The New Teacher Experience
What we got wrong welcoming Bettina*, and what we do now
Bettina* came to our team as a newbie to the school. She was carrying a lot outside of school and landed on a team that was already working as a thriving learning community. We had our agreements, our routines, and our shared language… we didn’t think twice about it. On paper, Bettina could have been in no better hands.
She was eager to try the learning community model. But the leap from solo practitioner to community teacher was so big that she was overwhelmed, which dismantled her confidence. And then, she began to push back, or rather, cling desperately to what she knew, what she’d always done.
That’s a normal reaction. When people don’t know what to do, they double down on what feels comfortable, because it gives them some control. Bettina told me as much in one of our coaching sessions. She didn’t understand how the model worked, so she retreated to what she knew and then locked in. Over time, we got Bettina unstuck. But it cost all of us: time, energy, and stress we didn’t need to waste.
What We Didn’t Know Then
Here’s what’s clearer in hindsight. A teacher new to the “we-do-everything-as-a-community” model brings years of doing something one way, and then they’re smacked in the face with an alternative. It can be (read: it’s) confounding, frustrating, and disorienting.
What the rest of the team forgets is that we didn’t become a learning community overnight. We evolved, iterated, debated, reflected, and became. Bettina didn’t have the luxury of any of that. She was expected to join a well-oiled machine without the backbone of the understanding that built it.
It’s the building-the-plane-as-we-fly metaphor revised. Our team learned to build and fly at the same time. Bettina had to fly, and nobody handed her the directions on how it was built or why it works.
And that’s where the challenges emerged. The team was doubling down too. We were comfortable, and we kept doing what worked for us, just as she did. Plowing forward, not really waiting for Bettina to catch up.
The difference was that, like everyone in the community, she had people ready to support her every step of the way. We just didn’t do as well as we could have.
We’ve learned since then.
What We Do for Students and Forgot to Do for Adults
Every fall, we start the year with a cohort of new students that we put through a learning community “boot camp.” We teach routines, practice the language, and explain why we do things this way. When a student arrives mid-year, we run a smaller version of it.
We didn’t put Bettina through a teacher version of “boot camp.” We gave her the finished system, some brief information, and then said, “Let’s go!”
What she needed was what a student teacher gets in a practicum. Theory only takes you so far, and it isn’t until a teacher is in the room with a master teacher that the theory starts to make sense. The “how” becomes clear, and then the follow-up conversations about the “why” help to frame the theory.
Boot Camp
Our team didn’t know better with Bettina. But now, we do it differently. We first tried it with two long-term substitutes (in two different schools). For their first couple of weeks, they observed the model, but not from the back of a room. The 20-24 students in the sub’s home base were divided among the other homeroom spaces, and the substitute moved from room to room each day, working alongside a different teacher. The substitute met the students, saw the model through different teaching styles, and was expected to meet and work with students. It was a hands-on kind of observing, and it was co-teaching from the start.
After each session, we showed the substitute how to add a few anecdotal notes to the shared record so team teachers had access. The substitute was expected to be part of the model, so we had to work creatively to bring them up to speed.
What I’ve learned is that this model works for a teacher who is new to the learning community as well.
What does boot camp cover?
What language is used in a community
How we forecast the learning together
How/Why we plan subject-area work in smaller clusters
Which co-teaching models we use, and when
What it looks like to teach other teachers’ students
Why we group students the way we do
How we keep anecdotal notes on students across the cohort
How we discuss students at our weekly student-focused meeting
The systems that let students and teachers move between rooms seamlessly
At the end of the school day (or sometimes over lunch) comes the debrief about why we made each choice. The “why” conversation matters as much as the observing.
How It Evolves
Bettina’s first year was rough. Her second was different. Once she understood the how and the why, she stopped clinging to what she knew and started shaping what we did. She was actually the one who asked, “Why are the students the only ones moving classrooms? Shouldn’t we model the challenges we’re asking students to face?” We took her up on it. Teachers started moving to new spaces too, not just students. The teachers in our community never said “my classroom,” but we acted like it was ours. The students moved, and the teachers didn’t. Bettina saw what we couldn’t. She came to appreciate the model, and the team got better because she was part of it.
That’s how a learning community stays alive. Once a newcomer has been through boot camp and understands the model, their insights, perspectives, and ideas shape the next version of what the community becomes. The model becomes self-sustaining and ever-improving because the people who join it get a say.
If You’re the Newbie Teacher on the Team
Your feelings are justified. If you’ve joined a team that already works like a community and you feel lost, that doesn’t mean you’re failing. You’re being asked to jump in without the history. Share this post with your team and ask for a boot camp.
For Administrators
Good news: this doesn’t need an extra substitute or a budget line. It needs flexible home bases and a team willing to share all the students for a couple of weeks. It isn’t free, though. Homerooms get bigger and mixed up, and morning meetings change for those weeks. But in my experience, it works because the community plans for the challenges…together.
Also—November is when many international schools are hiring for next year. If you’re bringing someone new onto an established team, put the boot camp into your onboarding plan now.
Where This Shows Up in the Rubric
If you’ve used the Learning Community Growth Rubric, this post connects to two of its indicators. Domain 1 asks whether new team members are oriented to the shared vision, not just logistics. Domain 6 asks whether the team actively prepares for transitions and brings new people into the culture instead of starting over. If you’re wondering whether your team is ready to welcome someone, check those two.
Try This
You don’t need the whole team to start. Pick the level that fits your capacity and try one of these learning community shifts this week.
Solo Actions: Write down three routines you now do automatically. Next to each, write down why you do it. That’s the part a newcomer can’t see.
Pair Actions: Offer to be someone’s buddy. During one planning session, talk through your thinking out loud, not just what you’re doing.
Team Actions: Turn the boot camp list above into your own checklist. Name who walks a new person through each item.
We built the plane while flying it. That taught us everything. But the next teacher to board shouldn’t have to learn to fly mid-air. Show your “newbie” how it was built. Tell them why. Then let them help you fly it somewhere better.
We were never meant to do this alone. And that includes the newest teacher on your team!
* Names have been changed, and characters are composites, to protect anonymity.
Note: This post was edited with AI as an assistant to refine structure and readability. My ideas, voice, and words remain intact.
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