Madeline Stookey, BSEd ’16
Second grade
Bebensee Elementary, Arlington ISD

In the weeks leading up to the start of the school year, my friends and family kept asking if I was excited for school start. And yes, I was very excited to finally be doing what I dreamed of for so long, but I was terrified too. I just kept thinking, “How did I convince someone that I was the best choice for the job?!” Just a few short months before, I had walked across the stage in the Ferrell Center feeling on top of the world. I was confident in my abilities. I had fantastic student teaching experiences to draw from. I felt confident in interviews. I landed a job in my ideal grade level. But I couldn’t stop thinking, “Am I really ready?”

There isn’t much that can prepare you for the first day and that feeling you have when the door closes and 18 sets of eyes are on you, waiting for you to set the tone for the year. It is overwhelming and exhausting; it’s exciting and heart warming to see your little community begin to develop. While I felt incompetent and unprepared most of the first week, I relied on the experiences I had at Baylor to guide me as I began this amazing journey.

It’s hard to put your first year into words, but it’s all worth it. The late nights and the early mornings. The long days and the numerous meetings. The stresses and the successes. The highs and the lows. It’s all worth it! If I could rewind a year and offer a few pieces of advice to myself as a first-year teacher, here’s what I would say:

Learn when to listen. One of the best parts of being new is that there is always someone with more experience and expertise than you. Find them and start listening! You can learn so much from those around you.

Trust your training. While you should find experienced teachers you can learn from, you should also trust what you know. It’s okay to try your own thing! You’ve probably been exposed to new methods and ideas while at Baylor that teachers around you don’t have experience with. Learn to trust your instinct. You know your stuff, too! You might not have experience, but Baylor trained you well!

It’s OK to fail. This is probably the hardest lesson to learn, but likely the most important. Being a teacher is unpredictable; from emergency drills to sick kids, you have to learn to roll with the punches — especially when lessons are not going the way you wanted them to. You do not have to be perfect all of the time! The important thing is to learn from your failures. Don’t be afraid to try something new; if it fails, learn from it. Then again, it might turn out great. You’ll never know if you don’t try.

Learn to celebrate the small victories. Whether you’re celebrating the victories of your students or the fact that you left school before dark, find joy in the small things. It’s easy to get sucked into all the things you think you’re doing wrong or that you could do more of, but try not to. If you make a point to celebrate the small victories of your students and yourself, you’ll begin to see all the good things you’re doing too.

This first year was a wild ride, but Baylor truly prepared me to be the teacher I am today. I’m not sure how I could have made it through this year without the experiences I had while at Baylor. My professors and mentor teachers all taught me valuable lessons that helped make my first year a great year. And because of all the training and experience I got at Baylor, I landed a job at my dream school after just one year of teaching! In the fall, I’ll be teaching fourth grade at Alice Carlson Applied Learning Center in Fort Worth ISD. I’m overjoyed to start this new adventure, which I wouldn’t have had without the training I got in the Baylor SOE.