Holiday blues
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Monday, December 18, 2006
By Lynze Wardle
Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau
lwardle@standard.net
Editor's note: This is one in an occasional series of stories following the experiences of first-year teacher Marci Lorenc.
BOUNTIFUL -- Except for a few cheers when she shortened a homework assignment, students in Marci Lorenc's fifth-period geometry class were quietly focused Thursday on finding slopes and spotting congruent angles.
In other classes, Lorenc said, she doesn't have it quite so easy.
The first-year instructor has fallen a little behind schedule in her lesson plans and said students are getting restless as Christmas break draws near.
"They're getting more unmotivated because they are so excited for the holidays," she said. "Some just want to socialize and talk. Right now, we're a little pressed for time."
Lorenc is halfway through her first year of teaching. She graduated last spring from Brigham Young University and began teaching geometry and pre-algebra at Bountiful Junior High School on Aug. 23.
Lorenc said she still enjoys her job, but for many first-year teachers, December is notoriously tough.
By mid-year, teachers are growing weary of standing in front of a classroom five days a week, said Dr. Brian Pead, the Davis School District mentor leader.
"No one who hasn't taught can know how taxing it is emotionally," he said. "It is like being on Jay Leno for seven hours a day. At some point in November, you begin to wonder if you should even be in teaching."
Much of the difficulty comes because the learning curve for first-year teachers is so steep, Pead said.
First-year teachers have to learn how to work within district and school regulations, communicate effectively with parents and manage a schedule that often includes early morning classes and late nights spent correcting papers.
By January, Pead said, most teachers are reinvigorated and start to find a rhythm.
"That's usually where the trend starts back to the positive," he said. "They welcome the rest, and they feel in control."
The district spends a lot of time counseling first-year teachers on how to pace themselves and learn from others, Pead said.
"We tell them they don't always
have to try and reinvent the wheel," he said.
Lorenc is one of 170 beginning teachers who started their careers in the Davis School District this year.
Although Pead could not say if any of those teachers have quit, nationally, only 54 percent of educators teach for more than five years.
A recently released Utah System of Higher Education survey indicates 19.3 percent of Utah's teachers leave employment after only one year. However, the reasons for leaving could include pregnancy, moving to another district, taking an administrative or nonteaching job, or returning to school.
Lorenc said she is not feeling much of the burnout typically associated with first-year teaching.
She said she has relied heavily on fellow Bountiful Junior High math teacher Trish McGregor.
"I go to her pretty much every morning, and she gives me input and helps me make sure I'm on the right track with my lessons," she said.
Lorenc said she inherited McGregor's old geometry lesson plans at the beginning of the year, which has helped cut down her preparation time.
Like all of the district's first-year teachers, Lorenc also works with a district-appointed mentor, who, she said, gives her advice and provides a listening ear.
Lorenc said her schedule has slowed since the first of the year, giving her some much-needed time to organize a condominium she recently purchased with her husband.
From August to October, she also helped coach the school's volleyball team. Between practice and correcting papers, Lorenc said, she often worked until 9 p.m.
"I saw a life after volleyball," she said. "It's been nice."
Lorenc said her husband, a chiropractor's assistant and part-time student, was prepared for her long hours in the classroom.
"My mother is a teacher, and she warned him," Lorenc said. "Now he tells her, 'You were right. She spends most of her time on school stuff.'
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