Advice for New High School Teachers

Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:40 am (PDT)
From Teacher MagazinePublished: September 16, 2009
Advice for New High School TeachersBy Kenneth J. Bernstein

Congratulations. And commiserations. Whether the task upon which you now embark will be a great exploration or a Mission Impossible is not entirely within your control. Because teaching, especially of the adolescents you will encounter within the high school classroom, is a series of overlapping relationships in which you are only one of the players.Perhaps it is arrogant of me to offer advice. After all, my perspective is shaped by my personal experience. I am probably a very different person than are you. How then can I presume to offer advice to someone I have never met, whose school may have very different characteristics than mine, and, most of all, who brings to her classroom a different life experience than that which I bring to mine? That question contains the seeds of its own answer, and is key to the advice I offer.High school students are often very much in search of identity. That includes how they relate to other people. They need points of reference. They need situations they can trust, particularly as they are challenged to grow, emotionally as well as intellectually.I hope you are passionate about your subject. Yes, you may have been given classes that focus on something that would not be your first choice. Yet if you cannot find something exciting about it, how will you engage your students? Why should they exert themselves?To continue reading: http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2009/09/16/tln_bernstein_new_teachers.html?tkn=SYVFXr4CsBV1um84ElnEcaGfoUOcB92NJxFU