Welcome to New Teacher Assistance

My name is Lauren and I have just completed my first year of teaching high school ... for the second time. After receiving my BA in Classics from Emory University, I began teaching Latin at a small, private high school. I knew nothing about teaching, only that I knew Latin really well. Two years of chaos was enough to send me for my teacher's certification from Georgia State University -- the student teaching did me in and I left the classroom after 5 years as a teacher. I transitioned into high school administration and began work on my MA in Professional Writing at Kennesaw State University part-time -- the high school administration did me in and I returned to the classroom this year. I began teaching a new subject (English) and a familiar subject with new textbooks (Latin) at a new school that was the polar opposite of my last school. To say this year has been filled with challenges is a major understatement. What I have learned is that I enjoy teaching, but that there is so much I wish I could have known in advance or at least been better prepared for.

Thus the idea for New Teacher Assistance was born. Teaching is a tough profession that a certification program can help prepare you for the academic side of things (lesson planning, sequencing, forms of assessment, etc.), but that leaves you ill-prepared for the daily ups and downs of being a new teacher (what to do with your lunch period, how to avoid administrators, how many football games to attend, etc.). So, if you are a new teacher, if you are interested in becoming a teacher, or if you remember your new teacher years with bittersweet fondness, welcome aboard.