Think about the teachers you had as a kid. How many of them had been teaching for more than 10 years, 20 years, even 30 years? Quite a few probably, because that's how the profession used to work.
But over the last decade, that's changed. The education landscape is full of politics and changing protocol around standards, tests and accountability systems. It's a different career than it used to be.
Now, 40 to 50 percent of new teachers don't make it past their fifth year.
What is it like to be a new teacher? What happens in classrooms that cause half of new teachers to leave and what makes the other half stay?
StateImpact Indiana's Claire McInerny is following three Indiana teachers this school year to learn about what makes their first year challenging, what is different than they expected and what makes all the time and hard work worth it.
Gabe Hoffman
Indianapolis
Gabe Hoffman teaches third grade at Nora Elementary School in Indianapolis.
Sara Draper
Brown County
Sara Draper teaches second grade at Helmsberg Elementary in rural Brown County.
Chris Conway
Fishers
Chris Conway teaches math and science to fifth graders at Riverside Intermediate School in Fishers, a suburb of Indianapolis.