Experience is a Great Teacher

In some ways, a brand-new teacher is like a blank canvas. While they come to us with a vast knowledge of theory and pedagogical skill, the rubber doesn't truly hit the road until they stand in front of their own group of students for the first time. 

Indeed, for our new teachers, the intersection of theory and practice meets on the first day of school. That's not to take anything away from their preparatory programs. Our universities and colleges here in Iowa do an outstanding job of preparing educators for the field. But the fact is that the experiences pre-service teachers have are all artificial. Even when engaged in student-teaching, they have the comfort and safety of a cooperating teacher close by to throw a lifeline when needed. They don't work without a net until the first day. At that point, it’s all on them. 

Fortunately, our principals do a fantastic job of making good hiring decisions, and our teacher leadership team is highly engaged with these young educators, providing close support during their first year of teaching.

Our work with new educators begins a week before the balance of our teaching staff returns to the district. Even though we are confident that we have hired well, there is a lot of work that needs to be done with our newly minted teachers before we put them in front of kids for the first time. We know they’ve got the skills and training to do the job. They know how to teach. So, the focus of our work during that first week is not to make them into teachers per se, but rather to make them into Hudson teachers. 

It is an opportunity to immerse them in our culture—to provide them with an understanding of our values as an institution. And, we let them know we are there to help and will do everything we can to ensure their success. After all, their success correlates to the success of the students in their classrooms.

I really enjoy this week because it is an opportunity for me to get to know our new teachers. Honestly, it is the only time during the school year I am really able to spend any quality time with them. I'm pretty frank with them that once the school year gets underway, I'll largely fade into the background. They are more likely to see me in passing than to have many chances for a personal interaction. 

But that’s not to say I am unaware. I regularly hear of their triumphs and tribulations as they go about the hard work of educating the youth of our community. One point that I really try to drive home with them during our fleeting time together during induction week is how quickly the year will pass by. Truth be told, before we all know it, the year will be over, and those new teachers will be ready to have that “rookie” tag removed.

That transformation that occurs over the course of the year is quite remarkable. We see confidence grow and teaching skills become finely tuned. I would argue the difference between a first-year and second-year teacher is as different as night and day. Heck, the difference between the first quarter and second quarter is quite notable. 

There is a body of scholarly research that suggests teachers hit peak performance around year 7. Anecdotally, I would rather consider those benchmarks in five-year increments. So, I asked our employees: those who are in the 2-5 year bracket of your career, what was the most important thing you have learned about your chosen profession?

Their answers? Well, check them out!