Phases of First Year Teaching
During my first year of teaching, students ignored me when I spoke, they made rude comments (Me de French ɜyɜ dɜn? me nnkɔ Togo anaa sɜ France) meaning (what am I going to do with French? I am not traveling to Togo or France) and made it quite clear they weren’t going to do anything that I asked (including their homework).
Even though later, a lot of them regretted their actions for not taking interest in French language. I couldn’t understand why I was struggling with those students of JHS. One day one of the experienced Teachers pulled me aside. He asked me, “Are you having trouble with those students?’ I replied with an immediate “yes”.
I will never forget what I was told: as Teachers, we are one of the greatest influencers of children. We have the power to change minds. Change paths. Change lives. You will definitely survive your first year of teaching.
How Did I Survive My First Year of Teaching?
As a first year Teacher, I didn’t have any real plan before I started. Sure, I had an idea of the curriculum I wanted to use and I knew what I wanted to teach, but I felt I wasn’t prepared enough. What was I going to do? Would it work the way I wanted to teach foreign language such as French to my students?
Other experienced Teachers in my school, told me that during my first year, I will survive. Even if you know all the rules, even with a firm grasp of your content area, you want to keep your head above water. In the classroom, you have to reflect, think about how to improve and move on from there.
Finally, what they told me, is that no one is a great Teacher during the first year. You’re going to make mistakes, so take notes, ask for help and try not to make those mistakes again next year.
That advice seems very comforting to me, because I wanted to be a great Teacher, an inspiring Teacher. Now, I was getting ready to start my first year of teaching. I was nervous but excited.
Excited, because I was passionate about the French subject that I was going to teach. I read a lot of books and worked long days to get my lessons planned as I could and to try to have everything organized as possible for the next day.
Having finished my own first year of teaching even though it wasn’t national service, I don’t claim to be an expert, but I learned something interesting.
My Advice to Those Who Will Do Their National Service Next Year
No matter how well your performance was in teacher training school, there are some things that you won’t know about teaching until you step into that classroom and start teaching. You will find out where your ideas, your training and your assumptions land when dealing with real students.
The first year, they told me, you will survive. Do your best and don’t panic when things don’t work out the way you expected them to be.
Finally, take all the things you will learn during the challenging first year of teaching and refine it all, survive and then thrive as a passionate Teacher.
By: Michael Djan
French Tutor and Digital Marketing Blogger/Content Writer and GhanaWeb Professional Reporter/ frencheducationgh.com