I remember what it was like to be a new teacher. Not knowing what to focus on, not being sure how to balance being formal and friendly, wondering if you’d ever get through the curriculum, mastering the school’s computer systems, and on top of all this, you can’t even find your way around the school!

Here’s 10 things I would suggest all administrators do to make it easy for new teachers. After all, we need to keep everyone teacher we get, the attrition rate is frightening.

1. Time. No matter what administrators do or offer, they must invest in time for new teachers to prepare for the workload and also reflect on the experiences of each week. If there’s no formal time offered for reflection, teachers will not grow from the initial experiences and/or difficulties.
2. Support. Administrators should encourage a supportive work culture. This should include themselves team-teaching with new teachers. This relieves pressure, whilst also allowing for example to be shown, in-turn providing great professional development.
3. ‘Chill’. Administrators as mentors should remind new teachers that they are not a one-stop delivery machine. Ensure they have high expectations of young people to work together in learning. Being a sage on the stage is far more tiring as a teaching approach.
4. Simplify. Don’t add to the burden by giving new teachers a wide scope of courses or topics to get to grips with. keep the initial focus on a narrower curriculum demand. Let them build confidence in a small amount before taking on the full job.
5. Flip it! This does not apply to all teaching but particularly does in high school courses. In 2011, I literally halved my stress level in one month by starting a process of videoing my key content delivery into 5 minute edited videos, throughout the year, organised by topic playlist on Youtube. More info here and here.
6. Timely. Make sure that school administrative information is issued to new teachers in a timely fashion and not all at once in the first week. It is still common for induction books to amount to 50 packed pages of information that is often never read or certainly not needed in the coming months. Focusing on what’s needed now will reduce stress levels in new staff.
7. Connect. Make sure you have a programme in the school to get new teachers connected to the relevant online networks. There’s a Twitter #hashtag for every conceivable teaching specialism and age group. Ensure new teachers are making friends for both support and resources.
8. Team-time. A weekly morning meeting for all new teachers to discuss matters arising also builds relationships. The sharing of ideas and experiences will help grow confidence, which in-turn relieves stress. Do not organise such meetings at the end of a tiring day.
9. Record Dialogue. Organise a shared space online for new teachers to express their concerns to experienced teachers or administrators. This means they don’t feel like they are interrupting a busy schedule but offers an extra place for help and guidance. It also becomes a record of issues to help administrators improve future inductions.
10. Be thankful. Administrators must recognise the hard work and extra pressure new teachers are experiencing. A weekly visit and a email to express positive observations can make the difference between keeping and losing another educator.

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Author: Richard Wells
Teaches grade 6 to 12 – Head of Technology at NZ High School
Top 40 in edublog awards 2013
Top 12 Blogger – The Global Search for Education
Known for Educational Infographics (see Posters)
and an International Speaker.
Twitter :  @EduWells

This post is written as part of The Huffington Post’s The Global Search for Education: Our Top 12 Global Teacher Blogs: A series of questions that Cathy Rubin is asking several education bloggers. I’ll be sharing the link to her post that collects all of the responses. I’m excited to be part of this group of edu-bloggers.

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