5. Find a coach. Find someone who can support your growth, someone who has training to
be a coach, someone who will observe you and give you feedback and help you fulfill the vision
you have for yourself as a teacher. You won't be able to figure this all out on your own. You can't
see what you can't see. You don't know what you need to know. Ask for a coach, beg, search out
all possible options -- and find someone to help you grow.
6. And if you can't find a coach Move. Find another school. I'm serious. Find a place
where someone will support you in your growth as a teacher. Ok, if it can't be a coach, settle for a
mentor, perhaps an administrator who will commit to supporting you in a non-evaluative way, or
find a partner-teacher who might be a mentor, or a professional learning community of teachers
who observe each other. You won't be able to guide your own development by yourself -- the
weekly (if you're lucky) or annual professional development won't be enough.
As a new teacher you need a lot of feedback and support. Don't stop searching out support
until you get it. If you feel like you're learning and increasingly meeting the needs of your students,
you'll feel good. You'll stay. And kids need teachers who stay.