Teaching is a difficult challenge. Equally challenging is figuring out ways to support and assist beginning teachers as they enter the profession. Research has noted a number of developmental phases that most new teachers experience when starting a new school year at a new school site. While not every new teacher goes through this exact sequence, these phases are very useful in helping everyone involved—administrators, other support personnel, and teacher education faculty—in the process of supporting new teachers. These teachers move through several phases—from anticipation, to survival, to disillusionment, to rejuvenation, to reflection, then back to anticipation. Here’s a look:

Since the beginning of the school year you have been learning how to SURVIVE your teaching assignment which research shows comes with it some shared experiences with hundreds of other newly hired teachers across the years and all over the country.  Below the Survival Phase is described:

SURVIVAL PHASE: During the survival phase, most teachers struggle and become very focused or consumed with the day-to-day routine of teaching. There is little time to stop and reflect on their experiences. It is not uncommon for new teachers to spend up to 70 hours a week on schoolwork. Particularly overwhelming is the constant need to develop curriculum. Experienced teachers routinely reuse excellent lessons and units from the past. New teachers, still uncertain of what will really work, must develop their lessons for the first time. Even depending on unfamiliar prepared curriculum such as textbooks is enormously time consuming.

CAUTION: Research also shows that many newly hired teachers are asked to take on addtional classes outside of their credential or assignment which adds more preparation time to the expected lesson planning because these teacher find themselves having to prepare for responsibilites other than their credentialed subject area.