Any time you start a new job, that first evaluation is always the scariest. It doesn’t matter how well you prepared for your career in college or how much you love your students.
Sometimes people make mistakes, or things happen outside of their control. A good evaluator understands this and is interested in how you handle the situation and your reflection on how you might do things differently in the future.
Here are some tips to make sure you’re ready for that first evaluation.
- Be prepared. Good lesson plans are a must in teaching. During new teacher orientation, your principal should share the lesson template for your new school. If that isn’t discussed, ask about it. You could also ask veteran teachers at your grade level to share their lesson-plan format with you. This will help you determine what the principal will be expecting if he or she looks at your planning book.
- Use a variety of evaluative tools. Students do not need homework every night, but make sure that you use a variety of assessments to justify their grades.
- Be open to constructive criticism and reflect upon what you can do better. Your evaluation is intended to make you a better teacher, and becoming a great teacher takes time. If your principal tells you that you need to make some changes, it’s not an indictment of you personally.