As teachers welcomed the 2023-2024 academic year, many found themselves not simply with new classrooms and new students, but with new colleagues as well! As someone who has moved across the state and has been new to 7 different schools, I can attest that relocating and making new friends can be intimidating. It isn’t difficult to imagine that teaching for the first time might be similarly unnerving. The transition from being responsible solely for yourself, to the education and well-being of 100 or more students is surely no small feat. Then, there is the added burden of being the “new kid” at a new job. What’s a new teacher to do?
Luckily, plenty of veteran teachers have words of wisdom to share about their experience to help put their new colleagues at ease. I tracked down a few MHS favorites and asked them to share some of what they have learned.
Mr. Murray, an MHS alum, has been teaching at Manatee for 20 years. He currently teaches AP U.S History and AP Macroeconomics. He also runs the Academic Team with Mr. Gilbert. He is widely appreciated by students for his sense of humor and his zeal for teaching. Murray encourages teamwork among his new peers:
“Rely on as many others as you can and understand that you might do things a little bit differently than all of them.”
He talks about pressure he placed upon himself:
“…so it’s not been that I’ve learned to accomplish all of the things that I thought I needed to accomplish. It’s probably more that I’ve changed the expectations or importance on different things.”
Like Mr. Murray, Mrs. O’Leary has been teaching for 20 years – 18 of those spent at Manatee. She currently teaches AICE General Paper, AP Seminar, and Student Council Senate. Students have expressed that what makes O’Leary unique is her dedication, passion, and drive for what she does. She suggests ways to connect with the school:
“Get involved… Join in wherever you can to be part of the faculty and feel more a part of the school… go to the football games. Go to the sporting events. Go to the plays. Do all of the things that show your students that you’re interested in them and who they are, that you have a connection with them more than just [as] the teacher.”
Additionally, she lends guidance to the new English teachers:
“I think you have to be open to change. Because in the English department there are always new things that come down the pike. There’s always new curriculum and you just have to embrace it, and just know that it’s difficult… but, at the same time, that keeps you from getting bored and keeps you from getting stale.”
Mrs. Barnes has been teaching at Manatee for 9 years. She currently teaches English 2, English 2 Honors, and AP English Language and Composition. Barnes has been described as organized, thorough, and patient by her students. She talks about moments of self-doubt:
“…have that confident kind of air, even when you’re not confident. In your very first teaching when you’re like ‘Am I doing this right?’ or ‘I’m not sure,’ … you gotta go with it and pretend, or fake it until you make it!”
All this to say, teachers, you can rest assured you have an excellent support system surrounding you, and as everyone had concurred in their separate interviews- take advantage! You are not alone here. Welcome to Manatee.
