Common issues for new teachers

Some thoughts from an older professor

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I’ve been teaching at the university level for over thirty years — first, as a graduate teaching assistant, then in various non-tenure-track professor positions, and finally, as an assistant and associate professor in the tenure-track. If you are a teacher in any context, or if you are thinking of becoming a teacher, or even a professor, here are some things to think about.

1. You will probably suck at first

I started as a graduate teaching assistant, teaching Freshman Composition in an English department, while I was a fresh, new graduate student in Linguistics. The pay was poor back then, but I needed the job, and most of all, the tuition waiver. After a year I felt overworked, under-supported, and tired, so I left and looked for different work.

We had a few days of TA training before starting our first class. We had to write a very detailed syllabus, at a level of detail that was not realistic for new teachers. In my first semester as a teacher, I also took a graduate seminar course on teaching composition. However, the training was rather inadequate, and the seminar course seemed a bit theoretical. I needed more practical training and support.

I know that the quality of my teaching my first year was not great. I feel that I did not know how to structure a lesson, manage class interaction, or convey concepts without simply lecturing. And I did not know how to make the contents very practical and useful. I know the student evaluations were overall okay, but not great, and one student commented on the unpleasant experience of enduring Mr. Lee in a 9am class. I couldn’t argue with that.

But new teachers tend to be not so great. For me, it was largely because I was a newbie, as well as the inadequate training. But I think that is natural for new teachers — you learn how to teach mainly from experience. I probably got too discouraged and left that job, when maybe I should have endured for a few more years and focused more on self-improvement as a teacher. But instead, I waited a few years until I had a chance to teach English as a second language as a TA, which was a lot more fun.

2. A tough teacher does not mean a good teacher

At first as a Freshman Composition TA, and in my first semester as an ESL (English as a Second Language), I was unnecessarily tough as a teacher, thinking that would push the students to learn more. But being arbitrarily tough, or tough for the sake of tough, does not translate to quality teaching — in fact, quite the opposite. I just make life hard for my students, and for myself when I had to grade a lot of writing assignments and justify my strictness. What I learned later as a professional educator learning about educational psychology is that academic rigor only works if the evaluation criteria are very fair, specific, transparent, and clearly communicated, and when the teaching is very engaging and effective. The students’ abilities and what they already know have to also be considered. A positive attitude toward the students also plays a major role in making a “tough” course worthwhile for the students.

I lived this lesson again when I taught a college writing class, where the departmental office failed to put a proper enrollment cap in place, so I had to teach a writing course of fifty students. I tried being very tough, especially at first, to get some students to drop the course. It did not work, and what I then realized is that they were all there because they really needed the course. It was a required course for them, so I had to ease up.

3. You might inspire a few kids

During my Ph.D. program in Educational Psychology, I worked as a TA for a professor who taught a required undergraduate course in the department for education majors — students who would become primary and secondary school teachers in various subjects. The professor taught the main lecture, and we TAs assisted. Then we TAs each also taught a smaller discussion section (about 1–2 hours a week) of about thirty students each. On the first day of the discussion section, I would ask them why they wanted to become teachers. What I learned was fascinating. Most of them were inspired to become teachers because each of them had at least one particular teacher in school who had inspired them in their major. In school, each had a great math teacher, history teacher, English teacher, or such, who made these students realize that they liked the subject, and that they were good at it, and as a result, they wanted to teach it. They were inspired by good teachers.

My ability to inspire students came more often when I taught courses that I am really interested in, as opposed to required courses that I found less interesting. At a couple of previous jobs, I taught courses on language teaching methodology. Most teachers teach them from just an applied linguistics approach, but I incorporated a lot of relevant contents from educational psychology. To me, that’s a no-brainer, and absolutely necessary for such a course. My own teaching style then also drew a lot from educational psychology for modern, interactive teaching methods. The courses got a lot of positive response, and at least one student altered her plan for graduate school to focus on educational psychology instead of studying just English teaching.

4. Teach to your strengths

When you can modify or adapt a course, it helps to focus on your own special experience, skills, knowledge and strengths. That is not always possible; in many courses, you have to follow a rigid curriculum and teaching methodology. But when you can or must adapt, the students can benefit from what you have to offer. For example, I have to teach a college English speaking / conversation course. I am an academic and an introvert, so teaching this as a typical conversation course is not doable for me. Since I have the freedom to teach it as I like, I drew upon my background in psychology, and my interests in the job world and business, to craft a unique course. The students do a lot of discussion of practical psychology topics, with a focus on psychological self-awareness, in the first half of the semester. In the second half, they discuss job interests, job prospects and job options (especially for their majors), workplace culture, job search skills, and job interviews, culminating in a final mock job interview task. The psychology contents prepare them to better answer interview questions, and the interview practice prepares them for the job market. This way I can make the course interesting and practical for them.

5. Vocal use and energy

When I started teaching multiple classes per day as an ESL teaching assistant while in graduate school, I soon developed voice problems. I realized that I needed to learn to use my voice more effectively. Later, in another teaching role, I had to learn even more how to use my voice, when I came down with bronchitis. This illness lasted a few weeks, but it affected my voice for some time thereafter.

New teachers tend to rely on the throat muscles and lungs to project their voices. Then they wonder why they cannot talk, their throats hurt, and they sound like Donald Duck on downers or sleeping pills. Teachers need to practice using the diaphragm, the muscle underneath the lungs. I have developed a habit, which required conscious practice at first, of tensing my stomach muscles while talking. This then tenses the diaphragm to better project the voice. It is from there that the energy and force behind the voice should come — not from the throat or from just the lungs. Try walking around during the day and reminding yourself to tense up your stomach muscles while walking (this is also good for the back, if you have a weak back). Then especially in class, remember to tense your stomach muscles and project your voice from the diaphragm when talking.

It also helps to regularly engage in some kind of aerobic exercise, like jogging, bicycling, swimming, or rock climbing. Also, drink water while teaching. Try to avoid caffeine while teaching, as caffeine can make the vocal cords feel dry; drink all your required coffee well before you step into the classroom. Finally, you can also find vocal trainers and singing experts, say, on YouTube, who can teach you some voice training exercises to strengthen your voice. You might look silly, doing things like enunciating a long, breathy, thirdy-second “AAAAAAHHHHH,” and others living with you might wonder what is wrong with you, but breathing exercises can help.

By the way, one benefit that comes from years of classroom teaching and good vocal use is this: You become a natural at public speaking. Talking in front of students all day, every day, reduces your fear of an audience. Teachers can easily and confidently do public speaking, and do it well. If you want to quit teaching someday, jobs that involve public speaking are a natural choice.

6. Teaching persona

I once worked as an educational consultant at a university, advising new professors in teaching methods. One client, a new law professor, asked me how she could develop a sense of humor and tell jokes in class. I asked her if she had a natural sense of humor or was good at making jokes, especially spontaneously or off-the-cuff jokes. She said no. So I told her that she should not try to fake a sense of humor. If she is not good at humor, attempts at making jokes will likely fail. (You know when you tell a joke, and the only response you get is crickets? — It’s kind of like that.) I advised her that instead, she should focus on developing a positive teaching personality and positive interaction with their students.

I said that as one who naturally has a sense of humor, which I bring into my teaching. But as I got older, I toned it down some, and play more on my professional demeanor nowadays. But it’s important to strike a balance that is right for you. Too much humor, or too much seriousness, are not good. A sense of professionalism is essential, but also for balance, either a natural sense of humor, or at least a positive attitude and persona, is also needed.

It helps to be in touch with yourself, including yourself as an extrovert or introvert. There is no reason introverts cannot be good teachers. I am very much an introvert, but a social introvert — an introvert who enjoys social interaction. I love teaching, talking in front of classes, and doing public speaking, too. But afterwards, I have to recharge. That is what defines an introvert. Extroverts get their mental energy from social interaction; introverts get their mental energy from their downtime. I have no problem teaching and interacting with others — as long as I take care of my self by protecting my alone time and downtime. In my case, it is from reading, hiking, walking to and from work, listening to music, and just being alone with my thoughts. Having a healthy social life outside of work is important, too. Proper self-care — the right kind for you — is important for your teaching.

Finally, as a teacher, your teaching persona and effectiveness will be enhanced by good body language. I will have to devote a separate article to this, but there are some good online tutorials and good books on body language for general audiences. Those that are geared toward professionals or business people would also be useful for teachers. One of the main goals here is mastering body language in a way that projects confidence and enthusiasm.

7. Teaching style

Your teaching style will be influenced by your own past experiences as a student, and that will work against whatever you may have learned in a teacher training program about teaching methods.

When I did an M.A. degree in TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language), we learned about the importance of communicative language teaching, that is, where students learn a language through activities that simulate normal everyday language use, rather than from a teacher lecturing or from traditional exercises. But when many of us went on to teach, guess what? We would fall back on what was natural for us, which was shaped by our past experiences as learners. My own experience as a college student and graduate student consisted of courses taught mostly via lectures, maybe lecture-discussion, and traditional exercises. I had one college language course taught in a non-traditional manner, but it was poorly implemented, so we hated it and did not learn much.

It was only after I had been teaching English for a while, and when I started to work as an educational trainer and consultant, that I dug deeper into my educational psychology, and learned about modern, interactive learning methods, and the psychology research that they are based on. Actually, the communicative framework in modern language teaching is really just one form of the wider framework of interactive learning. This means limited use of lecture, or more lecture-discussion, with more non-traditional class activities that get students to discuss and think through problems themselves, deal with concepts rather than memorizing contents, engage in hands-on learning experiences, or work out practical application of concepts in their class sessions. Over time, I figured out how to make my classes more interactive and grounded on practical educational principles.

If you are a new teacher, this can take time to figure out. If you have not personally benefited from good teachers in your past who taught with interactive, communicative, or hands-on learning methods, you have little practical experience to go on. Just understand that despite all your educational training, how you start teaching will be shaped by own past experiences as a student. Unless your teacher training program had a strong practical component that emphasized modern teaching methods, you will probably default to what is natural for you, and it will take time to figure out your teaching style. But if you think your teaching style is too old-fashioned, no worry; I figured it out, so you can, too. I will address this in a future article, but with time and effort, it is possible to adapt and improve your teaching style.

8. Teaching preparation

As a new teacher, one of the hardest things at first will be time management. This is true for planning each class session, as well as the whole semester’s syllabus. At first, you will not have a sense of how each class session will flow. You will likely overplan or underplan; you will try to cram in too much into a single hour, and you may also find that a lesson took less time than you had planned. If you have to design your own syllabus or course plan for a whole semester, you will also find that you have trouble staying on schedule. Later in the semester you may realize that your planning was over-ambitious, that you’ve crammed more into the syllabus that you can cover. Occasionally you may find that a unit did not require so much time. Content coverage can be a pain your first time teaching.

For your daily lessons, of course, it is better to be over-prepared but flexible. It is better to prepare for more than what you are likely to cover in the lesson, but also to not rush through too much. You can figure out which sections or which points can be skipped, those that can be postponed until the next lesson, and those that can be assigned as extra homework or covered with an extra assigned video or reading outside of class. Similarly for the syllabus, you may have to de-prioritize or skip some contents, or assign some as extra reading, outside lectures, or homework.

Your first year as a teacher (especially as a college instructor or professor) will be extremely hectic. You will probably be extremely busy with designing your courses, developing your course materials, preparing lecture materials (and god forbid, having to create PPTs, if that is expected of you), creating assignments and exams, figuring out how to grade those assignments, and figuring out all the other duties that are expected of you (administrative or service duties, and for professors, starting your research). The first year will be hell. The second year will feel more like heck. Then after that, things get easier, as it is more of a matter of modifying and tweaking your course contents, and developing a sense of efficacy as a teacher.

9. Efficacy

After time, you develop a sense of efficacy, that is, a sense of your ability to teach and teach effectively. Efficacy is like confidence, but for a specific task. It is your sense of your ability to teach well, and your ability to improve as a teacher. It is a sense of mastery that comes with time and experience, and maybe with some help and advice from more experienced colleagues. Professional development seminars, books, or articles might help, particularly materials with specific, practical advice from more experienced teachers in your field. It can also help to learn about educational psychology, namely, the science of teaching and learning. Efficacy also comes from reflecting on your teaching style, methods, and abilities, and figuring out what works and does not work.

Conclusion

There is no shortcut or work-around for time and experience. It takes time, practice, and experience. It also helps to learn from others in your field. That is why I have shared these nine points with you (because I like prime numbers). I plan to write some follow-up articles later, where I talk more about teaching methods, body language, efficacy, and academic rigor. If you have questions, or would like for me to cover something in more detail, please feel free to comment below. Thank you for reading.