They'll Eat You Alive

The first year of teaching is the hardest. As a new teacher I was fair game for some of the hardcase, older students. I had a section of shop math where some of the students were going on 19 and I had just turned 21 four months earlier. After our get aquainted first month together, things became very difficult and from day to day I didn't always know who was going to control the class. Looking back I realize now how I could have handled things better, but at least I survived.
I was a real introvert growing up and hated speaking to a group. Now I not only had to control and educate large groups of students, but I also had to handle the attention of girls with their love letters hidden in my desk. A new, young teacher attracts some students like a flame attracts moths. It is one of those things the ed classes do not prepare you for. Once again, I survived and now the girls look at me like a "father figure".
In a smaller district the new teacher may not have as many assets for help over the bad spots, but there are other compensations. Scheduling is fairer and administrators are more available to assist.
In many districts the new teacher gets a schedule shafting, although nobody would admit that. The teachers with seniority feel they have earned the right to teach the classes with motivated kids. Give the "hard cases" to the new guy. Of course the new guy goes through some very difficult times and too often will not survive. Low pay and a difficult schedule, who wants to look forward to years of those conditions? It is unfortunate but the kids needing the most help often get the new teacher, who is least prepared to cope with them. But at the same time, the experienced teacher has some entitlements as well. A good administrator finds and applies the obvious solution.
I remember a new teacher was substituting next door to me. I talked to him several times about coming to me if he had any problems. He told me "not to worry". He had just finished a class called "Disrupting the Disruptor" and he would apply what he had learned. Unfortunately, his plan did not work and at the end of the day he was told he would not be called back. At the start of his first class, he picked out the biggest student in class, walked by his desk, and shoved his books onto the floor. He then started to shout at the student in an attempt to demonstrate something about disruption in the classroom. Needless to say, he lost all control of the class, word got around, and he had a terrible day with several principal visitations.
When I taught at my second district in Pennsylvania, we used to get new teachers that were trained at Penn State. Their theme was "be friends with your students". What a recipe for disaster. One teacher, call him Mike Johnson, told his biology classes "Just call me Mike. We are going to be friends and work together to master biology." It lasted two-three days before he forced them to use Mr. Johnson to regain some control of the classroom. There is a big difference between a friendly classroom atmosphere and having students as friends.
Then there is the new teacher who thinks every experienced teacher is out of touch and should retire. I have met a couple of them. I even mentored one when I taught eighth grade science in Washington State. He taught half of the eighth grade science and I taught the other half. I loaned him a three ring binder stuffed with my curriculum and told him to feel free to copy anything he wanted from it and then return it when he finished. Unfortunately he went to the principal and complained I was forcing my curriculum down his throat and he had ideas of his own. Needless to say that mentoring did not work out. Refusing any aisstance from experienced teachers is just asking for trouble. When I left that position to teach at the high school level, he had attained tenure and was doing a terrible job with his students.
It is too bad that ed courses don't teach their students how to distinguish teachers who are "burnt out" or just collecting a paycheck from those who are dedicated and look upon education as an important service to the students in their charge. They also need to instill confidence in their students without giving them arrogance and also how to interact with students in a teacher/student atmosphere and avoid the idea that students need to be their friends for best results.
One other short "newbie" story. Sometimes a new teacher can be very naive. "Betty" was a new PE teacher at my Pennsylvania school. She had returned to her alma mater, where she had been Homecoming Queen and a four year cheerleader. The guys just loved having their planning when she did since she always wore her skimpy gym shorts. At the end of the school year the guys always had a "kegger" picnic to celebrate the end of the year and the sign up sheet was in the faculty room. Thirty names were on the final list. Nineteen guys and Betty, then ten more guys who had never attended before. She thought it was for the full faculty until one of the women explained the situation to her. When she crossed her name off the list, so did eight of the guys.
More on faculty rooms later.