Stepping Up Support for New Teachers

Although nothing out of the ordinary, my first year of teaching was almost enough to do me in. The demands will sound familiar to novice and veteran teachers alike: planning lessons from scratch, learning curriculum, managing large classes, making photocopies, and pleasing administrators, parents, and students. And the grading—the endless grading. I irrationally avoided sleeping at night because I dreaded waking up and going back to school the next day. I owed a lot of money on my newly acquired master's degree in education, but working at a coffee shop for the rest of my life sounded pretty appealing.

Yet by the year's end, I had not only survived, but had also experienced tremendous growth and the joy of successful teaching. I emerged feeling confident and passionate in my choice to become a teacher, thanks to the support of a good coach.

New Teacher Attrition: A National Epidemic