Lessons of a First-Year Teacher

With summer approaching, I find myself reflecting upon the school year and thinking about lessons learned. My name is Jordyn Vicknair, and as you may have concluded from the title, I am a new teacher. I taught my first year in Ascension Parish and moved to start my second year of teaching in St. Charles Parish. In such an impactful profession, the pressure to perform is high, especially for a new teacher. As new teachers, we often think about what we expect teachers to be – what we should say, what we should wear, what we should have in our classrooms, what we should be feeling, etc. This endless list of expectations is impossible to master in one year. So the big question is how can we, as teachers, bring more of ourselves into the classroom daily to be the best we can be for our students and ourselves? I want to share with all of you the most important lesson I have learned during my short time as an educator: be yourself. 

As cliche as it sounds, the most significant way to remain happy, motivated, and excited about work is to ensure we are bringing our authentic selves to school, not a fake imitation of who we feel others expect from us. School breaks are nice, and with the amount of work we put in to ensure our students are successful, they are well-deserved. What happens when we start to feel like we are only ever our true selves on the weekends or on breaks? It can sometimes feel like our teacher personalities are entirely separate from who we are outside the classroom. We spend our time being who we think our students need us to be. This exhaustion of trying to deliver an Oscar-worthy performance every day can have the opposite effect and may lead to resentment. I have found this year that the only teacher our students need is us, the real us, and I’ve been so much happier and less stressed since. Here are some ways I have found to bring ourselves into our classrooms to be the best version of ourselves. 

1. Share parts of yourself with your students. One way to connect with our students while also connecting with our inner selves is to share details and aspects of ourselves that are important to us. This can be as simple as sharing our weekend plans, favorite foods, and sports teams with students. Allowing a small amount of time for non-content conversation is vital in building relationships with your students. Once we let them see us as people, they’ll be more willing to participate in class discussions knowing that we’re human, too. We shouldn’t be afraid to add personal touches to our space like we would if we had an office job, such as pictures of our family, friends, and pets. We will feel more connected to “weekend us” when we bring more of them into work.

2. Professional dress does not have to be boring. Think of your favorite things to throw on when you get home or on Saturdays. Is it your old tie-dye t-shirt from college? Is it a pair of fuzzy polka-dot socks? What about the flare jeans from Goodwill that people claim went out of style decades ago? We should always try bringing appropriate elements of this style into our Monday-Friday wardrobe. Instead of a rotation of neutral blouses, we can try adding our favorite bright colors and prints. We can wear our favorite T-shirt on casual days with a nice blazer or a pair of slacks. Clothes are so important in expressing ourselves. Let’s allow our students to see more of who we are by wearing things that make us feel happy. I find myself happier when I keep my attire appropriate while not conforming to what I imagine a teacher should be dressed like.

3. Your classroom is your second home; make it comfortable. If you’re anything like I was in my first year, you probably spent just as many, if not more, hours in your classroom than you did in your bedroom. Bringing personal touches to our classroom can help to make it a place our students and we want to spend time in. This doesn’t have to break the bank either. I have found some amazing pieces for my room at discounts, thrift stores, or even from veteran teachers looking to do some spring cleaning. My favorite items include lamps, rugs, motivational posters made in Canva, picture frames, desk knick-knacks, and even plants. Of course, these things range from neon green to bright orange for me, but it can be anything we feel represents us best. 

4. Implement your favorite things into your lessons. One advantage we have being new teachers is a relatability to students who grew up in similar times as we did. Often, some of our favorite things are also our students’ favorite things! On many occasions, I have implemented pop culture references into my math lessons. I’ve used TikTok for a Geometry project, a karaoke microphone from Five Below to act out scenarios, and I’ve even had students submit songs for a classroom playlist that we use during independent work. These are all things I love outside of the classroom, and by bringing them into my lessons, I’ve felt more connected to myself. This may look like making connections to our favorite books or movies. Maybe it looks like bringing art into a math lesson or sports into a science lesson. It’s just a bonus that these connections to the outside world will also help put the content into perspective for your students.

5. Make time for the things you love, even during the week. Trust me, on countless occasions I have been so consumed with writing lessons and grading papers that I’ve neglected the people and things I love. Where does it say we can only hang out with friends on Friday nights? Where does it say we can only go to the movies on the weekend? Spoiler alert – no one’s said that. The best way to prevent the so-called “inevitable” teacher burnout is to do things that bring you daily joy. This could be as simple as visiting a new restaurant after school, calling our relatives on our commute home, or reading a book by our favorite author. Breaking the work – home – work – home routine during the week will make the weekends feel like just another day. Finally, we can say goodbye to those Sunday scaries!

We experience so many firsts and learn so many things as new teachers. It can be exhausting to constantly put on a show of being the perfect teacher. We are called to this profession for many reasons; one is because of who we are without trying to be someone else. From now on, we should aim not to lose ourselves in the process of trying to be the ideal teacher. Our students will benefit immensely from a teacher who is honest and happy, so let’s take care of ourselves. As excited as I am to enter summer as “me,” I’ll be sure to enter the next school year as “me,” too. 

Jordyn Vicknair
St. Charles Parish Public Schools
Destrehan High School
2023 Louisiana New Teacher of the Year 
@mathteacherslay on Instagram and TikTok