Becoming A Newbie

A newbie is a first year teacher. I was one a long time ago in the state of Pennsylvania.
I still remember how nervous I was when I walked through students to enter the high school on my first day as an educator. I had applied to substitute at my alma mater and prepared to be drafted into the army for Vietnam.
I was called into the district office and met the superintendent from a nearby district who offered me a full time position teaching math. Since I had a science degree, he felt I could handle the math. Especially since the kids had destroyed three different subs and he couldn’t find any math subs with a death wish.
My cooperating teacher during my student teacher experience had taught me a lot and I was not only able to get through the rest of that school year, but was given a permanent contract to teach science the following year. Unfortunately my undergraduate education classes were little or no help at all.
As a new teacher, I depended upon the advice of other teachers to help me resolve bad situations. There were no mentors available to new teachers. I was lucky to be teaching with two other science teachers who willing to help me plus the district was a very small district where everyone worked together or at least knew each other's business.
New teachers today still have to complete student teaching in order to get their credentials. Then in Washington State they have to pay for an additional two years of education before they are considered competent enough to receive professional certification. Even then the state is not done. Every five years until retirement the equivalent of an additional 15 credits must be completed.
These requirements say a number of things. First, undergraduate educational programs are out of touch with reality and don’t prepare truly qualified teachers. Second, be prepared to spend money and time to be licensed to earn a minimal salary that is actually insulting to a college graduate. Third, teachers are not dedicated enough to stay up to date on their own and the state has to force them to recertify every five years (must have been a university lobby at work here). Fourth, bright, dedicated people take the good paying career tracks so the state and university system have to guide the rest of us bozos through the complexities of the classroom.
The reality is that dedicated people are subject to the mediocre teaching methods practiced in undergraduate education classes and then required to spend additional funds for continuing indoctrination throughout their teaching careers. Requirements are piled on while salaries stagnate.
In spite of all attempts by the state to keep the best people out of education, I have seen many dedicated people enter education and stay there. I have also seen some that needed a lot more training to be successful in the classroom.
In my next blog, I’ll share some stories about Newbies in school.