r/ScienceTeachers • u/richycoolg123 • 16h ago
New Teacher: Does "That Feeling" Ever Go Away?
Hello folks,
Second year physics/ESS teacher here. Im currently at home on a Saturday night stressed out about work on Thursday not having everything finished for that day (we have until new years off). I feel like even now after teaching a full first year I get extremely overwhelmed about the prospect of a full week.
Most of my classes are so easy discipline-wise compared to last year (excluding one class...) but I still wake up in sweats freaking out about lesson planning. Ifeel like it's never fully ready.
As a physics teacher i don't have any common planning with anyone, all of the course is completely made by me, for better or for worse. I'm happy of the product I've made last year, but it really needs some TLC in the pacing department. How long should a teacher like me spend on an hour of instruction? I feel like I spend many times 1.5 hours for every one hour of unique instruction which seems impossible to keep up with. Is this normal?
42
u/Tactless2U 16h ago edited 16h ago
My dear colleague, please discover the absolute magic of A.I.
I ask ChatGPT to create NGSS-aligned lessons, slides, labs and quizzes (with answer keys!) and can plan a full 5 hours of high school chemistry lessons in roughly an hour.
It will also provide scaffolding like vocabulary lists and sentence stems to help my IEP students. And I get it to translate into Spanish, Haitian Creole, and Amharic (I’m in a very diverse Title I school) in seconds.
I planned S2W1 (pH and acid-base essentials) over a pint of chocolate stout yesterday afternoon. I have Google Doc-compatible slides, worksheets at three levels, a lab, and Friday quiz with rubric all queued up and ready for my first week back. In English, Spanish, Creole, and Amharic. (I checked the English version carefully for accuracy; didn’t do that with the others, but my MLL students get the work in both languages.)
S2W1 begins stoichiometry. I’m going to the local microbrewery with my district laptop to knock that out during Happy Hour.
Absolutely priceless. It’s so good it feels naughty.
I started by looking at A.I. guides on Pinterest. There are idiot-proof flow charts that will walk you through the process. YMMV.
Good luck! Work smarter, not harder!
P.S. - I am 61 y.o. and this is Year Two in K-12 education for me. My department head, admin, and instruction coach all are half my age and think I’m a genius. I am keeping this my secret for the immediate future, lolol
18
u/im_a_short_story 16h ago
This. I talk to ChatGPT like it’s my coworker and we’re planning together. It took me an hour to design an escape room for next Friday. That included the whole background story, the clues, puzzle ideas etc. I’m still refining my curriculum (no one else teaches my content area) and I bounce ideas off of it whenever I’m working. It has saved me hours and it’s a non judgmental coworker that keeps me on task. Knowing the right prompts is key though.
2
u/Tactless2U 16h ago
I expect light attendance January 7-10, too. Many of my students go to Mexico and Central America for the holidays and don’t return right away.
An escape room sounds great for the first day or two back! I can base it on a review of Semester 1 topics and the kids who return a few days later won’t have missed too much.
13
u/myc-e-mouse 14h ago
Have you tried magic.school.ai? It is educational/lesson planning specific and a really useful tool in a pinch
4
u/Tactless2U 14h ago
I haven’t, but I have heard good things about what it can produce.
However…
… I see a red flag when I read about the VC funding behind Magic School (Bain Capital.) And they push HARD for students to get onboarded in their “classrooms.”
… and I wonder about FERPA and student demographic data - is it truly safe? I’m very protective of my students, both in terms of their citizenship status and their overall internet usage.
I’m staying away for now, but I’m interested in the possibility of education-focused A.I.
2
11
u/uphigh_ontheside 13h ago
HS bio 18 years experience chiming in: don’t use AI unless you know your subject area inside and out. I have tried it and found it is garbage at creating useful lessons and referencing accurate phenomena. I have some young colleagues who use it and it has created some problematic curricula that knowledgeable parents have (rightfully) complained about.
2
u/Tactless2U 11h ago
Um, yeah, I have 25 years of biochemistry research experience, a B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry, and know my subject fairly well, lololol.
Back in the dinosaur days of textbooks, even those had errors. It happens.
0
u/bagelwithclocks 2h ago
I think that is the point of what the above comment is saying. You have the knowledge to know how to use the tool. It should not be used without that knowledge.
Edit: is it weird to anyone else that in 2024 we see comments that talk about 25 years of industry experience and include “lololol”. I know 90s kids are in their 40s now but it feels weird.
1
u/96385 HS/MS | Physical Sciences | US 1h ago
I'm trying to get over you calling it "industry".
•
u/bagelwithclocks 41m ago
I mean if they are doing biochemical research and weren’t an academic, it is likely they were in the biotech industry. There are a lot more people who work in biotech in corporate jobs than academic ones, and it far more likely for someone to go from biotech to teaching high school than from being a professor to teachings high school. I guess they could have been a post doc.
3
u/NegativeGee 15h ago
Any links to these AI guides? I tried googling it but not finding anything. I think my problem is the prompts I'm putting in. For example, I want a pdf exam turned into a review activity and cannot get it to do that.
5
u/Tactless2U 15h ago
Absolutely!!
link to my Pinterest board with A.I. guides
Please let me know if this link (a) is helpful, and (b) is broken or doesn’t work.
2
2
u/Anatila_Star 3h ago
Thank you! I should follow you for guidance in the future. I just got my license in the state I'm living and I only worked 1 year but that was 18 years ago. So I'm like blank on experience. Besides, that English isn't my native language so I feel lost too. But I need to start getting ready because for the next school year I'm planning on working as a middle school science teacher instead of a Kinder TA. The district I work at, does have chat gpt.
1
u/AstroNerd92 2h ago
I’m a first year teacher and have found the use for ChatGPT is making study guides and test questions. I refine them to be more what I want but it has saved me so much time making tests and quizzes.
0
u/ohisama 13h ago
How accurate and reliable is chatGPT outcome? Have you observed any hallucinations, how often and how serious?
What's IEP?
1
u/Sarikitty 8h ago
An IEP in America is an Individualized Education Plan and falls under the category of Special Education. Students who qualify under one of the identified criteria can be placed on an IEP, which is a whole complex process, but always includes goals that must be worked toward to help the student fill gaps in their abilities, as well as accommodations to be followed in various settings (and often largely in the classroom) by teachers and other staff. These are legally mandated and must be followed. Common accommodations include reduced workload, extra time on assignments or assessments, preferential seating (away from distractions, near strong peers, near the front of the room, etc.), additional resources provided by the teacher (graphic organizers, vocabulary lists, etc.), and so on. As these students usually have some form of learning or developmental disability, these accommodations are meant to give them equitable access to the learning environment and to be successful. Unfortunately, they are often put in plans with little consideration towards teachers regarding how realistic their implementation might be - especially given that it's not unheard of to have 1/4-1/2 of your class be on an IEP, each with their own accommodations - so using AI to generate some of these support materials and lessen the workload for teachers is appreciated.
3
u/divacphys 16h ago
It took me until my third year in the curriculum. But that was also in block schedule, so it was like my 5th time through it. I also had a pretty decent starting position. I used modeling physics as my framework and have been adding and modifying for 20 years. I'm at the happy point where I roll out of bed, get to school lol at my 3-5 bullet pointed lesson plan and I'm ready to roll
2
u/tchrhoo 16h ago
A lot of scope and sequence already exists. When I taught at a private school (physics too, btw), I went to a well regarded county in my state and used their scope and sequence as a guide. I spent a lot of time in the beginning but now planning is much faster. I’m in year 10 and I am still fine tuning things.
For what it’s worth, I tend to do a hands on activity upon return from break. We go back on Thursday as well and I expect attendance to be light. For the students that are there, it’s more of enrichment. I do tend to lay out things a month or two at a time and pivot where needed. It helps that I teach in a school with strong PLC culture. You can always ask around and connect with someone at a neighboring school in your district. I communicate regularly with a teacher at a different school about one of my classes. My former AP became principal there and put her in touch with me.
2
u/ameliatt 16h ago
I'm in my 5th year and whatever I don't do at school, doesn't get done. I know the curriculum well enough so that I don't have to stress if I don't have everything ready. I have been using Notion for lesson planning, and it also has AI. So I write the draft and AI fills in the facts which saves me time. For 'fun' lessons I still use ChatGPT, though.
2
u/funfriday36 15h ago
I have taught every science class in high school except the AP courses. If you have something you like, just tweak it. There are tons of materials out there for improving your lessons. Talk to your school about Project Based Learning or anchoring phenomena. Find out if there are any workshops or summer courses you would be eligible for. Now is the time these start to post online. Many of them pay for all of your training and a stipend. You can gain skills to improve your classroom lessons. Think about redesigning one or two lessons before next year. It never fully goes away, but you learn to tell yourself that you are the adult in the room for a reason.
2
u/capi-chou 15h ago
Well...
In the first years of teaching, it's generally considered you need 4 to 6 hours of preparation for 1 hour of teaching. It's huge.
You have ways to reduce this preparation time. A few others already mentioned ChatGPT. You also have textbooks. You can also try sharing the load with colleagues.
I'd suggest you to rely on those methods when you need it. Try to make better lessons when you're not in a hurry or in stress.
Now, you might have the feeling that you're not ready, while you actually are. I've know this. Does that feeling ever go away? Well... Not totally but it gets better with time. Especially when you realize that you know your subject enough and are able to improvise.
(Chemistry teacher and teacher educator)
1
u/mattgibson89 14h ago
I never thought that feeling would go away. 3 years into constructing and tweaking my curriculum my way, everything is so much easier. I’m still working a lot to dial things in and try new ideas, but it’s not stressful (very often) anymore. And it’s my curriculum that I’m proud of and happy with.
I also work a few days over the summer to reevaluate the big picture and look for new things to try.
Grind it out. It will be less stressful and more fun after you’ve taught a few year cycles.
1
u/MrWardPhysics 13h ago
It gets better, especially if you front load the work with the future in mind. Send me a message if you would like some resources I would be happy to share any and all physics material I have.
1
u/Atrus2k Physics| HS | CO 12h ago
Hey, it gets better. The more years you have under your belt, the easier it gets with planning lessons. If you want, I can give you my entire physics curriculum. You can use all or none of it, tweak whatever you want, etc. I'm also down to chat about any physics lessons if you need. Pm me and I'll send you a link to my drive folders.
1
u/ScrubbyMcGoo 11h ago
It’ll e normal for a couple of years and then you’ll get on autopilot mode where it’ll come much more easily — just don’t get stuck in autopilot or you’ll burn out. Use the newfound freedom at that point to refine the unrefined and to try that weird-ass lesson you were afraid to try for years prior.
1
u/mimulus_monkey 10h ago
You should always feel like you want to be better/improve.
I suffer from panic and used to not be able to sleep for worrying about a variety of issues (lesson not ready, are they learning?, am I going to get enough sleep?, etc). Now I manage it with medication and distraction. I listen to podcasts in order to sleep (Gastropod, Let's Not Meet, etc) and use them to distract my thoughts.
It's not wrong to seek help if it feels out of your control.
1
u/Chatfouz 10h ago
I was like you. Good kids but 4 different preps with no one on campus who does the same classes so no one to prepare with.
I want to say year 1 I was drowning. Year two was hard. Year 3 I finally thought I knew what I was doing. At that point I was down to 3-4 hours preparing for all classes for the week.
Year 4 the curriculum changed, I got a 5th prep and I got “creative” so I was drowning again. Year 5 committed to making planning a mission to simplify. Year 6 I need about 1-2 hours to prepare for all classes for the week.
The big thing this year is I spent a significant amount of time in year 5 putting all my stuff into one long ass document. Every worksheet, reading, homework, quiz review, guided note in one document. Print out 6 weeks of work at once and suddenly I only grade or “fix” the old stuff for next year. It made a world of difference.
1
u/iamsinsanity 7h ago
new teacher, I don’t think it does. currently on FMLA and in IOP (for the 3rd time) simply because I promise it won’t. This is my 10th year of teaching. I’m making the most money I’ve ever made in my life right now, and I can take care of my family. but mentally and physically the job is killing me, and I cannot continue working in this profession with the politics of administration and ppwk and I guess I’m just not cut out for it. I’ve tried to quit teaching many times over. I don’t know what else to tell you
1
u/SuparToastar 7h ago
I had a rough first year, but now am in my 8th and am on committees, pick up extra duty, and cover classes when I can. Job still is not the best, but you learn to live with a little chaos every day. My principal gave me some great advice (I have a rare good one who is married to a teacher). He told me "I can't promise the amount of things you have to do will slow down, but you will get better at managing it."
He was right.
1
20
u/Squid52 16h ago edited 16h ago
Pretty much any level of feeling stressed and overwhelmed is pretty normal for a second year teacher IMO. I actually use that year as my benchmark for stress – I don't know why it was so hard, maybe it's because you feel like you should know what you're doing already but you're not quite there yet.
It might not get any better this year, but by next year, you definitely should feel like you're starting to hit your stride. If you don't, there's a problem with the workload that might have to be addressed.