Share My Lesson: Supporting Early Career Educators

Teaching is a rewarding but challenging profession—and for new teachers, the reality of navigating the classroom and school community can be overwhelming. Many face these challenges in isolation, which can lead to burnout and an early exit from the profession. But the AFT has interactive support and resources to help early career educators learn and grow in community.

Share My Lesson’s Welcome-to-Teaching Conversation Series gives educators a platform to share their teaching experiences and receive support. In these for-credit, on-demand podcast episodes, two early career educators talk with AFT professional development leaders. Each episode is paired with a companion blog and supplemental resources that can be used to help onboard new teachers. Here, we describe the first five episodes and related resources; check out go.aft.org/92n for the entire series and ideas educators can use to spark conversations with colleagues on these topics.

Build Trusting Relationships for Student Success

What techniques can help early career educators handle challenging student behaviors and keep students on task? Episode 1, “Classroom Management,” is a conversation about setting effective classroom expectations and procedures—and these tips are expanded on in the companion blog, “Effective Classroom Management.” Additional resources, such as tips on navigating cellphone and social media use in the classroom and a webinar on fostering civil classroom conversations, are available in SML’s Classroom Management Strategies collection at go.aft.org/3c6.

Some challenging classroom behaviors are rooted in trauma that can distract students from learning. Episode 2, “Children’s Well-Being,” features strategies for creating a safe classroom environment that fosters trust, de-escalating crisis behaviors, and helping students regulate their emotions and build problem-solving skills. Resources supporting this episode include “Create a School Culture of Care Through Active Well-Being Practices,” a new webinar in SML’s Social Emotional Learning Lesson Plans and Resources for Middle and High School collection; educators learn mindfulness, gratitude, and kindness practices that help students thrive academically and emotionally.

Families are a critical partner in students’ learning, so Episode 3, “Family Engagement,” focuses on practical strategies and easy, “bite-size” actions to help educators maintain regular communication with families, partner to provide the instructional support students need, and use literacy as a lever to build great family relationships. Pair this episode with content in SML’s Family Engagement Resources collection—like the blog “Showing Up Is Half the Battle,” which gives actionable strategies to “tag team” with families in addressing chronic absenteeism.

Manage Work-Life Balance

Balancing the educator’s workload with the demands of a personal life can sometimes feel impossible to new teachers. Episode 4, “Teacher Well-Being,” reminds educators that taking time to care for themselves also benefits students. Strategies such as setting boundaries with time, engaging in activities that bring joy, and asking for help create space for educators to focus on student growth, success, and connection. The accompanying blog, “Finding Balance as a New Teacher,” provides additional tips for relieving stress, such as box breathing and developing relationships with colleagues.

Foster Civic Engagement and Participation

How can educators make civics relevant to all students and address real-world issues that concern students—especially those that are controversial? This is the focus of Episode 5, “Civics Instruction,” which covers how to help students understand multiple perspectives and learn to converse about civic issues that relate to their lives. The blog, “Making Civics Instruction Meaningful for Every Classroom,” supplements this episode with examples for helping students make connections to their learning and engage each other respectfully, even when they disagree.

Do you have resources you’d like to share? SML makes it easy! And if you have ideas or requests, reach out to content@sharemy
lesson.com.

–THE SHARE MY LESSON TEAM

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