Assignment #2

Read the article, Being a Novice Teacher in Two Different Settings: Struggles, Continuities,
and Discontinuities Being a Novice Teacher.docx. Using complete sentences and a bullet
format, write five things you learned in this article. Add a final paragraph about how this
article resonated or did not resonate with you personally.

When reading the article Being a Novice Teacher in Two Different Settings: Struggles,
Continuities, and Discontinuities, I began to learn a lot about some of the difficulties of being
a novice teacher. There are five major topics that I learned in this article.
 First, I learned about how the expectations are often much different than the reality
for most teachers. Many novice teachers had a very different expectation of what to
expect and then were suddenly hit with a lot more work and paperwork. I learned that
no much how much we educate ourselves and work to prepare for the future, actually
being the teacher in the classroom day in and day out will require a lot more than we
expect. Unfortunately, what we learned in school all the time may not accurately
reflect what we face in the classroom. I believe this clinical teaching period will be a
helpful bridge in that. I want to really use this time to get a clear understanding of
what I will be expected to take on in my future career as well as grow my own
teaching practices.
 Secondly, I learned that while there is a lot of emphasis put on new-year teachers,
many schools do not adequately induct them into the school and the campus
environment. Everyone knows that first year teachers tend to struggle and need a lot
of supports, however often campus throw them into everything just as quickly as
more experienced teachers. I believe many novice teachers expect to be welcomed
onto the school campus formally and to be given many supports as we were
throughout our college career. However, this may not be the case in many schools,
and we need to understand this and prepare ourselves for this abrupt change. As a
new teacher, I want to be ready for immediately receiving a lack of support and
instead searching out and asking for support from others on my campus instead of just
struggling on my own.
 Thirdly, I learned about was how many challenges that I may face as a teacher. I am
expecting to have more responsibilities, but did not realize all the social, cultural, and
professional changes I will face. I was surprised to learn how many teachers start to
feel discouraged and no longer motivated to teacher after an increase of
responsibilities and a lack of support as a teacher. The culture of separation that exists
in school is a scary reality that I will have to face. Part of me expected to feel like I
would finally have a balance and more of feeling of home. However, I was surprised
to learn quite the opposite.
  Fourthly, the change many teachers made from trying to succeed as the perfect
teacher to just focusing on the teaching and learning was intriguing. We are taught so
much of what not to do, and to essentially rebel against the roles of traditional
teaching. However, it is interesting to see that most teachers revert back to this
method after a few years of teaching because they realize it is very hard to manage
otherwise. I think this is sad that teachers may have to sacrifice engagement and
better teaching practices in order just to get everything covered and meet standards.
Sometimes what works best in theory, does not always work best in practice.
 Fifthly, I learned that teachers’ attitudes will greatly change over time. We all know
that teaching is not a static career because of the changes the kids make, however we
forget to realize that we are also part of that change. Overtime, we start to shift our
views from what they once thought to teacher-centered and outcome-led approaches.
I knew my teaching practices would switch over time as I became more experienced,
however I did not expect them to change entirely based on what I thought was right.
Overall, this article really hit home for me. I was amazed to learn about how many changes I
would face as a first-year teacher. I was shocked by how little support I am expected to have
and how many responsibilities I will need to take on. I really enjoyed this article because it
gave me a realistic view for what I will have to face in the future. I can now use this
information in the article and begin to prepare myself now for these changes. I can work to
ask for help now and do my best to get a clear understanding of what teaching will be
everyday so that this will not be as drastic of a change for me in the future.