Do we prepare teachers for the schools we wish all children could attend or do we prepare teachers for the schools where they are most likely to find a position? The authors address the often-asked question What do beginning teachers need to know? by making the case that we must prepare teachers for the disparate conditions found on the…

In this article, the author offers suggestions, based on the insightful article "The Three Rs of Professionalism" by Patricia H. Phelps ("Record" Winter 2006), for beginning teachers as they prepare for successful secondary classroom careers. As a professor of general secondary methods, the author emphasizes and has modeled the…

To remain a teacher or not will probably be among the most difficult decisions to be made by a first-year teacher. Teaching is a type of work from which a person can experience the mental and physical growth of thousands of human beings. Unfortunately, teaching can also be discouraging when the teacher is left to her or his own means to handle the…

Ten theme articles discuss the following: the need for and value of advisory committees in agricultural education; working with advisory committees, FFA alumni, and parent groups; how to define and choose stakeholders; teacher retention; the experiences of a first-year teacher; the value of the Veterinarian Care Council; and managing advisory…

Discusses three general categories where experienced teachers' support would be invaluable for new teachers: practical information, political savior-faire, and professional support. (RS)

Profiles the American Vocational Association vocational teacher of the year, Rebecca Rhodes, in "Coming Full Circle" (Lozada); the outstanding vocational educator, Roy Peters, Jr., in "The Shoes Fit" (Dykman); and the outstanding new vocational teacher, Ann Krause, in "First Love" (Vo). (SK)

As a beginning teacher, the author gladly adapted companies' complimentary kits, snacks, and fast-food ads to her own purposes. She later realized that every corporate calendar, filmstrip, and free admission came with a price tag: corporate promotion. She now shields her students from advertising and creates many of her own materials. (MLH)

A commencement speech to aspiring teachers discusses the complexities of becoming a teacher to help graduates cope realistically with any obstacles they might encounter. The paper stresses that teaching young children is an intensely personal experience that is well worth the struggle. (SM)

Offers observations and comments on what makes a good mentor at the middle school level from several experienced and novice English language arts teachers. (SR)

Reflects on the impact of the current socio-political climate on how new English teachers prepare to take their place in a particular education system and establish their relationship to it, i.e., how educational discourse affects student-teachers' emergent identities as English teachers and how they are affected by political discourses…

A high-school Spanish teacher recalls her first hectic year. She would have quit, without assistance with everyday classroom realities from an official mentor (a vice principal), a biology teacher, and a second-grade teacher (her mother). These mentors eventually became her best friends. (MLH)

Describes a preservice teacher's transformation of herself from a reluctant student to an enthusiastic preservice teacher. Concludes that she feels like an apprentice stonemason who will not be able to sculpt (make) the ideas she has learned her own until she has a classroom of her own. (RS)

As seen in a poem written by a disillusioned first-year teacher, novice teachers require a philosophical match with a school; meaningful support in time management, planning, technology use, instructional techniques, and classroom management; a collegial network; and balance between their professional and private lives. (MLH)

A step-by-step self-portrait lesson helped students with their listening skills, following directions, expanding their art vocabulary, and using a variety of art media and techniques. This article describes a simple lesson that enabled a teacher to have an excellent relationship with her first grade students. The teacher who wrote this article…

This document is an account of the authors' experience as principal for a day at an elementary school in his hometown. This experience cause the writer to reflect on what it meant to be a teacher.