#332 – Supporting New Teachers and Staff

If you are listening to the podcast with your instructional team or would like to explore this topic more deeply, here are guiding questions to prompt your reflection:

• What was your experience like when you entered a new position?
• How were you supported?
• What additional supports would have been helpful?
• How have you supported others in new positions?
• What supports could your school put into place to help retain new teachers and staff?

• The Art of Coaching (Elena Aguilar via Bright Morning)
• Find Your Marigold: The One Essential Rule for New Teachers (Jennifer Gonzalez via Cult of Pedagogy)
• A Framework for Supporting New Teachers (Tisa Holley via Edutopia)
• Effective Support Is Key to Keeping New Teachers in the Profession (Andrew Kwok via EdSource)

#332 — Supporting New Teachers and Staff

AVID Open Access
39 min

Keywords

new teachers, teacher turnover, teaching challenges, mentorship support, onboarding process, community building, professional development, self-care, administrative support, classroom isolation, teacher retention, instructional technology, teacher transitions, building relationships, strength-based approach

Transcript

Paul Beckermann 0:00
It’s really easy for the one bad interaction to overshadow a really fantastic rest of the day.

Winston Benjamin 0:05
No one learns how to walk the first month.

Rena Clark 0:09
Find those marigolds—those people that lift you up—or be that marigold for others.

Paul Beckermann 0:16
The topic of today’s podcast is Supporting New Teachers and Staff. Unpacking Education is brought to you by avid.org. AVID believes that we can raise the bar for education. To learn more about AVID, visit their website atavid.org.

Rena Clark 0:33
Welcome to Unpacking Education, the podcast where we explore current issues and best practices in education. I’m Rena Clark.

Paul Beckermann 0:44
I’m Paul Beckermann.

Winston Benjamin 0:46
And I’m Winston Benjamin. We are educators.

Paul Beckermann 0:49
And we’re here to share insights and actionable strategies.

Student 0:54
Education is our passport to the future.

Paul Beckermann 0:58
Our quote for today is from Tisa Holley’s article in Edutopia, A Framework for Supporting New Teachers. Citing relevant studies, Tisa writes, “Approximately 11% of new teachers leave the profession at the end of their first year, while almost half of new teachers leave the profession within their first five years.” Well, what do you think of those statistics?

Winston Benjamin 1:24
Horrible.

Paul Beckermann 1:25
Pretty much, right?

Winston Benjamin 1:27
Yeah, I think some of it is that teaching is a lot harder than some people actually realize and want to admit to themselves. So I think this speaks to the difficulty of this, of the field. It’s not just curriculum. It’s dealing with children, it’s dealing with emotions, it’s dealing with so many other things. So I think having this be a part of just a young teacher’s experience, really speaks to the fact that they weren’t truly prepared for what the role of a teacher is. So I think that speaks to the preparation of teaching.

Paul Beckermann 2:04
Rena. What are your thoughts?

Rena Clark 2:06
Yeah. I, as someone who is an educator, and then years working with educators and even having the opportunity to mentor new educators, I think I have a unique understanding of the challenges, like Winston says. But I definitely did not have that understanding as someone coming into it. You just, and even how the media kind of portrays teachers, and especially like movies like, oh, you go in and then you’re just nice to kids and buy them a dinner and they love you. That’s not really how it works at all. Yeah, that’s not how it works. And so for me, it really is, you have to be a learner of learning. So a big part of being an educator is knowing that you’re never ever done, you’ve never, ever arrived, and that you never will arrive, and you have to be able to embrace that, because you are going to be learning forever, and it’s a struggle. And I also think there’s a misunderstanding that this is something you do a bit more in isolation than reality, because the teachers that I know that are amazing and do it well and have a balanced life, are really good collaborators, have really good team members, and usually work at buildings that have really good admin and support and really good teams. It’s not individualistic, so it’s a whole culture. So it’s just really interesting to think about those statistics, and where is that happening, and what’s the culture of that building? Yeah, yeah.

Paul Beckermann 3:50
And you know, all three of us have switched positions in our careers at least once, mostly multiple times, probably. So I’m looking forward to our conversation today, because we’ll be kind of digging into that topic of, how do we support people as they’re going into new positions? And we’ll be speaking from our own perspectives as well as the perspectives of teachers and staff that we’ve worked with that have been through it as well. So I’ll post some questions, and then we’ll all kind of chime in based on our experiences and what we’ve learned over the years. So first of all, Rena and Winston, ironically, you’re both in new positions this year. You want to just share where you are now, and maybe a support that you have felt as you move to your new position.

Rena Clark 4:38
Sure, I’ll go first. I actually am in a completely new district, so like many people out there, so in Washington state, but I am in a new role as an instructional technology facilitator for all the high schools in the Auburn School District in Washington state. And if you had asked me that, if I’d be doing that many years ago, I would have gone, huh? So if you know me, I started out as a third grade elementary teacher. I actually graduated in sociology, writing a thesis on motorcycle culture, and then I was a STEM facilitator, and I was recently writing computer science lessons for elementary and now I’m supporting high school teachers, and really been working with ELA teachers a lot with AI. So, we are very good at adjusting. I think what we do is so applicable across multiple grade levels. And it’s been a transition. A little bit of my story, it was not like a transition that I chose, necessarily. So in our district, we had huge budget cuts, and it was a little bit of a surprise, but I was displaced from my position. I also had recently, I shared with you, had my admin cert, so I was actively looking for admin so I really thought I’d be an assistant principal or doing something else, but also with huge budget cuts in our district, that also meant tons of admin positions have been cut. And in the state of Washington, I know other places have huge teacher openings, we actually have no openings, and there are something like 60 to 80 people applying for even an assistant principal job with many years of experience, because all these jobs had been cut. And it was interesting, as I did new hire this year. And I do want to say, if anyone in my district’s listening like I am very happy with my job, and it fits me very well. I just didn’t see that for myself, because sometimes we end up where we didn’t know we would be. And a new hire this year, it was interesting, because normally, I’m in a little bit larger district than I used to be in. They said they usually have about 140 people at new hire. This year, there was only like 70, and of those 70, only 10 of them were classroom teachers. Just to give you an idea of a district, a very large district, like this is kind of where we are right now. So it’s very, very different. So that’s my new role, and I can talk a little bit about more of the transition and the support, so I think, but I’ll let Winston talk a little bit about his his new role first.

Winston Benjamin 7:15
Similar to Rena in our district, we had displacement. Everybody find a new job. It was kind of difficult. That was very difficult because it felt like, at that time, everyone was for themselves. So it was hard to really feel a community. And that was the biggest thing for me, is [if] I don’t feel community, I am not at my best. So that was the first part. But right now I got lucky. And I was lucky enough to be placed last year in a temporary dean of students job in one of the high schools that to “prove that I could do the job,” as a testing ground. And then later on, I got hired this recently, as the dean of students for one of our local middle schools in the Renton School District. I really love the job as dean of students. It’s a fun gig. It’s been something that I’ve enjoyed working with kids and trying to talk to them about how to deal with life mistakes in a way that’s a warm demander, as some would say. In terms of support, I mean, I know the district, I did not have a new higher orientation when I first got hired in the district, and I did not have an orientation when I got hired as the dean of students. So it seems like, because I was there, people assume knowledge. And I think that’s also one of the things about places. When you start a new place, even if it’s somewhere where you’ve been, there’s an assumption of already existing knowledge. What makes transitions difficult, because I don’t really know much of the new role, so having to figure that out on the fly has been hard. But the people in my building are really good. As Rena said, the community is really the thing that’s like really making places work well. So the staff and the dean, the other assistant principals, and the principal have really made the transition easy. So I think that’s the support, is the direct building support. So thinking through that might be another part of our conversation.

Paul Beckermann 9:17
Sure, yeah. And just personally, I’m not in a new job this year, but I have switched a couple times. I went from English teacher to library media center in the same school, and then I went to district tech integration specialist in a much larger district. And it’s funny, because every move I made, the first one, I had by far the most onboarding. The second one, I had zero onboarding because I was moving within the building, I think they just figured they didn’t need to do anything. And my wife was the other media specialist, so they probably figured I had it covered. And then when I came to this next district, ironically, I was training teachers the second day on the job. I had no idea what was going on. I mean, I knew what I was training about, because that was teacher stuff. But as far as the district, I didn’t know where the schools were, I didn’t know where the rooms were, I didn’t know any of the people.

Rena Clark 10:11
Yeah, can I just add in a little bit? Because I, this is now my fourth district I’ve been in as well. And as you said, it’s funny, just this assumption that you you know each time. And I also, this time around, was training new teachers. And they, I must have done a good job, because afterwards, they assumed. They’re like, “Oh no, you’ve been here a long time?” I’m like, “Four days. I’ve been here, four days. So, if ask me anything that’s not on these new line interactive boards. I have no idea, but that’s okay. But the other thing I think, with when you’re when you’re transitioning, or new teachers that they don’t talk to you about, it’s not just the teaching. And as an adult, I feel like I have a little bit, but it’s also all those other components with HR, and insurance, and you are the one responsible. So it’s like getting all the paperwork. No one’s going to like call you [sic] and well, they might, because you have to have, but you are the one responsible making sure that your paperwork gets over and you get the correct pay. And you’re the one responsible for making. So I think it’s really important too, that you check in and you make friends with those people. So I know that I the person in HR I found really helpful, and I I know they’re overwhelmed as well. So I write them a nice thank you card. I gave them a Starbucks card. They know my name. Make friends with those people. Same with like, your office administrators, if you’re in a building, make friends with those people, because they will make your life happy, because those are the people. So I think that’s just like another part to transitioning, and that new teachers don’t know that, that those people actually serve a really important role, and you have to advocate for yourself with lots of times baby teachers, sometimes people from other industry might know that, but it’s like you actually have to advocate for your needs, and that’s something new for a lot of people.

Winston Benjamin 12:07
Sometimes they don’t even know what their needs are this early. It’s like, uh, hello? And it’s like they feel like they’re in a they’re just got hit with a fire hose of information. Like this, do this, this building, here are your keys, your your key card, your code for the computer, the your code for the copier, or this, that, this is where your… and you’re like, what? Then teach.

Paul Beckermann 12:33
And there’s so many systems. There’s like, how many different logins does somebody have? How many different programs you got? You’ve got one for attendance, you got one for grading, you’ve got a learning management system, you’ve got the HR one, maybe a different one for if you’re going to be absent. I mean, I’ve known so many first year teachers. They get sick and they don’t know what to do.

Winston Benjamin 12:52
Exactly, overwhelmed.

Paul Beckermann 12:54
Because all your undergrad stuff is how to teach a lesson, how to plan a unit. Not all that other stuff that we just take for granted. Even where’s the bathroom? Where’s the lunchroom?

Winston Benjamin 13:07
Or when to take a bathroom break.

Paul Beckermann 13:10
Or if you get one.

Winston Benjamin 13:10
Right? Exactly. Again, and that’s another thing. Is just like, when thinking about even building a relationship is, Yo, don’t throw your babies to the wolves. Yo, like principals, take a second. Remember when you were a baby, why do you got them in like, four preps and like, three different subjects and three, like, the hardest classes. What? What are you doing? Like you said, Paul, they’re just still remembering how to put together a lesson plan, how to really look at the scope and sequence, really what and how to teach. There’s so much more that they don’t get yet.

Paul Beckermann 13:50
So maybe we should ask, What can we do, or what should we do? I mean, how can we support these teachers? What will make a difference? Because we’ve all been there. I mean, I remember my being a first year teacher, going home at night and thinking that was a disaster. I don’t think I helped anybody today, and then another day I’d go in and said, that was fantastic. But nobody knew. Not a single person knew. So, how do we support these teachers as they’re going through this roller coaster?

Winston Benjamin 14:19
I mean, it’s like you just said, it speaks to the isolation and non-isolation of teaching. Like, when your days bad, everybody knows the building knows they hear the kids leaving the room, the principal’s over. But when your day’s good, nobody knows why. I think the first is acknowledging that, yes, you will have good and bad days. I think the expectation that a new teacher is always going to be on there A, any A game, any game consistently, is a problem. To to do that, and I think the second part about it is break up the orientation over a bit of time. Hey, this is your building. Let’s do this first. Here’s all the things you need to know in this building. Give them a couple of weeks to figure that part out, and then you’re like, okay, now we have open enrollment. Hey, come in, meet with HR, this is what this means, this is that. So they have time to breathe and take in some of the information they’re getting their first few weeks. They’re still trying to figure out how to even deal with a kid who’s needs someone to be a strong, authoritive carer. They don’t know how to do that yet. And to add all of those other pieces, I think slowing down the process might be the second way that I would really think about supporting new teachers in this. Slow down a little, let them slow down.

Paul Beckermann 15:48
So I’m going to share something that my fabulous wife, who is one of the best educators I know, she taught me to do this when I was in the media center, and it’s [a] fantastic idea. She would take all the things that teachers needed to know, because we were the technology onboard people too. And she would break it into categories. You need to know these things during workshop week. You need to know these things by the first week of school. These things can wait until the second month of school, and it was tiered like that, because it’s overwhelming. You just drown in that stuff, if it’s all at once, like you said, Winston.

Winston Benjamin 16:27
Yeah!

Rena Clark 16:28
Which then, you know you need to have departments collaborating. But for me and Winston, I know you did a lot of work around this, but for me, working with new teachers and being a mentor. What my feedback was having those weekly, or even bi-weekly check-ins and making a point, having them on the calendar. And it might be that, as going in thinking we’re going to have this meeting and really dive in instruction, and all they needed was someone to cry to, because that’s what they needed that week. But I felt like that was the most powerful thing. And the feedback was they said I helped them get through that year. And we would, I’d have a template, and we always started with, what is going well? What is something good? What is something positive about the week? And then we documented it. I had a document, and we talked about it, and then it’s like, okay, what’s something you have questions on, or what’s something you want to work on? And then I also got to go in and observe as a non-evaluator and align that. And then I would just pick one, one thing for some people, you start in different places, one thing so we’re not trying to bombard them, one thing we were working on. And the nice thing is, since it I was not an evaluator like yes, their evaluators would let me know, sometimes unsolicited, what they needed to work on, so we could work together, but I never reported back to their evaluators about that. So might try to help them, but they knew too that it was really important that we had a relationship where they knew what was said was just between us, and it was really working with them, and having that relationship was really helpful. And then I would send them postcards in the mail. I would give them little treat baskets, or if I knew it was conference week, I go, great you made it through your first conferences. And I got feedback that that was really helpful for them. And I still, even through the years, I’ve reached out to some of them still, and it was easier when I was in the same district mail, and I would just say, yay you got through your first year without a mentor! Just checking in, how’s it going? You switch jobs, good job. Did you find a teacher that you can work with? And just having a person like that that really is your mentor, I think is really powerful. I know it’s not possible in some places, but I found that to be really a great relationship for new teachers.

Paul Beckermann 18:58
Was that a formal mentorship?

Rena Clark 19:00
Yeah, it was formal, and actually Winston was in charge of that program, so it’s through a best mentor program, and then some of them, we continued on and because, and I can even offer that now in my new role, it’s not formal, but I’m trying to offer that because, as I’m [an] instructional coach, I can offer that kind of relationship for people.

Winston Benjamin 19:22
And I just want to like so much highlight what Rena said about mentoring. Just one of the things that we tried to talk about was this idea of collective responsibility for beginning teachers. And a lot of times, the evaluators think that their responsibility is to evaluate just what the teachers are doing, but they don’t really think about how they grow and be the mentor of a new teacher like Rena. Hey, you just made it through, good job in your first conference with parents, your phone calls with parents. Those things are easy for admin to do for a new teacher, just to check in on them. The second thing is, as they’re doing their evaluation, they have to remove their already preconceived frustration with the teachers. That sometimes I think admin don’t realize that as soon as they, the first month, they’re like, oh my god, their classroom’s on fire, and then they go in and start evaluating them on that opinion. It’s like, yeah, you were on fire too. Your class was crazy your first year. It’s okay. Let’s think about how we make them grow within the first few months before we put them on this, I gotcha, you’re now being done this, this isn’t good, this isn’t great. Because no one learns how to walk the first month, we all fell on our face, yo, just like I think the way evaluators look at the process of growing young teachers is about kicking them out, not about growth. And that’s a personal opinion after doing several things for several years. That is Winston Benjamin’s opinion again. But I think there’s some things to be said about how we look at the evaluation of new teachers.

Rena Clark 21:23
It’s that strength-based lens that we’re trying to promote to our own teachers. And I this is Rena Clark’s opinion too. And I think because admin as well as teachers, are overwhelmed right now, and that’s a whole nother conversation and episode we could have, but it’s that strength-based lens, and sometimes they’re just trying to get through it, and they [are] busy too, but that lens too. It’s like focus on that strength, and that’s why it’s so nice to have other mentors, because, quite honestly, they just don’t have the capacity or the time to do it. They just don’t.

Paul Beckermann 21:56
So when I first got hired, there was no mentor program. That wouldn’t have been something they thought about at that time, but I remember specifically interactions with some of the teachers who went out of their way to make me feel welcome and support me. So I was moving into a speech classroom. Speech was one of the subjects I was going to be teaching, and this teacher came in for a half a day in the summer, not paid, the one who was leaving the position and moving to a different position in the building, and she sat down with me. She gave me everything that she had ever used in class. She gave me ideas. She talked me through it, she asked me if I had questions, and then she was always there on the other side of the building if I had a question. She was not a formal mentor, but that just put me so much at ease just to have a little window into it. And then a writing teacher did the same thing. Two different teachers out of a department of six approached me and did that. And then the media specialist, who I did not have a curricular connection with, who was probably 15 years older than I was. During workshop week, he took me to the Dairy Queen for lunch, and he said, You know what, Paul, I’m going to pay for your meal today, because I know you haven’t even gotten a check yet, and you’re probably just drowning. All I ask is that someday you pay it forward. That was a that really hit me in a lot of different ways. It made me feel good, it made me feel supported, and also made me realize the effect that that can have on somebody else. And I did pay it forward whenever I could.

Winston Benjamin 23:33
Yeah, just a simple hand down, the hand down to pull up.

Rena Clark 23:36
And it reminds me our friend Jennifer Gonzalez said that article, “find your marigold.” If you haven’t read it, the one essential role for new teachers. Maybe we can put that link, but it’s like, find those marigolds, those people that lift you up, or be that marigold for others. And I even in my new role, so I will shout out like my director my from last year, and even my mentor, who was my mentor when I was going through my admin program, have texted me, checked in with me, seeing how things are going in my new job. Reached out to me, they don’t need to do that, but it’s been really meaningful to me just to make sure things are going well this year for me and they’re advocates. So it’s just been that’s even as someone that’s 20 years into it, having someone still checking in is so powerful to me and made a huge difference on those days where I’m like, what am I doing?

Yeah, right.

Paul Beckermann 24:34
Human connections matter.

Rena Clark 24:36
Paul and Winston are good at it too.

Paul Beckermann 24:43
You know what, be kinder than you have to be, really. I mean, it makes it a huge difference. Just the little things, standing in the hall during passing time and asking that new teacher how it’s going. That makes a difference. Is there anything you need? Any questions you have, just so they know you’re there.

Winston Benjamin 25:02
Yeah. And also the anecdote about how you messed up when you were first in the game, humanizing, like, yeah, yo. Like, you see me now you can get here, but I was also there. Like, this was a thing that happened to me. And through those stories, they pick up, they don’t have to run through the same wall in order to learn the lesson that you just did and just showed them. It’s [the] ability to help them make better steps. Because they’re like, oh, this is reminds me of this story. This might be a move that I can use. Oh, they used this move. Oh, maybe let me try it here, because again, they don’t have a tool bag like we do. They don’t have a toolkit like we have. It’s none of those things that they can pull yet. They don’t have enough to pull yet. So giving them enough is also important.

Paul Beckermann 25:55
And you said something that really made me remember, as a first year teacher, I didn’t want anyone to know when things were going bad, so I did not reach out for help, and that’s the wrong opinion to have, probably. But you feel vulnerable, so you just kind of cocoon in your room, and you don’t let anybody know, you pretend everything’s okay. And boy, if you can make those new teachers comfortable sharing and asking for help, that’s a huge gift.

Winston Benjamin 26:25
Because there’s imposter syndrome in all of this. I love doing this job, I love kids. I want to be the best at what I do, and we’ve mostly been the best at what we’ve done. So failing is hard for teachers, especially new teachers, because they’ve been successful their entire life. So this new feeling of there’s nothing I can do right, is also traumatizing and paralyzing to a lot.

Paul Beckermann 26:54
So I’m going to ask one more question before we hop in our toolkit. And if you were talking to a new staff member coming in, what advice would you give them, based on everything that you’ve lived through and observed as an educator over the years? What would you tell them?

Rena Clark 27:16
I’m going to speak for me as like someone that’s been in education that I keep telling myself, give yourself time and grace. So give yourself time and grace. And I think it’s also important I have like three things I’m really focusing on now, time and grace, bridging the gap with the team. And it might be a new team. So I’m seeking for opportunities to connect with people and looking for strengths, as we talked about in those new connections. And in my particular situation, new people are new. They’re never going to be your old people, and they’re going to have their own strengths, and looking for those, and then focusing on growth and opportunity. So I was looking at, how can I grow? What are the opportunities? So shifting my perspective. So those are kind of my three things. Those are my three advice I’m giving to myself right now, so I’ll share them with everybody.

Winston Benjamin 28:18
Paul, this is a tough question for me, because I feel like I have to answer it in two ways. The first is, as a teacher of color, a teacher of color who is also a male, the experience of a woman of color educator is very different from mine. So I don’t want to prescribe advices that seem especially when I’m speaking about identities specifically. And the second thing is, just like a new teacher, or going back to me being young. Going back to me being young, it’s okay. It’s okay to leave early, it’s okay to put it down sometimes. It’s okay to really do some self-care, where you hang out with your peoples, and you don’t talk a thing about your classroom, your kids, or whatever happened to be in the building. If it wasn’t for my crew in the Blue Room posse, because after Mondays, we would go and we would throw on records, and we’d DJ and just have a good day, evening after. And without that, I don’t think I would have survived my first year, because it was a way to really check out so that I had enough to check back in for the rest of the week. So find a way to check out so you can check back in. Slow down. It’s okay to take your time. You don’t have to be great immediately, because that was something I was really stuck on is being the best so that my kids will have great opportunities. But again, you can’t do the best if you’re not like there. As a person of color, and especially a male of color, do not get placed solely as a disciplinarian. You are going to burn yourself out because you will not be able to see the beauty of your students, because all you’re doing is telling them they are not acting appropriate. Remember that you must see the beauty of your students. The second advice that I have to a person who is of of color, and I think this would apply to women as well, protect your time. Similar to the first advice that I have to everyone else about taking care of yourself, but protect your time. You cannot just focus on your culture and ability to build relationships. You have to learn how to build curriculum. You have to learn the game of teaching so that your students not only have a safe place, but they have a space to really learn, because they’re safe and you’re pushing them. Those are the advices that I would give myself because I was pulled as a male into discipline and, as right now as the Dean of Students, again, I live in student discipline, but because I have experienced enough to know how to balance out lovingly providing a space for correct behavior in places. Because some behaviors are okay, they’re kids, but some behaviors are not okay because they’re in school. So balancing that out, I think, has been something that I’ve tried to remind myself of because of my new role.

Paul Beckermann 31:52
Wise words from both of you, for me, probably, what Rena said, find your marigolds. I think that’s really important find somebody in your new space that you can feel safe with, and share, and if it’s somebody who teaches the same thing that you do, that’s even better, because then maybe you can do some co-planning. But remember, it’s not just about the lesson plan, it’s about the relationships with your peers, but with the kids too. And if something goes really well or touches you in a positive way, write it down. I know Rena, you’ve talked in the past about your drawer of positives. And if somebody gives you kudos and they pull those out on the bad days, but do that for yourself, too. You know this lesson was great today, because it’s really easy for the one bad interaction to overshadow a really fantastic rest of the day. And just know it’s going to be a bit of a roller coaster, and that first year is by far the hardest of any year you’re ever going to have. It will get easier over time.

Rena Clark 32:58
It’s funny, even my current director, who’s, he’s great. Because also, I think with us, as Winston has said, I want to come in and do such a great job. And he goes, just give it a year, Rena. Give it a year. And I’m sometimes not patient enough for that, because he’s like, one year. So when we talk about this in a year, we can follow up.

Paul Beckermann 33:20
All right, maybe, maybe we’ll have to revisit this episode in the spring. All right. Well, you know what time it is., Rena.

Rena Clark 33:29
Yup. It’s time for the toolkit.

Student 33:31
Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What’s in the toolkit? What is in the toolkit? Check it out.

Rena Clark 33:42
So I’m curious what we’re going to put in the toolkit for these new educators, or new roles, new jobs.

Paul Beckermann 33:50
I’ll go first, and I’m just going to say, if you are a veteran staff member or someone who’s been there, check in on those new staff. Don’t leave them on the island all by themselves. It means more than you know.

Winston Benjamin 34:04
I’m gonna throw one in for those who are mentoring or who could possibly work with new teachers. Elena Aguilar’s Coaching for Equity is an excellent book, because, again, we’re trying to pull a lot of people who have color into the game, and sometimes the experience is different. Just like my answer we have, it’s a dual world. So learning how to support not only new teachers, but new teachers of color, is also an important thing. So I really would check out the Elena Aguilar’s Coaching for Equity.

Rena Clark 34:35
And Paul already talked about it, but I always say “this is why” folder. So whether it’s in your email, you create a separate folder that says, “This is why.” And when you get those good emails, you drag it in there, or you literally have a physical folder of this is why, and you shove it in there, a digital folder in your drive somewhere that’s this is why. It’s really helpful to have the this is why folder.

Paul Beckermann 35:01
Absolutely.

Winston Benjamin 35:03
And now it’s time for the. . .

Paul, Rena, and Winston singing 35:05
It’s time for that one thing. One thing, one thing. It’s time for that one thing. It’s that one thing.

Winston Benjamin 35:16
One thing. Yeah, baby. I really love the introduction of one thing. Alright, so relationships, they matter. Build them down, up. Admin, go down. Everybody else build sideways. So thinking about that.

Rena Clark 35:16
I think the one thing, and we didn’t touch on it, so I’m going to put it here, is get out of your room. So sometimes, as a new teacher, we were working late. I worked a ridiculous amount of hours, and I was stuck in my room. And I always say I learned more in the first year that I was out of the classroom than my previous 10 years combined. And I don’t feel like that’s the way it should be. So get out of your room. If there are opportunities to go observe a teacher next door, take it. If you can observe it a teacher at a different school, take it. There’s an opportunity to do professional learning in the summer, take it. I know that teachers that come to like AVID professional learning in the summer often say, I’m re-energized. They’re re-energized, and they’re excited to go back in the classroom. So take those opportunities because you’re stuck in that room. So find a way to get out see other things, and collaborate and get re-energized.

Paul Beckermann 36:34
Awesome. And I’m going to say kindness matters, and it matters not just being kind to other people, being kind to yourself. It goes both ways. If you have new people around you, be kind to them. It matters so much. You will build confidence in those people. That’s our future. We need those people. And be kind to yourself as a new teacher, it’s going to be hard to. As students, we always strive for those good grades. And we want to be perfect. Well, teaching can be messy. Be kind to yourself through the messiness, and know that that’s just the way it is. You will be fine. Stick with it. We need you. Alright. We do need the new teachers, Rena and Winston. We need them.

Winston Benjamin 37:21
Yes, we do.

Paul Beckermann 37:22
So hang in there, if you’re listening and you’re new teacher, stick with it and reach out if you need help. And if you’re a veteran teacher out there listening, reach out to those new teachers. Give support whenever you can. The future of education is in your hands.

Rena Clark 37:40
Thanks for listening to Unpacking Education.

Winston Benjamin 37:43
We invite you to visit us at AVIDOpenAccess.org, where you can discover resources to support student agency, equity, and academic tenacity to create a classroom for future-ready learners.

Paul Beckermann 37:58
We’ll be back here next Wednesday for a fresh episode of Unpacking Education.

Rena Clark 38:03
And remember, go forth and be awesome.

Winston Benjamin 38:06
Thank you for all you do.

Paul Beckermann 38:08
You make a difference.