This site is a class blog space for new Career and Technical Specializations and Heathcare Science teachers enrolled in the New Teacher Institute (NTI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Help!
My one piece of advice would be to ask for help - from anybody and for anything. At first, I was so overwhelmed that I didn't know what to ask. Then, I felt like I was burdening someone if I asked them to help me in some way. Get over it! Ask, ask, ask. My faculty mentor thought she was doing me a favor by not taking the process seriously and that I could handle it on my own. I NEEDED the mentoring. It was not inconvenient or unwanted, and I had to learn to ask for everything I got. The worst that could happen is that your call for help goes unanswered, and then you are no worse off than if you never asked. I think most people don't know what you need and so they wait on you to make your needs known. Figuring it all out on your own is the worst kind of martyrdom and will burn you out before you know it.
I could not agree with you more Sherri. Asking for help is uncomfortable especially for someone who is an expert in
ReplyDeleteone profession. We are accustomed to being in the role of assisting others, not needing assistance. That being said....
" Get over it" is right. Ask away!
Ask and you shall receive, maybe! I definitely feel like we should be more vocal as new teachers and reach out for support. I realized that I did myself as well as the students a disservice by not asking for help when it was obvious that I needed it desperately. Glad to see I am not the only one Sherri.
ReplyDeleteYou gave some excellent advice. Many of our staff would make every effort to help get things done in an appropriate manner. Like you said, you would feel a burden for asking others to take up the slack your absent would create. The nice thing is they know you would step in to help them in a similar situation. This is what we call teamwork, which includes providing good lesson plans. Include appropriate rules for student behavior, other teachers as backup support. We all are aware substitute teachers often receive the brunt of bad student behavior. Just put a supportive and workable plan in place, and declare “World here I come!”
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