For many novice ESL/EFL teachers the transition from their teacher education program (Cert or MA) to their first year of teaching has been characterized as a type of 'reality shock' because the ideals that novice teachers may have formed during the education program are often replaced by the harsh realities of the classroom, and social and political contexts of the school in which they are teaching. One reason for this may be that teacher education programs are unable to reproduce an environment similar to that teachers face when they graduate. Even though many schools may have induction programs available, many novice teachers are often left to cope on their own in a sink-or-swim type situation, with some ultimately leaving the profession because of difficulties encountered during their first year. EVERY teacher must experience life as a novice when they begin their teaching career in a real classroom, and Reflective Practice for Novice Language Teachers is the book that will make the transition from the training course to the classroom as smooth as possible because it focuses on the needs of the novice teachers in particular. Reflective Practice for Novice Language Teachers outlines and describes a comprehensive framework for the professional development of novice teachers through reflective practice that is grounded in the classroom realities of real teaching contexts so that they can develop beyond their novice years and become expert ESL/EFL teachers. In addition, the suggestions presented in this book can be operationalized as standards for future ESL/EFL teacher education and development programs worldwide.

Product Description: You’ve completed the course work, student teaching, and interviewing. The job is yours. Now what? The first weeks and months of a new teaching position can be the most demanding of your entire career. In this new edition of their bestseller, veteran educators Robert L...read more

This is the book that will save rookies’ souls when they lose the strength to save their classrooms. With tales from more than one hundred veterans from across the country, teachers everywhere will find themselves laughing, maybe crying, and definitely taking notes. Readers at the toughest schools will be relieved to find a resource that deals specifically with their struggles instead of insisting that all teaching situations are the same. This is the book that will keep the great teachers of the future from quitting before they become great. Many new teachers have been waiting for someone to break the “stay positive!” code and talk about the parts of the job that make teachers question their career choices. While other books cover the eyes of readers to keep from scaring them, this one asks teachers to be brutally honest about how tough teaching truly is and whether the rewards are still worth it. The answer is yes. From the author: I have never understood why so many books for the new teacher show apples and paper airplanes on their covers. In six years of teaching, no one has ever given me an apple. Any snacks students have offered me have come from vending machines, and teachers are not allowed to accept unwrapped food anyway. I have never seen a paper airplane, either. This generation of students knows that crumpled-up-paper balls are faster to make and easier to aim. Some unlucky teachers have had books thrown at them. In at least one case, a teacher was hit in the back with chunks of plaster from her crumbling classroom wall. Even without serious discipline problems, new teachers often feel like failures. Not only do they take on all the issues plaguing the school system, they cause many of their own problems because of their inexperience. As a beginner, I sat through countless workshops listening to the heartwarming success stories of others. Then, carrying home piles of un-graded papers the night before report card day, all I could think was, “How did these poor students get stuck with a teacher like me?” I also remember some generous, experienced coworkers who shared their own first-year horror stories. One described a parent who threatened to “f___ (her) up” during class time. Another talked about a hard-working student who was tormented every time he turned in an assignment, and a third confided that she was so overwhelmed she repeatedly turned in the same lesson plan. These stories were not inspirational, but during my first year they kept me sane. These were people who had become top-notch professionals. If their start had been so rocky, maybe there was hope for me.

Because participants in our workshop series, Instruction for All Students, often ask, "Why didn't we learn this in college?" that question provided the inspiration for the title of this new book for teachers new to the classroom. This title is in no way meant to condemn those who direct our collegiate experiences. The realities are that we may well have studied these topics and earned a good grade on a test over the theoretical aspects of this information but had no classroom teaching experiences on which to hook the information, that we took an alternative approach to entering the profession, that our focus was elsewhere at the time or perhaps, in fact, it was not taught. Whatever the case may be, teachers new to the classroom clearly need support and a repertoire of effective teaching strategies during their first years of classroom work. Why Didn’t I Learn This in College? is based on the constructs that: + the best management program is a good instructional program, + if the end we have in mind is student learning, we do not want to concentrate on control and compliance but rather on building learning centered environments, and + we need efficient and effective organizational systems for ourselves, our students, and our classroom.