Challenges in the First Year of Teaching: Lessons Learned in an Elementary Education Resident Teacher Program

Abstract

It is well known that the first years of teaching are a challenge for all beginning teachers. According to the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future's study (2010) first-year teacher attrition has been steadily increasing and many leave the profession even before they are proficient educators who know how to work with colleagues to improve student learning. The immense expense of this departure is a concern to the future of the nation's school districts. This paper will discuss an Elementary Education Resident Teacher Program that is a collaborative relationship between a College of Education and Human Development and a local public school system. This one year program mentoring program was developed to support first year teachers in their curriculum and instruction as well as to provide these individuals with educational growth as they pursue their master's degree. This paper will share the voices of six beginning teachers, in a resident teacher program, regarding the challenges they experienced during the first year of teaching, including classroom/time management, working with parents and other family members, differentiating instruction, handling difficult student behaviors, and how to effectively assess student learning. Each of the five challenges will be introduced with a brief review of literature and followed by the advice from the resident teachers to other beginning teachers.