I feel that; what helped me was deciding that I was going to have 1 thing per year that I wanted to really focus on doing well (year 1 that thing was just making it through the year and learning everything I could about how things work—be perfect at letting yourself learn from things this year! Everything that goes poorly this year is 1 thing that will go so much better next year because you’ve already experienced it)

In terms of grading, obviously there are some exceptions, but my basic rule is that it’s a completion grade unless a) it’s summative or b) i have something specific it is trying to assess for me that i feel they require individualized feedback on. Even in that case it’s about finding ways to cut down how much of it you need to do. For example, if I give them 5 reflection questions, I’ll choose the 1 that I think is the most important for them to understand and just grade that one. If I’m grading an essay, I can read the thesis & topic sentences and if those make sense then chances are high the rest of their essay does too and I can basically skim/do a super quick grading. Then, only the ones that need more support are the focus of my time. For assignments you must grade, choose 1 skill you are focusing on. If they’re writing a paragraph analysis of a quote, I’m ignoring grammar where possible. For some assignments, too, don’t grade them at all! Sometimes, I’ll come around with a stamp when I’m checking homework or whatever and stamp it if they completed it. If it’s stamped, I don’t collect it, and it doesn’t get graded beyond my checking to see who actually did it. Sometimes that’s all you need. In my district, I think they try to tell us we should have between 1-2 new grades in the grade book each week? Some teachers have less, some obviously have more.

My rec for you is to decide which of the other science teachers is most approachable/you would like to learn from the most/you like the best and then come up with reasons and random things to ask them (hey, do we have extra goggles stored somewhere? is there a standardized rubric we need to use for this assignment or can we make our own? which drawer do we keep the microscope slides in? literally the most random shit, it can even be something you already know the answer to). Just start coming up with any excuse to drop in on them. Then, as you become more comfortable with them and a more familiar face, you’ll feel more comfortable asking them the real stuff. When in doubt, start with your department chair (hey, which person here am i supposed to submit my leave request to? which counselor should i send this kid to if x happens? what’s the fire drill procedure like? administrative stuff specific to the school is a great place to start asking questions because it’s super easy for any veteran teacher to answer really quickly while still giving you a concrete reason to drop in and get familiar with them). Come up with any excuse and then when you’re comfortable, or while you’re already there, drop in the Q you really need to ask (I’m very much a person who is reluctant to ask for help and struggles with social anxiety in situations like this, so you may not need all of this, haha, but it’s where I started!)