First-year Teaching in a Pandemic Era: I Survived!

Agnes Maria Francis

Soka University

After years of teacher education and interacting with students, I was confident and ready to start my journey by teaching at university level, my first experience teaching at a formal institution. However, being a first-year teacher in the era of pandemic was beyond my imagination. In 2020, we transitioned from face-to-face to online teaching; a situation many of us had never experienced. Teachers who majored in English Education at both undergraduate and graduate school level probably agree with me that our education did not prepare us for this. Throughout my first year, there were many big questions floating around in my head, with the main question being: Am I doing this right?

In this presentation, I will share my perceptions before I started teaching, my first-year teaching experiences, and what changes I made for my second year through reflections and student feedback. This presentation focuses on my experiences related to giving feedback, technology, language use, and learner autonomy. My first-year teaching has molded me into, hopefully, a better teacher as my perceptions shifted and prepared me for my second year. Through this presentation, I hope many first-year teachers out there will find some encouragement and practical ideas for their classes.