11/15/21, 9:42 PM Advice to New Teachers From a 20-Year Veteran (Opinion)

Advice to New Teachers From a 20-Year Veteran

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OPINION

Advice to New Teachers From a 20-Year Veteran

7 lessons I’ve learned from two decades in the classroom

By
Stephen Guerriero
—
October 19, 2021
4 min read

— Vanessa Solis/Education Week and Feodora Chiosea/iStock

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11/15/21, 9:42 PM Advice to New Teachers From a 20-Year Veteran (Opinion)

Stephen Guerriero
Stephen Guerriero is a 6th grade social studies teacher at High Rock Middle School in Needham, Mass.; the vice
president for communications of the Needham Education Association; and was recently named the Middle School
Teacher of the Year for 2021 by the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies.

This school year marks my 20th year as a teacher. Reflecting back, I’ve learned some important
lessons in my teaching career that I’d offer to any new teacher . These lessons are of particular
importance during the ongoing upheaval of the pandemic, but they will continue to serve you
through the rest of your career.

Take care of yourself first. In teaching, most of our instincts tell us to be selfless, altruistic,
giving. And while that is a noble set of impulses, burnout is a real danger to good teachers,
especially during this late stage of a pandemic that has injected so much uncertainty. You
cannot give your best work to your job and to your students if you are barely hanging on. If you
are sleep-deprived or overworked, it is much harder to have patience and understanding. The
best teachers are those who make time to fill themselves with joy and curiosity outside the
classroom so that they can bring it back to their students.

Find a mentor. There is no better way to navigate the world of teaching than with a guide. The
best way to find a great mentor is to observe. See what other teachers are doing in their
classrooms. Which ones have meaningful connections with students? Which ones are still
energized by the job and can always find the humor in any situation but aren’t cynical? Whose
class would you have loved to have been in when you were a student? That’s the teacher you
want to ask to be your mentor. The earlier you can forge a relationship with a positive role
model, the better you will be able to handle the everyday challenges of first-year teaching.

Consider your reputation. Your professionalism, instructional methodology, collaborative

spirit, and willingness to build meaningful relationships are all assets to your teaching career.
A colleague always refers to his four sections of math by saying they’re “four live shows a day.”
Students are always watching you closely—they respond to your energy. Students sense when
you’re being disingenuous, and they can feel if you care about them. If you are open and
honest, you will earn the reputation of someone other teachers can go to for help and advice. If
you work hard to build relationships with your students, your colleagues and the community
will know it, too.

Mental health is physical health. Teaching can be an exhausting endeavor—and not in the
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way that a good will cure.free
Working with kids is fun, enriching, and meaningful.
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But it also means having students
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home lives, or a student whose parent might have cancer. After a year and a half of uncertainty
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11/15/21, 9:42 PM Advice to New Teachers From a 20-Year Veteran (Opinion)

created by the pandemic, teachers are dealing with mental-health challenges like never
before. The most important part of mental wellness is making space to process how you are
doing, feeling, and reacting. Just as teachers work on the social and emotional aspects of
students’ development, we also need to make sure we are modeling good mental-health
hygiene as well.

Know your admins. Teaching can sometimes feel like being isolated in a crowd. For most of
my school day, I’m the only person over the age of 12 in my classroom. That’s why I make a
point to eat lunch with my 6th grade team colleagues. It’s also why I make a point to develop
strong relationships with the administrators in my building, in my department, and at the
central office. Administrators are not some distant force behind a curtain. Keeping clear lines
of communication means that you can have an open dialogue with your supervisors and that
you can ask them to be clear with you about their expectations.

Know your students and their community. COVID-19 has shown us that schools are often
at the heart of a local community. They provide an education, yes, but also meals for many
students, a place for civic engagement, extracurricular activities, town meetings, and polling
places. Many families have suffered the trauma of illness and even death, coupled with job
losses, an eviction crisis, and the slow-rolling hardship of the pandemic. Knowing the
challenges and celebrations of the community you teach is an important aspect of knowing
your students.

Let your students know you. This one is sometimes the toughest piece of advice to follow. I
had older teachers at the beginning of my career say things like, “Don’t let them see you smile
until November.” Obviously, that advice is stupid. And it doesn’t work. Instead, students want
to know you—what you’re about. They take interest when you talk about your hobbies, or
travels, or even your own experience as a student. I have a photo of me, my dad, and the 2011
Stanley Cup on a bulletin board surrounded by Boston Bruins memorabilia, and this small
display has sparked so many great conversations with kids. I love talking to them about my
travels in Greece and Italy and my archaeological digs. I talk about my husband and how he
finds museums boring, while I want to spend hours in a single gallery. I’ve told my students
about my 7th grade Latin teacher who taught every class as if he were a great actor on stage
and how he sparked my great love for ancient history. You will find that if you give your
students a peek into who you are, they will reciprocate.

I hope that my fellow teachers, and especially those who are new to the profession, are able to find
the right balance between great teaching and self-care. But I also want to be clear: We veteran
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teachers are struggling, too. This pandemic has
free really shaken us, but we’ve also seen the job get
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harder and more complex. Since SUBSCRIBE FOR nothing
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has been clearer to me than that we are
truly all in this together, in our classrooms, in our schools, and in our communities. I wish you
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11/15/21, 9:42 PM Advice to New Teachers From a 20-Year Veteran (Opinion)

great joy and success this school year, but I want you to allow for growth and setbacks, too. Over
time, all of them make you stronger.

Related Tags: Teaching Strategies

Mental Health
Coaching Teachers
New Teachers

A version of this article appeared in the October 27, 2021 edition of Education Week as Advice to New Teachers From a 20-Year
Veteran

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