Saturday, June 25, 2016

"Won't You Be My Neighbor?" Welcoming New Teachers

When the new school year begins, many of you will be welcoming not only new students, but new teachers, too. What support might these teachers wish for as they transition into their new professional home? I’ve spent the last two days with early-career teachers who have provided some insight into that question.

Our retreat was a human-centered design challenge to consider the question: How do we keep talented early-career teachers in the profession? One of the strongest themes to emerge was that meaningful support from coaches and mentors is important.

Many states or districts have mandated mentoring programs that sometimes feel like busy-work: checking the necessary boxes to fill the requirement. Sometimes the assigned mentorships work; if they are lucky, new teachers are assigned a mentor who they click with, who shares their teaching philosophies and is willing to learn with them. But many times these formal mentorships fall flat. The partnerships are not well-matched, often because expert teachers feel they cannot add one more thing to their own busy professional lives.

However, many of the teachers at our retreat spoke positively of the support they’d received from their building coaches. The informal, un-mandated connections they made with these colleagues helped them navigate the expectations of a new system and were a valuable place to turn when the going got rough.

And sometimes, it was the littlest things that mattered. “Don’t just assume everything’s going fine,” one teacher said. “Stop by and ask, ‘How was your day? Is there anything you need?’ Check in. Listen to my needs and support me.” “Talk to me,” another said. “Don’t be a stranger.” Although new teachers need to know who and how to ask for help, another teacher went further, opening up to suggest, “Anticipate my needs, since I may not ask!” That sounds like a tall order, but coaches, who know instruction, who know the kids and the system, are in the best position to do just that.

Time, for all of us, is something we just don’t have enough of. A root-cause analysis of almost any problem ends up including a reference to lack of time. This is certainly true when examining the challenges facing early-career teachers. Their planning takes longer and they are learning about new people and places. For many early-career teachers, these changes also come at a time when they are “adulting” – taking on the responsibilities of managing their own budget, bills, insurance, etc.  One of their biggest challenges is deciding how to prioritize their time. The teachers I worked with described how helpful coaches could be with this dilemma. Help new teachers consider: Which teaching approaches will give them the most bang for their buck? What deadlines are approaching? What matters most in this building? Teachers without this guidance talked about “surprise responsibilities” and deadlines that caught them off guard.

Another way coaches can help is by providing models of good instruction. This could mean teaching a lesson in the early-career teacher’s classroom, or it could mean making arrangements for her to observe another teacher. Better yet, it could mean creating an open-door culture in the school, where all teachers benefit from the opportunity to observe one another!

Coaches provide support when they offer resources, tips for navigating the system, opportunities to learn and reflect on teaching practice, or just a listening ear. These supports can make all the difference.  “A strong support system is what helped me not give up during my first year,” one teacher said.

Although early-career teachers want support, they also have much to offer, and they want to be valued. They have energy and ideas to contribute. They want to share their thinking and have their voice be heard. “Just because I’m new doesn’t mean I don’t know anything,” one teacher said. “Let’s be intellectual together!” another suggested. Collaborating with early-career teachers can be a win-win.

I was surprised by how often the term “mentoring” came up over the course of our two-day conversation. Teachers new to a building, especially if they are early-career teachers, are looking for “their people” – people they can relate with professionally, people they can bounce ideas off of and learn from and with. People who will make a personal investment in their growth. Oftentimes, building coaches can be those people.


This week, you might want to take a look at:

These collections of blog posts and resources for new teachers:




Building a school community through favorite books:



Kids’ ideas about student engagement:



Rewards of writing with honesty:



The students are why we stay in teaching:



That’s it for this week. Happy Coaching!

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