as well as my own personal experiences of reflection.
—Adrian Schaefer, third grade teacher
It gets easier once you have specific plans in place, learn time management, and when the students realize you are in charge and they can’t run all over you.
—Sherry Schafer, K-8 music teacher
Every year is different and every year I learn different things about teaching that make it easier and more fun. [After the first year,] I was also able to meet more people and had the courage to ask for help, ideas, or materials when I needed them.
—second grade teacher
You know your setting, you know the issues in relating to students, you realize the complexity of the job, you know your curriculum (in general), you know your strengths and weaknesses, you know your colleagues, you know where to go to get help.
—secondary math specialist
It never gets easier. Easier means you are not working as hard. If you don’t work hard as a teacher, you are setting your own personal bar lower than the one you set for your students.
—Lindsay Shepheard, executive assistant to the superintendent
Every day you get more confident about solving problems, and as a problem pops up, you know what to do without getting help from a veteran teacher. Rely on veterans and find a friend who has been teaching your grade level for a long time. Visit their room after school often, go to them for advice. They are invaluable to your success.
—Jill Snyderman, kindergarten teacher
Teaching gets easier after the first year because hopefully you learn from your mistakes. A good teacher constantly reflects on her teaching and management style. She remembers each student is an individual with unique differences and often these differences are precious gifts. She is constantly learning and evolving to become a better teacher.
—special education teacher and k-8 supervisor
Teaching should get easier after the first year simply because everything that follows after that is merely protocol. Once you have experienced the children, the rest is just building maintenance issues (meetings, conferences, parent contact, etc.).
—teacher
After the first year you’ve established personal relationships in your building, you know the curriculum a little better, you’ve established routines that work for you, and you can anticipate how the children in your grade level grow, change, and mature over the course of a year. All of those tidbits of information assist in making your teaching and planning in year two a bit easier.
—third grade teacher
Maybe I am the exception but it really took me a month or so into the second year to realize that if I started organizing and saving stuff, next year, will be easier. [Also,] you have some projects and assignments that can be reused. District and building procedures are commonplace and more time can be spent focusing on teaching.
—Michelle Tillapaugh, high school math teacher
As with anything new, the experience builds your foundation, each day, each encounter is a building block. You know more about the system, how the logistics help in the organization, you find your rhythm, you belong to the profession, you are part of a community, you know where and how to access the support system.
—Shelly Traver, seventh grade life science teacher
Teaching gets easier after the first year because you begin to develop a comfortable feeling in front of the class, communicating with parents, and working with administrators. You start to fall into an appropriate role in your school. Relationships are developed and you learn who you can go to in a time of need, who will lend ideas and resources, who will give you some background on a child when you feel like you have exhausted all of your options. I think you also learn to teach because you love teaching, which brings out the absolute best in you. The children can see it in you and are eager to learn with you. The parents are comfortable having their child in your classroom everyday but more importantly they are comfortable having their child in your care.
—Jillian Tsoukalas, kindergarten teacher
It gets easier in the way of behavior management. You gain confidence and learn how to talk with them and build relationships with them. You learn how to react—or not react—to those behavior situations. However, I think in other ways, it does not get easier. A good teacher is always learning and trying new things to reach out to those hard to reach students. This will always be a challenge.
—Stephen Vance, special services coordinator
Teaching doesn’t ever get easier. You just get smarter about the way you handle things; at some point you realize that it is all about survival, so you make changes in your classroom accordingly.
—Theresa Weidner, high school English teacher
You learn to build relationships with staff and children. Relationships with the teachers are helpful because teachers are walking resources. Relationships with children are helpful because you find out their interests and you are able to capture their attention. Building strong relationships with students is the key to survival.
—Kim Wilson, teacher
After the first year, you have a feel for what is important and what can be set aside. You also learn valuable lessons in what works for students and what does not work.
—Dot Woodfin, director of character education program
You know where the students are to be at the beginning of the year. The first year is a shot in the dark.
—director of elementary education
It’s easier in every way. Content is much easier. You still have those knuckleheads, but having content down makes classroom management easier.
—Eric Wright, administrative intern
As you mature in the profession, you will develop an understanding of what battles should be fought so that the quality of education will improve. Those are the conflicts that deserve your attention.
—Robert Wyatt and Elaine White, authors, Making Your First Year a Success, 2nd edition(Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2007).
Teaching gets easier after the first year because you have gained experience are more familiar with the curriculum, school procedures, classroom management, students and parents.
—Ruthann Young-Cookson, middle school special ed teacher
I didn’t need to do everything from scratch each week. I had the plans from the year before to use as a guide and I also started keeping a folder with what I used in each unit. That makes it easier each year to do your plans. I could also write notes to myself about what worked and didn’t work with certain lessons.
—Beth Zelfer, fourth grade teacher
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