By anonymous
No, I am not a criminal. I’m not here to ruin things for your daughter or waste a year of her learning. Neither am I trying to pick on her, or provoke her weak points. And hard as it is for you to believe I’m not trying destroy.
I am the teacher you were disappointed to know. The one you wished your daughter would have been spared, or the one your neighbor has been complaining about. Maybe I’m the one you had nightmares from as a child? Or the object of your 6th grade fun? You haven’t had pleasant experiences with me and from the moment you saw my name on the list you knew the year you were in for. After all, “First Year teachers” aren’t all that different, there’s bound to be some challenges and first year moments. You know your daughter will not learn as much as your older daughter had learned when she lucked out to be with the veteran. And if your daughter is ‘a handful’ you are sure she will not do too well with an amateur disciplinarian.
So how do you take it? You proceed to try and get your daughter into the ‘other’ class. And after you are sure everyone knows you are not happy with your daughter’s teacher , but were unfortunate enough to have your request refused, you proceed with a tough front making it clear to me that you are not happy and any challenges that arise are my fault. You give me the look when you see me around, and with your insensitive frustration you in some way or other let me know that this is not the field I should be working in. How dare I put your daughter who is at no fault of her own through a year of my mistakes. You feel it is irresponsible of me to undertake a class when I am not yet as experienced a teacher as your daughter deserves.
Sometimes I believe you. I wonder if this is really for me, what I am doing wrong, and why I can’t seem to get everything perfect. And with my true care and concern that you refuse to believe is there, I take it very personally that I am not reaching every students and that your daughter isn’t doing as well as she could.
I stay up late planning interesting and engaging lessons, and spend my free time getting advice from teachers more experienced then myself. Things improve and I am reaching more students, my discipline is solidified and things are going smoother. I still get phone calls from you. You want to know why we aren’t up to the same perek as your neighbor’s daughter who is in the same grade. You want to know why your daughter doesn’t know the teitchen the way she knew them last year and you are appalled at my supposedly vicious attempts to pick on your daughter. I hear you out. Loud and clear. And while I am wise enough to take it with a grain of salt, I am humbled by my apparent inadequacy and slow progress. while I have many successes to celebrate, my mistakes somehow speak loudly with a bold underlined print. I wonder again if this is for me. I feel terribly responsible for my not so perfect teaching, and wonder if I’ll ever be the teacher I want to be.
I think about your daughter and the better skills she’d probably gain had she been placed in the other class. And the worst part is that it’s my fault. I wonder if I’ll continue and eventually get better or perhaps spare myself the guilt and make an early retirement from my teaching career.
The year continues and among your barbs of hurtful comments you sprinkle a couple of compliments you could not hold back from saying when you saw how well your daughter internalized what she had learned. Or the creative project that your daughter enjoyed. By the time the end of the year comes around you are happier then when you started out. You learned that even first year teachers have what to give and while they definitely did not impart skills as well as the veteran, they had other talents to share and sharpened their other skills throughout the year. You thank me for the nice year I shared with your daughter.
I’m still not sure if I should teach. I’m still hurt by the many comments you’ve said and your sometimes valid disappointment at one of my not yet polished skills. I speak to people who know me better then you do, that help me realize that I am doing just what I am meant to be doing. They tell me it would be a crime for me to leave chinuch and Lubavitch mosdos need me. They remind me that I was in no way irresponsible in taking the position of a first year teacher. They remind me that I was responsible and took educational courses offered by our own mosdos on practical teaching methodology and continued to take classes as I taught to do my best to be the best that I can be. They tell me that much of a teacher’s success comes from experience and I have my first year behind me.
And so I take the plunge for yet another year of growth in the wonderful field of chinuch.
Tips for parents:
· Your Childs first year teacher is not a criminal! She means well, and is doing her best. A first year is not easy for anyone.
· If you have any complaints, proceed with caution, it is a human being you are dealing with, who takes her job very seriously, speak respectfully and offer a better solution.
· Always remember that every great teacher had a first year. Give your child’s teacher a chance.
· Your child’s first year teacher is most probably spending a lot more time preparing for class and thinking about your child then the experienced teacher who has 10 kids b”h. Appreciate it!
· If your child’s year is not going as well as you would have liked, hold your breath, it happens to the best of us, first year teachers exist and we need to deal with it like a mature adult.
· Take a moment to ponder the great sacrifice your child’s first year teacher may be making from her personal life for the difficult job of teaching as she hones her teaching skills.
Tips for aspiring or first year teachers:
· Take some courses on teaching before you enter the field. No matter how talented you are, teachers need to be trained.
· Continue to take classes and seek advice from professional mechanchim while you are teaching. One piece of good advice can save you weeks of frustration.
· Always remember that every great teacher had a first year. Give your yourself a chance!
· Do your best, but know your limit. Agonizing over alluding success will not do any good. Good teaching takes time, as long as you are doing your best, you are an excellent teacher (whether that blunt parent knows it or not).
While there will always be someone else who is a better teacher then you, there is never someone who has your personal talents and shares your personal successes.
Take note of your shortcomings. Get advice. Highlight your success. Celebrate them.
I taught for many years in our mosdos.
My children are now going through the system.
This author is just the kind of teacher I would love my children to have
A caring sensitve teacher, who reflects on her own teaching
midos tovos yiras shamayim
these are the things that make an impact on our impressionable children
they see through all of our teachers and know when someone is real
HATZLACHA
see last paragraph : “They remind me that I was responsible and took educational courses offered by our own mosdos on practical teaching methodology and continued to take classes as I taught to do my best to be the best that I can be. They tell me that much of a teacher’s success comes from experience and I have my first year behind me. ” very well written article! which school does this first year teacher work in? I’d love my child in her class! If all teachers would care like the author does and continuously strive to be their… Read more »
please please please…… I have to say that i have seen alot of talk about bts, vs. ffbs recently… i just feel the need to say….. It really rubs me the wrong way when people feel the need to be defensive about thier parents being BTs…. even the term”BT” i find to be digrading and disrespectful… dont attribute any defensiveness or digrading to yourself and your parents…. as for people that feel the need to shtech BTs…. they are loser.. why mess with losers if u are not one of them? Be proud of who u are and dont try… Read more »
What does related have to do with anything? I teach because I WANT TO TEACH. My parents are BT- i have no lubavitch relates and i’m working in a school in crown heights. what’s family got to do with anything. They hired me beucase i love what i do.
I truly believe this problem would be eliminated if teachers in Lubavitch schools were actually trained in university! It’s ridiculous that girls are allowed to teach without a degree, I would never let my child be a student with a teacher who hasn’t been properly trained. Go get a university education and only teach if it’s what you actually want to do! Not all people would have to be teachers if they actually had the opportunity to go university and choose their career. That is the only solution to the terrible education that is occurring in most Lubavitch schools.
we <3 our teachers!
Dear first year teacher, thanks for your “words from the heart” In my first year of teaching (Bais Rivka, 7th grade language arts…) I was desperately seeking chizuk…I saw a vetern co-worker while shopping and asked her for her “on one foot” advice…….her response? “First, love them!” Thank you, Mrs.Debbie Sperlin!!! Did my 5 yrs at Bais Rivka, then did 10 years at LEC of Miami…now, baruch Hashem, I’m the substitute teacher “next door” in Ft Myers…It’s hashgascha protis which teacher your child gets, but each parent has the free will to choose mentschlich behavior (or not, chas v’shalom) Hatzlocha… Read more »
A Morah is someone (like in the poem) that gives a lot of themselves. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Your child is not a guinea pig, but your child IS a human being with certain expectations. If your child cannot sit still in class LIKE THE REST OF THE CLASS, the teacher actually does not need to change his/her whole lesson plan. But he/she does. So now you smile and say thank you from the bottom of your heart before every teacher in the world picks up and leaves. We are not paid nearly enough to get the bashing and demands… Read more »
May i ask why in Israel you can’t get a teaching job without a B.A = 4 years of learning -university-academy-seminary?
I geuss im very gbentched, being a mother and a morah, Ive seen many first year Morahs do an absolutely wonderful job!Morahs Ch. Kaplan,F. Minkowitz,D. cohen,R.Liberov,R. New,D.L..Yarmushand the list goes on….a little advice,you must love children and teaching with every ounce of your being,otherwise….
In BCM R’Plotkin trains all teachers new and veteran with almost monthly workshops with top educators.maybe Bais Rivka. And bnos menachem ought to learn from them
It is very important!!! I’m very impressed with this professional school that takes action on behalf of their students
You might be the exception, however my kids have been through first year teachers who have absolutely ruined them – not scholastically but emotionally. Too painful to even write about.
Your grammar is painful to look. Does CAPS work on your computer by any chance?
The idea of mentoring already exists, there are currently about a dozen teachers in CH being mentored and trained through JNTP and MEF.
Be careful what you say. It may be insulting.
… as does your grammar.
A teacher who is trying his/her best without experience is not so much a problem as teacher with an arrogant attitude who thinks they know better than the parents.
How about half of the half! I am a teacher and although I have over 5 years experience and am EXTREMELY talented, I am only making a little over 20,000. Most teachers, unless they have 3 degrees under their belts, with over 15 years experience, make more than 40,000. We work our teeth out for pennies, and we somehow manage to greet everyone with a smile anyway….
Thank your teachers
It goes a long way
schools need to take responsibility for first year teachers
with intensive training and support
this will help immensely
While on the topic of teachers, here is a letter someone wrote to a teacher. Dear Teacher, Thank you. Thank you for being a teacher. And thank you for choosing to use your time and talents teaching students when you had so many other career options, most of which offer better pay, more comfortable working conditions, and much more respect from the general public than the teaching profession does. Thank you for taking yet another exam to prove your competence, although you have already completed five or more years of college and hundred of dollars’ worth of standardized tests. Thank… Read more »
A parent joined me on a class trip at the end of the year and told me that at the start of the year, she went to the Head and asked him what her child will be learning. He said “you know, all different stuff”! she couldn’t get out of him anything. In fact, this Head has no clue what I teach!!!
im a teen and my teachers dont have a clue how to teach, and i get things before them, thats how much they prepare. my teachers that were straight from semanary were amazing. they were intresting and prepared and nobody gave them a hard time because people who are smart can tell when they have a good thing. and to most people in the world TEACHING IS NOT A SIDE JOB U HAVE A BUNCH OF GROWING KIDS/ TEENS YOUR IN CHARGE OF THIER FUTURE!!! IF YOU CANT TEACH FIND OTHER JOB!!!!
In our largest yeshieva with 4 clases to every grade, the new teachers get very little support. Big problem.
I want to tell you a story. I was a first year teacher once. After a few weeks in the classroom, the principal asked me to consider taking a transfer student from another classroom, in which there was a seasoned teacher. You see, the seasoned teacher was not teaching that student in a way the student could learn. The principal had observed me, and he felt that my way of teaching (based on 4 years of college and a year of teaching internship, along with a somewhat inate sense of the art), might be more effective for this particular student.… Read more »
i agree with #5. and it also helps to ‘think’ BEFORE you ‘talk’
So I guess most of the people posting here would have no problem taking their child to a medical student for all their health care.
A teacher plays a vital role in the development of a child, just as a doctor is vital to a childs health.
In my opinon it needs to take an average of at least two years after co-teaching with an experienced teacher to teach solo.
As a current CH teacher & a teacher in general for about 15 years – thank you for this article. Every teacher has to have a 1st year. I, BH, have had so many happy parents over the years & that gives me the chizuk to keep doing what I’m doing.
Parents: You can’t imagine how much love & effort & sometimes the teacher’s hard earned money goes into your precious children. Remember to thank them every so often, whether it’s a note, a gift, a message on the mitzvah note. We just want to be appreciated!!
the problem is that there are few veteran teachers! Most of the elementary teachers are there til they get married or go on shlichus. As soon as a school gets a great teacher she either goes on maternity leave (3 months into the school year) or goes on shlichus. Older teachers are often not hired. A friend of mine found out that she was considered ineligible to teach because she is too old (early 40s) and the position was given to a kid fresh from school despite her experience.
I felt the same way…except that I decided to find a job working from home, where I wouldn’t have to pay childcare fees in order to help children whose parents refused to work with me. I may as well help my own child instead…no reason to be exhausted with him because I threw all my energies into someone else’s child…and they don’t even care.
How about some respect for us teachers who spend hours and hours (w hich we don’t get paid for) and spend our nights and Sundays preparing- how about some respect from us- for parents and especially from directors.
Thank you.
there is now a new program running in CH, a branch of a big program called ” JEWISH NEW TEACHERS Program” it is fabulous! it pairs up new teachers with veteran teachers, and the veteran teacher meets with the new one once a week and observes his\her class once a week. this not only gives the teacher proper support, it also furthers the teachers skills and classroom management!
I was lucky. My first year of teaching was in a small out of town school where good teachers were hard to come by. I did put a lot of effort into my lessons and projects but the parents and students were so grateful for anything I did with them. Later down the line I taught in bigger schools and bigger cities where expectations were higher and it wasn’t always a smashing success. The students had much more of a BTDT attitude and no extra effort was ever good enough. i’ll always be grateful for my first year teaching experience… Read more »
I feel like I’m reading my own story…
It is a valid challenge for both the teacher and the child/parent. Patience and understanding are called for on both sides. I believe that when a school hires a first year teacher, the school is obligated to have a senior staff person observe her and give her constructive feedback on a regular basis. Another thing that is very useful is to have the first year teacher observe veteran teachers and watch what they do that is successful. This is often more valuable than any lessons she learned in the classroom before she was teaching. She can observe strategies that work… Read more »
Not everyone is made for teaching. It’s a fact.
It feels so good i’m not the only one out there going through this. You’ve spelled it out so adequatly…thank you. Moshiach should come now!
you obiously never tried to see it from a students point of view bh im a young mother now with 3 children and am very happy with my life to put it honestly as a young girl i was popular and well liked smart and hard working and respectfull and this gave me no attention and this treatment has not changed the girls who are good no problems are just one of the girls or picked on and the grls who have messed up familys stupid or lazy get all the attenton its not fair if those grls really need… Read more »
This is very true and well articulated.
You’ve brought out some very good points. Well written and insightful. Thank you!
I’ve had many jobs, from blue collar schlepping work, to teaching, to being an attorney. The singular constant is that the customer is always right and as it says in Perkei Avos “the Master is pressing.” Every consumer has a right to question how well they are being served. Trying your best is not good enough, and success is all that matters. Teaching is no different than any other profession. There are too many inadequate teachers that get passes because of nepotism and retention of the status quo. If I wrote a public letter about how difficult being a lawyer… Read more »
Very well written! No one, besides for teachers knows how much work and dedication goes into teaching. It is usually the parents of the toughest children who are the least appreciative of what we do. Anything that the child will do wrong in his/her ENTIRE life will always be the teacher’s or educational institution’s fault. Teachers, should be paid the most as they work extremely LONG hours after the day’s teaching (as you said), yet they are paid the least and recognized even less. If this can comfort you, a Mechanech once came to the Rebbe and complained that he… Read more »
not fair! if this is a “try out” for the first time teacher, let it b on the house! not fair to hire teachers with no experience and/or no training and let our children b the guinea pigs?!?
As a former elementary school teacher. I would suggest against sizing up against other teachers, even if parents insist. I would engage in the teaching form that is most natural to you brings about your (and subsequently you students’) strengths. For example, Chaya may learn more teich in the other class, but in this class we focus on holistic teaching, that encourages the quality of learning not just list of words to memorize.
Teaching an exceptionally exhausting job, it is also low-paying, and thankless. But it truly is the most important job in the world. Best of luck!
Children are not Ginnie pigs. Yes, there will be better and not as good teachers and parents have to except that fact gracefully (albeit it’s understandable that they’ll do the best for their child best interest) but that doesn’t excuse inadequacy. In truth I may agree with this article IF the author would define what the word “teacher” means. Is a teacher merely someone who decides they can take on a class and teach or did this “first year” teacher have training, and prior classroom experience? Is the teacher in the position because she deserves it or because she’s related?… Read more »
being paid and that is the hardest part of teaching,yet the administrations aren’t to crazy about it,we always paid the tutition in full,we do have a car or anything fancy,even when we did not have a penny left,tutition all ways got paid
Teen go to school. You might be a burden to taxpayers in the future.
I sent 6 children KAH through all their years of school and therefore have experienced approximately 90 years with school and teachers! Some of the first-year teachers stand out in my mind like shining stars — they were so kind, loving, energetic, creative and completely given over to the students. I even remember a first-year teacher who became a kallah that year but didn’t lose her head at all — she was right in there as an excellent teacher throughout it all. Kudos to all those entering or continuing in Chinuch Al Taharas Hakodesh.I wish you continued hatzlacha. May Moshiach… Read more »
Compliment ,compliment , compliment!!
Catch them while they are doing good!! They will always remember that!!
picture in your mind that your child’s “first year teacher” is YOUR DAUGHTER begining her teaching career, and act accordindly.
I hope you will one day re-evaluate your comment. Education is one of the most valuable privileges you will have. And for free! (To you, at least.)
The problem is that there are SOME parents that are totally out of control. They helicopter parent and want to make their child’s life like magic. Unfortunately, it is their children who will grow up handicapped and unable to deal with what life dishes out.
I was a first year rebbi in a Chabad school and got no support from the admin.
Besides training, which unfortunately our melamdim do not get much of, the solution is to create a mentoring program where new teachers are paired with veteran good ones, where the veterans watch them teach and advise on skill and techniques.
My experience was a very lonely one, with next to no input from the principal and no offers of assistance from fellow teachers.
however, very good and timely article…hope parents get the message…
$80,000? Where do teachers get paid that much??? How about half that amount…
I was that first year teacher you describe and now- years later the most wanted in the school! we all go through it!
very well writen!!
well said. I love first year teachers- they want to show you how well they can do, and it really shows!
Dear First year Teacher I write to you as an 8th year teacher. It is very true that the first year is very hard. I would just like to say that there are some teachers who I have seen remain “a first year teacher” for 20 years and never take realise that teaching is not for them. They put hundreds of lives through their unplaned boring lessons and due to the lack of intrest for their job, many children have grown up ignorant and gone of the derech hatorah. I was one of those children who went through 6 years… Read more »
As a teacher I am at times taken back how Parents can talk to teachers. Ofcourse every teacher has room to imporve.Yet Parents who want thier children growing up with Derech Eretz should set that example.
Firstly, I want to say that you’re right…we all started out as novices and despite my successes (B”H there are many) I still cringe when recall the things I did (or didn’t do) that first year. How those children learned anything is truly chasdei Hashem! The thing is, we learn from those mistakes and become secure in our capabilities and our subject. Your point about parental attitudes is well taken. Parents contribute greatly to the success or failure of teachers. A young mother started blasting her daughter’s teacher in a most inappropriate public setting to me…and I don’t even teach… Read more »
I have three children and every one of them has a new teacher this year. I am happy with my children’s learning so far.
Last year one of my children had the teacher everyone wanted for their child and it did not work out so good for my child.
The experience of the teacher is not the most important thing in class. Chemistry is more important.
The problem with teachers in our neighborhood Crown Heights, and this might be insulting to hear, many teachers become teachers as a last resort, for whatever reason, they couldn’t or didn’t get to go on shlichus or a career in business didn’t work out. With that said they also didn’t bother to learn how to be a teacher, in my opinion, to be a teacher in any one of our schools you should need to go and get educated to become a teacher and not just have a good connection with the management of the school.
# 3 your spelling needs a lot of work. b”h you are not a teacher
Very well said. Teaching is the toughest profession I know of. Competent teachers are worth their weight in gold and very good teachers much more than that.
It’s getting harder and harder to teach well, with the over crowded classrooms, increasingly aggressive children, unrealistically demanding parents, and overbearing administrations.
First year is hard even for what are now the best teachers! However, teaching inst for everyone. Even if you were paid 80,000 dollars to teach it is a hard job that require lots of patience and inst for everbody. No harm in trying and good luck in whatever you do.
school is so overrated
that was very informative…thank you for sharing and kol hakovod