First week on the job
Educators get adjusted to classrooms

Sometimes the first week on a new job can be somewhat scary.

Imagine doing it with more than 30 different faces coming in and out of your workplace every hour. This is what it might have been like for three new Lake Havasu Unified School District teachers this past week.

But according to a few, it wasn’t.

After getting past the nervousness of having her own classroom for the first time, Daytona Middle School math teacher Lindsey Dixon said the first week went smoother than she thought.

Dixon, who is in her first year of teaching, had 166 seventh graders come in and out of her classroom daily.

While her student teaching in Boise, Idaho, did supply her the tools to understand teaching in the classroom, Dixon said nothing could really have her fully prepared.

“The kids aren’t predictable,” she said. “Getting to know all these new faces, nothing can prepare you for that.”

But Dixon said her experience as a student teacher helped keep disciplinary problems to a minimum the first week. And this week, she begins her assessment of where her students stand.

Art teacher Jana Fuhrmann is only in her second year of teaching. Coming from Phoenix to Lake Havasu City, Fuhrmann said the support she received from administrators and mentors at Smoketree Elementary helped alleviate her fears of a stressful first week on the job.

Furhmann taught 17 classes throughout the week, with 20 to 30 students in each class. She said she sees every grade level come into her classroom and has to be prepared for teaching art at different levels.

Her first week was similar to Dixon’s, as she and her students spent the week getting to know each other and touching upon the basic procedures in class.

She said she is using a method from her mentor, music teacher Ms. Young at Smoketree Elementary, and establishing a portfolio for her students.

Furhmann brought her own portfolio from her college days to class, and each of her students will have their own to keep throughout the year. Furhmann said it would be a good way for students to measure their progress throughout the year.

“We (teachers) sort of beg, borrow and steal from each other,” she said. “My mentor teacher taught art at this school. She has been in my position, so I have been able to go to her with all kinds of questions.”

Lake Havasu High School math teacher Ginger Kitchen is no rookie to the classroom. She’s taught at a private school and at a community college in Phoenix, but she said she has never taught in the public school system, so this year still seems new to her.

Kitchen got to work right away, handing out a quiz to measure what her students knew of algebra and what would need to be worked on throughout the year.

“We did benchmark testing all week,” she said. “It was kind of rough on the kids, but it gives us knowledge of where they stand.”

She said while teachers don’t like to think of teaching to the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards test, it has to be done.

“It not only measures what our students learn, but also measures how successful we are as a teacher,” she said. “It is a reflection of our ability, and we have to have some assessment.”

Kitchen plans on focusing on the state standards for her students and herself. She has, on average, 34 to 38 students per class in grades nine through 12. She has to adjust her instructional standards for some of her students who don’t speak English or are learning disabled.

“We always have to make changes for our students,” Kitchen said. “But I’m sticking to my lesson plans, most definitely.”

You may contact the reporter at twaggoner@havasunews.com.