New Teacher Interview

I interviewed 2 new teachers because the first one that I spoke with was hired after the school year for teachers had already began. She said that the school year brought alot of excitement and many concerns. Because she was hired in September she said that she did not receive the proper orientation or development time. Administrators, teachers, and her department chair helped her get used to the school system along with helping her plan out her first year. They offered sample lesson plans, documents, and helpful materials from previous years. They also observed her classes and held meetings and small gatherings to follow up with her progress. Her consulting teacher consistently sent her helpful materials and gave her feedback on the contents of her teaching. She ended by saying that with all the help that was offered to her she was able to manage through an exciting but challenging first semester.

The second teacher that I interviewed did attend the orientation and recalls starting the first few days listening to "inspirational speeches and receiving basic information". She explained that the music teachers then split from the large group and met together at a different school. There they got into groups based on whether they were teaching at the elementary or secondary level. Teachers also had the opportunity to sign up for different hour long sessions of numerous subjects but by the time she returned to the "home base school" from her music meetings all of the sessions were filled. She also explained that when she wasn't at the orientation meetings she was at her school working with administrators and teachers as they assisted her in preparing for the first week of school.