I remember my first year of teaching all too well. It was an amazing year, but one that was regularly filled with questions, fear, and second guesses. And, to be completely truthful, there were times when I thought maybe I’d made a career mistake. Times when I doubted my effectiveness as an educator because a lesson didn’t go as planned or the overall behavior in my class was less than pleasing.
Turns out, I was an effective educator. Also, I’m not the only one that feels those same first year thoughts. Educators entering the profession now have another resource to through in their toolkit. It is a book titled Your First Year: How to Survive and Thrive as a New Teacher. It was co-authored by Todd Whitaker, Madeline Good, and Katherine Whitaker.
Today on Anchored in Education, Katherine Whitaker has graciously agree to join us to talk more about this amazing book. Don’t think that since you are past your first year that this can’t help you out. I’ve read Your First Year multiple times throughout my career and never during my actual first year—it wasn’t available then.
Katherine Whitaker (@MissWhitaker294) is currently a high school math teacher in Kansas City, Missouri. She was raised in Terre Haute, Indiana and received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Mathematics Education from the University of Missouri. Her first three years in the classroom were spent at the middle school level teaching Math, Algebra, and Reading. She is in her 5th year at the high school level having taught Algebra A, Algebra I, and Algebra II Honors. Katherine graduated with her Master of Science in Educational Leadership K-12 from Northwest Missouri State University. She also co-authored the bestselling books Your First Year: How to Survive and Thrive as a New Teacher and Classroom Management from the Ground Up with Todd Whitaker and Madeline Whitaker Good.