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What's "Normal" for a First-year Teacher?
What's "Normal" for a First-year Teacher?
By Stephanie Schlangen
By Stephanie Schlangen
While reflecting upon a year of unusual teaching, a voice to consider would be that of the new teacher. What seems “normal” to someone who has this as his or her first year teaching? I had the opportunity to interview Dean Marlin, a social studies teacher at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School (and SRRHS alumnus) and found that, when you get down to brass tacks, his experience does not look altogether different than some of our more veteran teachers. Hey, I guess we were all new teachers this past year. From operating in survival mode, to truly learning the value of building relationships, Dean’s reflection feels wise beyond his years.
Listen to the Full Interview
Listen to the Full Interview
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This interview was created using the free online tool, Anchor. Click the logo at the right to visit the Anchor website.
Continue reading for the interview synopsis.
Since beginning teaching this fall, what is something that you have really learned to do well?
Relationships Matter
Relationships Matter
Dean spoke to the importance of building relationships. He said that sometimes pressing forward with curriculum had to take a back seat to cultivating relationships. “The content will always be there, but they, my kids, won’t.” A constant across all curricula, grade-levels, and learning models is the value of positive relationships.
What is something that you had to learn the hard way?
à La the Matrix
à La the Matrix
It probably won’t come as a surprise that Dean recognizes that time management is tough as both a new teacher and a teacher who is dodging Covid learning-model changes, quarantines, and restrictions like Neo dodges bullets in The Matrix. Dean also supports students through coaching both soccer and hockey. Therefore, work-life balance is a struggle: “Sometimes it would just be taking those two hours I had at the end of the night and not doing anything so that the next day I could be myself for the kids.”
In the future, what are you looking forward to being able to do?
Stationary Rows are Tough
Stationary Rows are Tough
Social distancing has made collaboration a challenge, I am sure we all can agree. Just listen to Dean speak about how he wants students to work in groups and have flexible seating and you can tell he’s getting excited. “I’m looking forward to more variety for lessons.” It’s tough right now to have students in stationary rows for Dean, so he is awaiting the day where he can get kids moving and shaking without being checked by precautions.
Overall, through the craziness of a pandemic and your first year of teaching all rolled into one, what has been eye-opening to you?
A Matter of Perspective
A Matter of Perspective
On a noticeably different note, Dean remarks that the hardships of students have really stood out to him, and have been accentuated by the pandemic. He recalls that his high school experience was one of few burdens, but he knows that’s not the experience of many of his students. “It’s cool to start meeting students where they’re at instead of projecting myself onto them.”
Whether it’s your first year teaching, or your last, this year has been a hard one, but I would say that though Dean had a different first year than most, he learned the same lessons: relationships are the foundation of this profession, you need to balance your work and life, it’s exciting to plan for your future classes, and everyone walks into your classroom in different shoes. No learning loss there!
Image Credits:
Desks Image: Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay
Matrix Image: Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
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