Free Ways to Support New Teachers
Tips and Online Resources for Supporting First Year Teachers
New teacher support can be found for free. Stop spending money on teacher's aids and other resources. Here are some online teacher resources that may work for you.
Getting stressed by the end of the school year? Unsure of how to deal with particular students or classes? Still caught up in new teacher orientation blues? Having also trouble trying to find the right kind of new teacher support and resources? No matter how much support you eventually find, the most effective form of support for a teacher's first year is encouragement for the teacher.
The truth is, all new teachers face pressure and need some direction that offers a support plan. Here are some additional resources to consider for building that support network that is needed in a teacher's first year.
Teacher Online Support Resources
Live journal is a free online blogging and journaling community. There are many different private teacher communities serving the needs of many different kinds of teachers, both new and seasoned. There is a live journal group for supporting new teachers as well, which is an incredibly helpful source for the new teacher. You are sure to find (or ask about) virtually anything from best summer jobs to how to format your teacher resume. The response rate is quite quick, and often you will find at least a few helpful answers from teachers.
Join a Teacher Blogging Community
If you are the kind of teacher who isn't looking for a quick practical how-to but rather a venue for expressing your reflections, consider creating your teacher blog. If you are a blogger at heart, you will find the way to network with other teachers as they add you to their blog roll, and word will quickly spread about your blog. As you probably know, it takes patience and time to build a readership, so if your time is limited perhaps this is not necessarily a good option for you.
Other Teacher Resources
Teacher support can also be found offline. Your school is a potential source of support. Try and find a mentor who is willing to look over your lesson plans and objectively evaluate their effectiveness before you implement them. Be aware though of school dynamics, as they can get in the way, especially before semester grades or a major national testing period.
You can (and should) ask your teacher friend or mentor things that might concern other areas such as how to organize your papers, how to evaluate students performance, and procedures for discussing homework.
Record your Reflections on Your Lesson Plans
Always keep a running track of your lesson plans by reflecting on them. Find the format that speaks to you. It might be a traditional journal format or simply a scribble or two. Either way will do. You may feel these reflections are useless or time consuming especially in the beginning, but they are worth writing down because you can later learn how they helped you years later down the road.
Still having trouble? Read First Year of Teaching and the Organized Teacher and Mentor.
