~Phases of First Year Teachers~

Okay so I am sure you have noticed I have posted alot about my incredible family! Well I am going to update all my concerned family and friends about my first year teaching. Below is the diagram that you get when you start teaching from your principal or fellow teachers. I am officially in "SURVIVAL MODE" I think being hired so late that I skipped "Anticipation" and went right into "Survival". If you want a little description see below.......I think by CHRISTMAS I will be "Disillusionment". Seriously I am LOVING what I am doing the kiddo's are great, my para-professionals are awesome and I have made alot of new friends with the staff at my school!
HOWEVER, teacher's have more resposibility than what you think. I dream NOW about all the things I need to do! The teaching portion is about 4 hours the planning and paperwork is about 45 hours a week! :)
Survival Phase: The first month of school is very overwhelming for new teachers. They are learning a lot at a very rapid pace. Beginning teachers are instantly bombarded with a variety of problems and situations they had not anticipated. Despite teacher preparation programs, new teachers are caught off guard by the realities of teaching.

During the survival phase, most new teachers struggle to keep their heads above water. They become very focused and consumed with the day-to-day routine of teaching. There is little time to stop and reflect on their experiences. It is not uncommon for new teachers to spend up to seventy hours a week on schoolwork.

Particularly overwhelming is the constant need to develop curriculum. Veteran teachers routinely reuse excellent lessons and units from the past. New teachers, still uncertain of what will really work, must develop their lessons for the first time. Even depending on unfamiliar prepared curriculum such as textbooks, is enormously time consuming