By Professor Jonathan Schaefer ’02
Director, New Teacher Induction
In May 2019, your school may be one of the many WELS schools all over the country receiving brand-new teachers. These teachers will be well trained and enthusiastic—and a little overwhelmed.
During their first year in the classroom, new teachers operate in several different worlds. One answers the question, “What am I teaching?” That includes curriculum, procedures, and ways the school operates. Another answers the question, “How am I going to teach? How do I bring my own style to my teaching?”
As they consider both these questions, they also wonder, “How will I find time to carry out all these different aspects of teaching?”
These are big questions. If your congregation or school is receiving a new teacher, consider these two ways to offer support:
- Limit or eliminate additional responsibilities for the first year. It gives new teachers time to wrap their minds around these big questions.
- Provide a day to observe in another school. By observing another experienced teacher who teaches at the same level, new teachers can glean strategies and make connections to their own classrooms.
New teachers also reflectively ask themselves another big question: “How do I fit into the ministry at my new congregation and school?” It’s such a blessing that we all share a common faith and doctrine. Yet this is separate from the culture that exists at our various ministries. Each congregation has its own personality.
To help your new teacher connect, consider these tips:
- Invite new teachers to faculty meetings and summer events. Faculties often have end-of-year meetings in late May or early June, which coincide with the gap between the new teachers’ graduation and the start of their calls. So invite new teachers to your meetings—and to other summer events as well. Even if the teachers can’t make it, your invitation sends the explicit message, “We’re excited you’re coming to be a part of our ministry!”
- Provide financial support for new teachers to have a mentor. Research clearly indicates that new teachers who are mentored have better success in the classroom and have students who perform better WELS New Teacher Induction is in the top 5% of induction programs, based on our well-trained mentors, new teacher webinars on timely topics, reimbursement for new teachers to observe in other classrooms, and administrator training and support.
We’re excited for all the congregations and schools who will receive the blessing of new teachers this summer. May God bless you as you give your new teacher time to answer all the big questions.
Reprinted with permission from InFocus – Spring 2019
