New teacher challenges

It's the beginning of a new school year! Another year of hopes, dreams, exploration, and learning....

I have a thrilling new job; I am working as a mentor to several first-year preschool teachers in D.C. These new teachers are filled with ideas and excitement; they have been working tirelessly in their rooms, rearranging and organizing, surrounded by newness - new bins, library books, laminated signs and posters, curriculum books and ideas. They are excited to be a part of a dedicated and energetic staff of educators, working to provide a vibrant and rigorous education to D.C. children. They are ready and imagining what the next week will be like - welcoming and connecting with the children, helping them transition into school, channeling their behavior, encouraging their learning, observing, and reflecting. There is so much to understand so quickly!

It's the beginning of a new school year! Another year of hopes, dreams, exploration, and learning....

I visit one new teacher at a school only about 15 miles from the preschool where I have taught for the past many years.

We are standing in her new classroom, helping her to ready the room. Her room is on the main floor of a building, adjacent to a parking lot. There is lots of construction outside her windows. She is having trouble raising and lowering her blinds, they seem a little faulty, askew; she suggests,

"I'm thinking of just leaving them up, to let in all this light. This light is so great. I would love to have it in the classroom. Do you think the children will be distracted by the construction?"

"I love the light, too. I think it would be interesting to see if the children are distracted," I start to say.

But a matter-of-fact voice speaks up - a respected, experienced staff person at the school, who has also been helping the new teacher set up her room. She says:

"Oh, it's not about the construction. You have to have the blinds two-thirds down at all times. See, across the parking lot - just next to you? - that housing? S.W.A.T. teams come there regularly. This is about drugs. When they come, you have to close the blinds, to avert the children's attention. Of course, many of the children come from that housing, but they are often numb to these emergencies. You can keep the blinds open most of the time, but you must be ready to close them when a situation happens."

The new teacher and I look at each other, with our eyes wide open.

It's the beginning of a new school year! Another year of hopes, dreams, exploration, and learning....