19 Affirmations for First Year Teachers
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Here are 19 affirmations that helped me when I was a first year teacher. I hope that they help other first year teachers as well🍎✨
2. ♾️Presume competence in yourself first. We teachers are ethically responsible for advocating for presuming competence in students of all differences. Why not advocate for presuming competence in all first year teachers as well? Give all first year teachers chances to show what they are capable of before assuming what they are incapable of.
3. 🌠Set realistic goals and standards for yourself. It is important to set high standards and take positive risks for professional growth, and like I said presume competence in yourself; however, it is important to not set too high standards that go past your capacity limit just like how you would not want to set goals and standards that are not developmentally appropriate for students. So, focus on what you need in the present moment.
4. 🧑🏽🏫You are capable and competent. Being a first year teacher does not mean that you know nothing. You are doing better than unkind people and your inner critic think.
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5. 📉📈You can do hard things. All years of teaching are so hard, busy, and rewarding because teaching matters. So, show self-compassion for yourself. Life is tough, and so are you.
6. 💡It is okay to make mistakes. I was so insecure about my mistakes when I was student teaching for my Child Development Associate (CDA) certification and as a first year Special Education Teacher. This was due to many people's fixed mindsets about teachers needing to be perfect and the shame associated with it. What an interesting way to model healthy self-esteem and lifelong development of problem-solving skills in front of children🧐 Contrary to popular belief, however, it is common sense knowledge that no one is perfect and that is okay. I embrace all of mistakes that I make in front of my students by saying, "Mistakes are how we learn." I model how to have a growth mindset, which boosts self-esteem and is trauma informed.
Moral of the story: Progress over perfection. You do not need to be the perfect teacher. You need to be the safe one.
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7. 🌉It is okay if you take longer to learn and apply teacher/leadership skills and do not have all of the answers. That is the purpose of mentors and professional development.
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8. 🫱🏽🫲🏻Connection over comparison. Building teacher-student relationships super important for social-emotional development.
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9. 📅🛁🫖Teachers' mental and physical health is just as important as students' mental and physical health. Flight attendants instruct passengers to put on their own oxygen masks before assisting any other passengers. This is because if you involuntarily pass out from a lack of oxygen, you are unable to help anyone else. Similarly, while it is fair to say that "the children come first" at times, it is important for staff to prioritize self-care. Prioritizing self-care prevents burnout and mental health crises in order to be there for students.
📵It is okay to set boundaries in the workplace even if other teachers, mentors, support staff, service providers, subordinates, administrators, students, or their families do not like it. Pro boundary tip: AVOID connecting your school email to your phone!!!!! This protected my well-being in my chaotic and rewarding first year of being a Special Education Teacher. Set boundaries between work and personal life.
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10. ⚖️Remember your circle of what you can and cannot control. You are not responsible for anyone else's actions or happiness but your own. This includes the actions and happiness of students, families, paraprofessionals, service providers, subordinates, cafeteria workers, greeters, bus drivers, and administrators. I am not saying to disrespect these colleagues. Always show respect towards everyone even when they are not being respectful towards you to show good character while being assertive when necessary. While it is absolutely true that there are certain rules that you cannot control, many people will also think that all because you are the lead teacher or case manager, which makes you "the boss" that you can do whatever you want, dismiss any rules, and fix anything. 🚨NEWS FLASH: WRONG!!!🚨 Teachers do not decide most curriculum programs, state/federal requirements, and administrators' rules. Also, disagreeing with certain rules does not mean that cherry picking (choosing only the most liked items, data, or facts from a group while ignoring everything else) which rules to follow and not follow is allowed. In fact, administrators do not get to have control over all rules depending on their hierarchy level and if it is state/federal requirements. Everyone at work has a boss, and there is a pecking order to follow, and not following pecking order is insubordination, which can result in serious consequences, especially termination or write ups; however, stick to any rules you that you set, whether any students, families, paraprofessionals, subordinates, or general education teachers disagree. Keep an open mind and actively listen to any questions and concerns that the people giving pushback have (since their concerns are valid sometimes) while guiding them through navigating conflict resolution.
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11. 💖Your worth is not dependent on other people. You are worthy of respect, value, compassion, empathy, patience, and appreciation as a human being and authority figure no matter what age group(s), subject area(s), or population you teach, how many years of experience, degrees, certifications, or connections you have, or what your salary or demographic background is. Respect does NOT need to be earned. In fact, disrespect is bullying and there are laws that prohibit workplace bullying. Nevertheless, violation of these laws can result in serious consequences, such as lawsuits or suicide among bullying victims due to the emotional distress that it caused. No one should ever assume that these consequences will not happen. You should not need to prove that you are worthy of respect as a human being to anyone.
Related Links:
- Adult Bullying is Not Talked About Enough and Can Be Just as Traumatic or Sometimes Worse Than Childhood Bullying
- 25 Bullying Prevention Stimulation Activities for Schools and Workplaces
- Bullying is One of the Leading Causes of Suicide
- How Traumatic Loneliness Can Be is Not Talked About Enough
- Trauma's Impact on Mental and Physical Health Can Be Really Scary
- When Trauma Gets Trapped in the Body, Mind, and Spiritual Self
- Warning Signs of Suicidal Thoughts
- How to Talk to Someone with Suicidal Thoughts
- 44 Signs That a Hurting Person Is "Crying for Help" Without Crying or Speaking Up
12. 🍼✂️🥘🧠👩🦼You ARE a REAL TEACHER no matter which age group(s), subject area(s), or population you teach. Infant/toddler teachers ARE REAL TEACHERS and just as important as grade schoolteachers. In fact, infant/toddler teachers are many students' first teachers who they learn prerequisite skills from, which are needed in order to enter grade schools and build higher level learning there. Also, FYI Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is not "woke" and does not make students nor their teachers weak or immature. It actually builds emotional intelligence and shows signs of educated people.
Related Links:
- Infant/Toddler Teachers Need to be Valued More as Teachers
- FAQs About My Former Job as a Lead Infant Teacher
- Trauma-Informed Care and Education in Infant Classrooms
- FAQs About My Former Job as a Toddler Teacher
- How I Helped My Former Young Toddler Class and Their Families Feel Safe at Childcare While in a Pandemic
- Supporting Toddlers in the Disability Community
- 18 Picture Book Recommendations for Infants and Toddlers
- Building Young Children's Development Through Play and Conversations
- 45 Nursery Rhyme Song Recommendations for Infants Through Kindergarten
- Incorporating Nursery Rhymes into Early Childhood Games
- Observing and Assessing Young Children of All Abilities
- Interventions for Young Children with Intellectual Disabilities
- Fidgets Are Not Rewards. They Are Self-Regulation Tools.
- How and Why to Use Social/Emotional/Behavioral Highly Leveraged Practices (HLP) in High School Life Skills Support Classrooms
13. 🫂Surround yourself with positive colleagues. Find your people! Cut off workplace bullies immediately even if that means blocking them from your personal phone and/or social media. Connecting with colleagues via social media or personal phones is not a workplace requirement. You deserve people who treat you with genuine respect in front of you and when your presence is absent. FYI saying, "I do treat you with respect" and "I am (being) respectful" does not count as showing genuine respect. Genuine respectful is shown through actions and nothing changes without change. You deserve the same care and effort that you give to others. You deserve people who show up for you and celebrate your wins even when they lose.
Related Links:
- Quality of Influential Content and Friends Over Quantity of Followers and Friends
- Adult Bullying is Not Talked About Enough and Can Be Just as Traumatic or Sometimes Worse Than Childhood Bullying
- Define normal
- Saying "You don't look disabled" is stereotyping and prejudice
- Self-Care is Not Selfish at All
14.🤷🏻♀️🔐You do not owe anyone an explanation (except sometimes your supervisor). If the person is not your supervisor or whatever it is is not work-related, you do not owe them an explanation.
15. 💭🧠🎓👩🏻🏫🔡🔢⚖️Your thoughts, feelings, education, experiences, philosophies, lessons, ideas, and authority matter.
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16. 📊It is okay no matter what your teacher journey looks like even if it is messy, busy, and rewarding all at the same time. My first year of being a Special Education Teacher was a whirlwind full of so many surprises and joyful, busy, and rewarding action.
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17. 👍You've got this.
18. 💚Be kind to yourself.
Here is free access to graphic visuals of all of my first year teacher affirmations linked below:
To learn more about teaching and workplace rights, you can visit the following organization websites:
- American Federation for Teachers (AFT) - www.aft.org
- Bored Teachers - www.boredteachers.com
- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - https://www.pa.gov/agencies/hrmoa/programs/employee-relations/discipline
- Commonwealth Policies and Laws - https://www.pa.gov/agencies/oa/programs/eeo/policies-and-laws
- Edutopia - www.edutopia.org
- National Education Association (NEA) - www.nea.org
- National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) - https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/weingarten-rights
- Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA) - https://www.psea.org/for-members/member-resources/member-rights/
- We Are Teachers - www.weareteachers.com
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