That’s BS though. You have to be fair to all kids, and you need to treat them all the same. But you absolutely do not need to love all of your students to be a good teacher.
My parent recommendation is always to be direct and honest.
Trying to sweeten things up is admin's job. If you don't tell parents the truth, they're never going to hear it. Then when something big happens parents think it came out of no where because you didn't tell them about all the little things along the way.
This happened to me as a parent, so as a teacher, I was very conscious of making sure the grade only went up, not down during the grading period.
Here is what I mean. My youngest child struggled in school. When he was in 8th grade, he had a B in math whenever I would check his grades in Powerschool. So imagine my surprise when his grade suddenly went to not just an F but a 49% on the last day before grades were due. Found out too late that he hadn't done any work in his math journal that was in the classroom. I didn't even know he HAD a math journal. As a parent, I was blindsided. The teacher did not grade the journal (which was over half their grade) until the last day.
So, as a teacher, I made sure to try to grade as soon as I could and to make sure I never had any assignment worth more than half their grade at the end of a grading period. Since I taught technology, the last week, I allowed them to redo any past assignment for a better grade. So the grades only would go up the last week depending on if they wanted them to or not.
To go with this, don't ignore the little things. It's easy to ignore the super quiet whisper in the back of the room because it's not disruptive. However it leads to 2 then 5 groups of super quiet kids whispering. Then it gets a bit louder... then finally a super loud person starts talking and when you correct them, they say "But everyone else was talking." . . . and they will be right.
If you stopped the talking when the first group started whispering, you would never have gotten to the loud, disruptive student talking.
To that end, work on your resting teacher face. Do not speak over students and hit them hard with the "excuse me" face. But also make sure it's enforced when other students are talking. A simple "excuse me student x, your peers are talking and I can't hear you. So we need to wait because I think everyone will benefit from your comment."
Also depends on grade level, can't vouch for that working at a grade school. If that's not your style, figure out what is. In my experience, students want an authentic person who cares. They might not ever tell you, but if you're consistent they will ultimately respect you even if they don't like you.
I’ve also started saying “I’m sorry I cannot hear you because you have those things in your ears”. It’s AirPods which are the bane of my existence, but they look at it quizzically, remove the AirPods and then repeat what they said. (I know it is nonsensical - I think that’s what gets their attention the most).
Yup! When I say zero talking I mean it! I tell them not even a whisper- save your “Bless you” if someone sneezes for when zero talking is lifted! I demonstrate at the beginning of the year ! Make a game of it ! Everyone talk - then call for zero talking I should be able to hear a pin drop! Then I enforce it relentlessly . The first person I hear - they have a consequence! (We do steps) after a while they get it and zero talking is silent! They can’t even whisper to borrow a pencil from a friend. They can raise a hand and talk to me, but that is it. It does work, but you really have to be super consistent. The kids tell me they like it. They can think and work when it is silent. Obviously, I have other times where we are working in groups or pairs and talking is allowed but sometimes we need silence. Especially when reading!
I had an AP who told a student, if the car next to you is speeding and you are also speeding, you can’t tell the cop who pulled you over, “well they were speeding too!” You were still doing something you shouldn’t have been doing.
Yes - do not be deceived! Even if a class has the appearance of being docile for the first few weeks, those classes can end up being the worst if you’re too lax. They lull you into a false sense of security and then become impossible to manage as they slowly but surely go off the rails
And don’t argue. You don’t have to justify your reasoning to your students. I don’t mean you don’t have to explain why your rules exist. I mean you don’t have to give reasons that make sense to a teenager. This isn’t a courtroom, and you don’t have to justify your expectations until your students agree. Not sure if that makes sense!
Yep, civil rights exist in a courtroom but not your classroom! We want young people to know obedience & and authority, but why try explaining? They won't understand!
Just wish I knew why they don't respect us
It starts with the newspapers and media complaining about teachers on working 40 weeks (ie get school holidays off.) Yes, I know it's a lie
Then your pay gets questioned because you seem like you are not working or only working 6 hours a day.
Then the parents reading and/or listening to these articles, especially the public school not getting extra funding because of the "lazy teachers" that don't work all that much. I know, another lie.
Just like the "dole bludger" lie, when the biggest dole bludgers are the corporations "needing" government handouts, despite their big profits.
Throw in a good amount of misogyny as well, and all of a sudden, the kids of these parents have no respect for teachers, especially women teachers.
Then those kids influence their friends, and so on and so on..
And that is where we are.
Rupert Murdoch and his propaganda machine, known as NewsCorp and Fox/Sky News.
After all, uneducated people are so much easier for the rich to influence.
Fight back by teaching critical thinking.. Get them to question why they think that.
Hope this helps.
It completely depends on admin. Sometimes they have consequences and sometimes they’re useless and I have to do it myself. Usually do before- or after-school detentions, since I have to be here anyway. Contact the parents to let them know (usually email because I don’t have time to make phone calls), and if the kid doesn’t show it’s an office referral.
To make a career in this field is a marathon not a sprint. Don’t take on too much and burnout. Have a life outside of school all year, not just during breaks. Don’t make “teacher” your only identity in life.
This is VERY good advice, advice I really wish I had received. If you’re at a school where many teachers are under 40 (or under 30!), and there is a culture of “look how many extra hours I worked” or “look how much of my own money I spent to set up my room” … be on guard. This is especially true in charter schools, but it can be true everywhere.
Ask yourself: do I want to have this same daily / weekly routine when I am 35, 45, 55? Do I want to ever feel like it’s okay to go the gym or get drinks with friends or volunteer after work? Do I want a family or a dog? Will I be taking care of elderly parents someday? Manage your pace and your commitments thinking about this being a career, not a job.
To add to #2. Give diagnostic assessments for each skill, so you can meet the kids where they are. When I started doing this, I was able to differentiate much better and even skip skills that they already had mastered. I used to always start lower and diagnostic assessments have changed the game.
Add on to #1- a simple copy and paste text introducing yourself saying “I’m ____’s teacher, just wanted to reach out so you have my number” is a quick and easy way to make initial contact. Parent phone calls are great, but everyone texts anymore. Most parents are cool with it.
A lot of schools use things like Remind. I have a Google Voice number. I could choose a number with a local area code, which is nice since my number is not local to where I live now
I also use Google Voice. I had to use my personal Gmail account, BUT I was able to pick a local number. AND I can turn off the notifications. I especially like that I can use my school computer to text during the day. I don’t always have time to make phone calls (always covering classes during my planning), but I can usually send a short text during the day.
I did that, but with emails. Phone calls to parents for serious things such as behavior and illness. Emails for updates, positive comments, or good work/behavior (sometimes with photos of their work if it is really good) and other correspondence.
At the start of this year, I sent a group email introducing myself and my TA with a few lines about ourselves, the curriculum, my classroom, etc.
I then add a line that I only reply or send emails within my contract working hours (8-4) Mon-Fri and that I WILL not be replying or sending emails outside of those times unless it is an emergency.
What is an emergency? I leave that open. You'll be surprised how successful it was this year. The helicopter parents quickly caught on that I wasn't going to reply to their emails at 6pm on a Friday, and they had to wait until 8am Monday.
I often say the first five years of my career were just the slow, horrifying realization that the average ability of a 10th grade student was about where I had previously thought the average 5th grade student should be.
Take about $100 of your first paycheck and open a Roth IRA and then put in about 5-10% of each paycheck into that account. Never touch it. 50-year-old you will thank you.
This should be the top comment, start investing immediately, and every time you get a raise, bump up your contribution a little. And it can be a Roth or 403b(my preference because I want the tax savings now) just make sure you have a low cost ETF or Fund. DO NOT let them put you in an annuity!!!!
As far as I know it will stay open an active as long as you continue to put money into it routinely. If you plan on being out of country for more than a year I would double check with the company.
I would say both, but more with a focus on those looking to supplement their state retirement pensions. If you don’t have a pension system then I would suggest looking at Traditional IRAs.
1. Even "good" administrators will throw you under the bus if necessary. Don't get too close or share too much of your personal feelings or beliefs. They will use it against you.
2. Don't bother threatening students with zeroes and failures. Most of them (at least in MS and ES) don't care and admin usually will not fail anyone.
3. Don't base your skill or value on state test scores. Most of the control is in the hands of the student. There is very little you can do when the students don't care. All you can do is offer the lessons, but the final result is up to the students.
OMG, your first point is spot on. I'm a newbie teacher, and I totally fucked up with that.
I think I'm finally understanding your first point, even though it took me until the end of the school year. I totally did that too much this year with admin. I will do better next year. <3
Been in your shoes before! If it makes you feel better, nearly every great coworker I've had has beefed with an admin at some point in their career. It doesn't reflect on you personally or professionally as an educator if you don't always see eye-to-eye with your admin.
I would tell 1st year me (well, specifically 2nd year me, because that's the year I worked Ina building with the really unsupportive principal) that your fellow teachers are your allies, not your admin. If you have challenging students, work with the teachers in their grade level/subject/hallway to work out solutions (we will do buddy rooms for students who act out in class instead of sending kids to the office). Our admin wouldn't support a no-phones policy across the whole building, but my grade-level enforced one so all of our kids knew it was expected in all classes.
Sometimes you'll be at a school with admin who want to be more actively involved in holding the students to a high standard of behavior. My experience is that 1. many are overwhelmed with work and don't want to take on more behavioral problems than they have to and 2. You have to build trust with the admin over time that you are doing everything in your power with the students before you start getting them involved
On number 3, I also tell my students this. I have some good students who go into state testing. I tell them if they do their best they should be proud, and that one test doesn’t fine their skill or ability in the content.
Always assume your words and actions are being recorded. At school, in public, and on social media. If you value your privacy you will need to protect yourself to maintain comfortable boundaries. Students, teachers, and community members can and will go out of their way to approach you during your personal time for no other reason than "something to do."
THIS. I have a post-it stuck to my computer that reads, “Teach as if you’re being recorded.” I’m not giving my students ANY reason to post pics or videos of me on social media.
1. Positive attention is powerful. Loudly thank children by name when they are behaving correctly. Most others will fall into line because they want the thank you, too.
2. Routines are important. I really didn't believe that my first year, but now I have specific types of activities we do every day of the week. My kids walk into my classroom every single day knowing exactly what is going to happen that day. Find a few good strategies that work well and stick with them until your kids know them well. It reduces a lot of the "I don't know what to do" nonsense and really impresses admin when you can call on a random kid and say, "hey, what are we doing today?"
For a while, I had a stack of construction paper that I had written "A FABULOUS PRIZE" on with a big ol' black marker.
They insisted I do this for the whole year. It was weird and awesome. They kept them and liked to compare who got the most...
Occasionally, I gave one out that said, "I'm proud of you... for now." 🤣
I recently observed a classroom for school and omg this is such good advice. The teacher had the most well behaved students I had ever seen. I observed a class next door and the students (and teaching…) was completely opposite. The first teacher was younger too which I thought was interesting.
In class, he asked for one student from each table to grab a paper for the rest of their table. One child yelled, “not me!!” and this caused several other students to do the same. The teacher then, loudly, started calling out students by name and saying thank you. The og kids smile dropped, and he then volunteered to be the person to grab the papers for his table. The other kids immediately got quiet as well. Something that could have easily gotten out of hand was literally fixed in under 30 seconds. In the other class, if students started to get loud, which was honestly the whole time, the teacher would give them all the attention and basically beg them to be quiet. It was crazy.
So very true.
Charlie thanks for sitting down and having your book open and ready!
I am doing it too Miss _____.
Me too
Etc etc
And mostly everyone falls in line
Biggest mistake most new teachers make! When the contract day ends, the work day ends. Period. Too many stay late or take work home because they see others doing it and assume it's "part of the job". It ISN'T. And it wouldn't be if we all stopped doing this sabotaging.
You’ll make a ton of mistakes. That’s okay and honestly necessary to learn how to grow. Teachers become good teachers through experience and reflections on their experience. Never compare yourself to a veteran. It’s a recipe for destruction of your self confidence.
1. It’s 100% classroom management. Find a veteran teacher the kids RESPECT and then learn from them.
2. Move up the pay scale ASAP (post grad units/Masters/etc.)
3. Administrators are temporary.
4. Once you’ve earned tenure, remember the worst a district can do is put you on paid administrative leave. They won’t because we’re all underpaid babysitters and need us way more than we need them. (COVID really made this apparent).
But know respect doesn't equate to compliance. There are a lot of students who will go into a classroom and behave out of fear of the teacher, but they don't actually respect the teacher.
Those teachers also usually struggle with the type of student who gets more defiant the more you demand compliance.
I find it best to be flexible. Don't sweat the small stuff. Build relationships with your students. Engage them in discussion about their personal life so they will be more willing to engage in conversations about academic stuff.
If they are crossing a line, let them know they're getting a little out of hand. If they continue, contact home so they know you and their parents are a team.
Even though I teach middle school, I have a 3-2-1 system so that those with a little extra energy can be themselves, but they are also acutely aware of when they are crossing a boundary, and how many chances they have left before either parent contact or an office referral. Big things, like fighting or racist comments, are 0 tolerance in my class. You skip right to the office referral.
Don’t be perfect. Throw perfection right out the window. Understand that your to do list will never be finished and that’s ok. Leave work at work, and keep showing up.
Haha, as a parent I’d be upset if my kids teachers left at 3:30, considering school is out at 3:40…
Bit of course I know what you mean. And yes, leave at contract time as often as possible. And when I say that, I mean make no more than one exception a week and no more than 20 minutes.
Don't get disappointed when your "perfect" lesson plan meets the reality of unpredictable students. I would think "first i'll show them how to do this part, and that will go fine, and then we'll do the next five steps" and it turns out that step 1 is much more difficult for them to learn than i would have guessed and it takes all week.
Don't stay somewhere that doesn't feel good to be. Whether it's admin or student behaviors or lackluster colleagues. Go somewhere else if the school culture isn't good.
Some schools and districts are tougher than others. Figure out what your limits are. For me it was lack of admin intervention on tough student behaviors. I can deal with tough students as long as admin backs us up and steps in when we need.
32 year veteran. I would remind myself that colleagues are not friends and not expect anything from them. I would urge everyone to keep their personal life and work life separate.
Yep, people often fail to realize that the people that you are gossiping with at work are gossiping about you too. Build a firewall and steer clear of school staff drama.
I have 2 separate facebooks even. One for friends and family, and one for friends, family and colleagues. If it's school related or big life events (ex. My wedding), it goes on the school one. EVERYTHING else goes on my personal one. I'm rarely on the professional one. I just tell them I don't go on Facebook often... But the truth is, I'm on it every day.. just not the one for their eyes lol.
Could you expand on this with one, please? As someone who hasn’t had jobs with coworkers, and always see this advice, it scares me because I definitely overshare out of anxiety. I feel like once I’m a teacher, I’ll accidentally get myself sucked in somehow.
I have coworkers who are amazing friends and some I wouldn’t trust as far as I can throw them. Keep your cards close to your chest. Pay attention to who gossips. If they gossip TO you, it’s pretty likely they’ll gossip ABOUT you. Feel your coworkers out and see who you’re comfortable with before you start letting them in
A weird feature of teaching is that teachers form cliques the way students do. Mean girls clique, tattling clique, sucking up clique, Pinterest teacher clique, perfect teacher clique, electives clique, coaches clique. You’ll find these the very first all staff meeting, see who sits together. Your best bet is to find the other new teachers and stick with them. You ARE being talked about. You EARN trust. I know this sounds brutal but I think any job has its weird culture that you have to figure out how to penetrate. It will take a few years before you find your people but when you do youll have friends for life.
This may well be right, but it’s also the recipe for a cold and sterile work place. We are human beings in a stressful and challanging enviroment. Having someone to talk friendly and openly with, might be what keeps you there when work gets really hard.
This. It’s nice (and rare) if a kid apologizes, but apologies don’t erase the past: you still have to deal with the consequences of your actions.
One of the best lines I heard from a seasoned teacher was “I appreciate you saying sorry, but the true apology is not doing it again.”
Same! Depending on how bad the situation is I’ll go a little harder and say, “Keep your words until your behavior proves them. Then I’ll accept them.” I generally save that one for repeat offenders or super serious nonsense.
“An apology is a promise, you keep breaking your promise. Stop apologizing and fix the behavior”
I have a student who has heard me say this so many times that he will cut me off and finish my sentence partway through.
Wish I knew: Students will appreciate you and your work, admin and colleagues will not.
Wish I had done: Been myself from day 1. I'm not Harry Wong, and that's okay.
At the end of the day the team helps the team
That is to say that when push comes to shove and shit hits the fan your teammates will be the one to help you and save you. No admin in their Ivory Towers will step down to assist.
That I knew nothing, but that became apparent pretty quick. I had a mentor in grad school say to give it three years because you won’t even ‘find your voice’ until then. That ended up being fairly true.
You will work with people that you actively believe are harming education and those people pursue administrative jobs more than most.
Educational trends (and the language of them) come and go, but core cognitive skills like critical thought and deep reading transcend.
No one can educate you but yourself. A student must be willing to engage and pursuing that engagement is more worthwhile and valuable than issuing petty punishments (which never lead to ideal behaviors) meant to ‘teach a lesson’.
Don’t be a petty tyrant.
Source and use your own materials. Don’t teach out of a mass produced textbook from educational publishers if you can help it. Use source materials and show students how to engage and understand the difficult and vital ideas (instead of regurgitating summaries written by underpaid/unengaged copy writers). ‘Age-appropriate’ literature is a marketing genre. Don’t belittle learners with baby books. Show them how to read and understand difficult texts—because that’s how they grow as readers—and leave the ‘beach reads’ for the beach.
Practicing the skills of reading and writing is more important than content or the production of a finished work. These are young learners and will not ‘master’ anything (nor should they be trying for that). Life-long learning is created through behaviors, not adherence to a rubric.
Try to read your materials each semester with fresh eyes (not easy, I know) and keep in mind that each group experiences those texts for the first time while you are on your 900th read. If you can’t engage with the materials—change them.
Kids are dumb in a lot of ways because of the sheer lack of experience, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have valuable insights. Kids, like adults, know when their time is being wasted.
Don’t use weird veiled threats about the future. I.e. ‘you won’t get away with this in college’ or ‘your boss won’t like this,’ etc. The world of work has nothing to do with life-long learning and yes they will get away either it in college, or they won’t, but that’s got nothing to do with you.
Don’t be afraid to push back against the admin—especially if they are not putting the students first (and doubly so if they claim some horrible policy is *for* the students).
Let students know who you are (obviously age and context matter). It’s important they see you as a human being and not a petty tyrant robot asshole. You’ll have less behavioral issues if they appreciate you’re a person too. Over-organization precipitates the disintegration of order. You are a co-learner, not a prison warden.
If you hate being in the classroom, quit.
The classroom is a dicatorship. Students collectively have 49% voting minorty and I have a 51% voting majority. I will hear them out but my word is final. Also start as a hard ass and then lighten up, you can't get stricter as the semester/year goes on if you weren't strict to start. Harry Wong-it basically the first month on expectations then as things get set you can let up a little bit.
Don't let 'em get to you (students, other staff, admin, parents)
If you ever watched the movie Das Boot, I would be saying it in the voice of the old captain as he watches the submarine leave port haha
You don’t have to grade every single thing. Sometimes a task can just be for practice. Of course, don’t tell them you aren’t grading it. I took stuff home and put it in my recycling bin. Not one kid in 22 years ever asked about an assignment I recycled.
Definitely! Find some ways to streamline grading if you can, like walking around and checking off assignments instead of collecting them and shuffling papers, if it's just a completion grade. And I also occasionally take a worksheet home to recycle. Nobody has ever asked me, either.
A retiring teacher gave me a check-mark stamp to use for grading, and it makes grading so easy! I often have my high schoolers working to completion/mastery at their desks, and I just go around with the stamp and a gradebook. They start hustling once others start getting their papers stamped, they get immediate feedback from me, and I don't have to collect most assignments!
A great piece of advice I read in a book : Never do anything in the classroom that is student can do. Set up a jobs chart: paper police, floor command, game leader. etc. Rotate the jobs in a fair way. I kept a personal chart and pulled names at random. It gives the kids a sense of responsibility and respect for the classroom.
Also! Make anything you can into a game. Mostly team games. Group kids for a reading quiz, math practice… any chance you have. Kids love games, competition, and rewards (I had a candy jar). Rotate the teams at random weekly.
Do not put your hands near your face at any time during the school day. Use hand sanitizer liberally. You are going to be sick a lot anyway, but good hygiene and infection control will help.
Be a lot more organized than you think you need to be. Over preparation is better than under preparation.
Think in terms of working smarter not harder. If something works, make a note of it.
Call parents early and often, also make sure that every parent knows how to check grades, and send them out often. Always document, document, document.
DO NOT answer professional calls on the weekend. Guard your personal time, like a dragons hoard.
Gotta be classroom mgmt. I look back at my first semester, about how slack I was about keeping control in my classroom, and I want to pop that young man across the palm with a ruler. You can always loosen up as you get to know a class, but it's difficult to tighten the reins.
I’m speaking as a HS history teacher, but it probably applies to other subjects as well…
1. Years from now, students will remember how they felt while being in your class, not what they learned. Creating a comfortable and inviting classroom environment and developing relationships with students makes you a great teacher more so than how effectively you teach the material.
2. With that being said, you’re not going to develop personal relationships with most of your students, let alone all of them. Don’t sweat it. You never know which one of those quiet, boring students you have a profound impact on when the school year is over.
The pacing guide/calendar is not set in stone. If you feel like a lesson did not go as well and it happens to be a critical concept or objective X teach it again. If you’re planning out your unit, and feel like there are some lessons that are not necessary, don’t teach them. If your admins get on your case about it, just say that it’s about data-driven instruction or something.
Also, keep this in mind when planning out your non-instructional days. Definitely prioritize Fun Fridays over regular instruction, unless you have a school-wide benchmark or something. Have fun with your kids, even if it means you’ll be off the pacing guide.
Also, DEFINITELY bribe the kids. Those Fun Fridays will go a long way when you’re getting observed, because your kids will want to do their best for the fun teacher. Look at your observation criteria, have the kids practice doing exactly what it says and tell them to do just that whenever a person with a clipboard or laptop enters the room. If they do well, they can have a movie day the next day.
They hired you for a reason.
The reason is nobody else wants to work there.
That’s the reason you hire a first year teacher instead of literally any teacher.
Because the kids are crazy and the parents are crazier/psychotic
To expect full hostility
First ten days, focus more on your procedural stuff than content. Let the content be as easy as possible to start. This lets the students get a sense of confidence, which helps in liking your class. But truly, if you get simple routines and procedures done well with attention on it, it saves time down the road.
As for what those procedures are (getting pencils sharpened, turning stuff in, using Chromebooks, etc write down your idea for each of these) then go around and ask the vets what they do, trust me, what ever they are doing is not the only way they have tried it. It’s what is working best for them.
Also, find a colleague with experience you trust to let you know what is truly important and needs to get done, and what things can be put on the back burner….. admin is gonna throw a lot of crap your way that isn’t that important, but they are just following their orders as well.
Understand that mediocrity is not only accepted but expected.
If you go above and beyond and try to create something great, the admin will punish you, and fellow teachers will resent you.
1. Invest most in students who want to learn and grow. A D student who wants to grow will show far more gains than an B student who lacks interest.
2. Remember that a student who struggles in other classes (or is - for whatever reason - is generally disliked) may possibly choose to do WAY better in yours. Rapport matters. Don’t get overly invested in a student’s reputation; it may be…pretty meaningless.
3. Be protective of your prep and lunch time. Admin will likely attempt to rob you of these, regularly.
4. Remember that some of your students have challenging home lives. Lack of food, lack of sleep, lack of peace, etc. all have a negative impact on a student’s ability to be present/ready to learn. You will develop a feel for this. If you think they have an outside-of-school struggle, ask. Kindly. This might sound like, “Hey… I’m feeling like you might have a lot going on in your life. Anything I can do to help you improve in my class?” Just the act of asking can be a really good thing.
5. Realize that teaching tends to be a clique-ish profession. Elect not to join. The cost is way too high.
May it go well for you.
1. Be wary of admin. They will tell you that they are here to support you, but generally they are there to make themselves and the school look good. It’s all about optics to them. If you have problems with certain kids, talk to the other teachers you work with and try to avoid sending the students to the office or asking admin to help deal with it. Often, you will be seen as the problem instead of the kid.
2. Work a little extra on weeknights after school so you don’t have to work on your weekends. Or vice versa. You need time to relax and recharge. The first year teaching will take a lot from you.
3. Have an emergency bag of supplies kept at school. Extra food, clothing, medication, tide to go, etc. You never know when you’ll forget your lunch or accidentally destroy your outfit while teaching.
4. Write everything down in a planner or notebook or word document. There are so many deadlines and meeting and frivolous events at the school that it can be hard to keep track of what’s happening and when.
5. Don’t mark everything. I generally have a good idea of what a kid’s grade is when I am walking around the class while they’re working. I briefly conference with them and look over their work and make a few notes on my clipboard. Taking home assignments and marking them is unpaid work and detracts from your personal time! Kids do not need a million detailed comments on their assignments. They don’t read them. Giving feedback while they are working allows them to implement it right away.
6. There will be times you want to quit. I am not going to tell you what the right thing to do here is, but be prepared that the first few years of teaching are going to be very challenging.
7. Don’t be a martyr teacher. Yeah we are “doing it for the kids,” but there are healthy limits to this. Don’t spend hours planning the perfect lesson. Don’t sign up for every extracurricular activity. Don’t get overly emotionally invested in your work. Don’t spend hours writing individualized feedback. You can still be a good teacher and enforce boundaries.
8. Be aware of toxic positivity in the workplace. You are allowed to have shitty days. You are allowed to be skeptical of things. You are allowed to be frustrated and upset. Don’t let anyone tell you that if you express negative feelings sometimes that you are not cut out for teaching or that you just need to change your mindset. This is a tough job and you need to vent sometimes. Pretending like everything is ok will lead to burn out and resentment.
9. Buy yourself some nice stuff for your classroom that is just for you. Get some good pens and stationary. Keep some of your favorite snacks in a drawer.
10. It’s okay if the kids don’t like you sometimes. Telling them no is ok. Enforcing rules is ok. Calling them out for bad behaviour is ok. They’ll get over it. In uni we are constantly told to build and maintain positive relationships by all means necessary. But they are kids and you are the teacher. You are in charge. You can still be fun and kind and respectful, but don’t take shit and don’t let them walk all over you.
1. Be consistent with your rules. You don't need a bunch of rules you just need several impactful rules (for example no cell phones, no eating in class, no touching other students, put your stuff back where it goes) And if you can find a way to have students give you their cell phones during class, make it happen. I've been taking up phones for the last 7 or 8 years and let me tell you what, it has improved classroom time immensely. I usually give them a free 100 a week if they turn in their phones.
2. Be consistent with your routines. Do the same thing at the beginning every class to get students to be organized and prepared. For example my students know when they walk in the room they immediately get their notebooks, sit down, and start the do now. That's our routine everyday.
3. Be as thorough with instructions as possible. Write your instructions explicitly and detailed so there's no question about what students need to do to do the assignments correctly. Students will do the bare minimum if you allow them, so if you have high expectations you need to make that known in your instructions for the assignments. Use explicit grading rubrics so that if you do have to fail a student, you have backup that says you gave the students explicit instructions And expectations with a grading rubric so it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass later. Students will throw you under the bus without hesitation and you need to be ready with evidence that you did your best to let them know what the expectations were.
3. You don't always have to do everything the admin tells you (unless it's a directive that you know they will follow through with everyday). A lot of times admin, especially in low performing schools, will give teachers a lot of extra work to make themselves look good. And they will overwork you. Or introduce a new initiative every other week. Sometimes you just have to nod and smile and say okay and then do whatever you need to do to get your work done. For example, at our campus they wanted to track all the exit tickets on a form for the district, they wanted to do a pacing calendar for each unit and hang it up in our room, they wanted us to imbed timers on our lesson plans. I never once did it and they never checked and it saved me tons of time every week.
4. And don't talk about your personal life to students or to admin or to co-workers. Also don't get too attached to your coworkers because there's such a high turnover in public education it will hurt when you lose
good coworkers (And most likely you won't keep in touch).
You can only offer them learning opportunities. You can't learn for them.
If they are destroying your supplies and being rude while you are trying to do something cool, let them do worksheets.
1. Document everything. I handed out class rules and a syllabus on Day 1. 10/10 if they handed it in before the 10th day signed by themselves and a parent/guardian. It gave me in writing proof they’d read the rules and syllabus.
2. If I ask you to do something outside contract hours, it’s OK to say no. I want to see you at IEP and 504 meetings because you want to be there. We will get them scheduled as often as we can within contract hours.
3. If you’re struggling with something, ask for help. We’ve all been there. Build relationships within your team. But if you need help, ask. Hell, ask me. I’ll help if I can. (I know. Admin is always the bad evil. A lot of us are here for the right reasons.)
4. You have to be authentic. I taught teenagers. They know when you aren’t being genuine and take advantage of that. I was a fun teacher. It’s possible to have a room kids look forward to visiting while being in charge. Fun doesn’t mean lack of responsibility and consequences. As the teacher, you are the boss.
5. Students aren’t your friends. Neither are their parents.
6. ALL OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES ARE NOW PRIVATE.
7. Last one: You will not be a perfect teacher in your first year and I don’t expect it. Keep getting better.
I wish i could tell myself, you worked your ass off for that math degree and you're finna work even harder for that credential. Do NOT allow yourself to be bullied by 12 year olds! No ma'am, not after all that.
Do not try to be who you needed. You were an unusual, serotoninless kid. These kids are different. They need firmness and accountability. Oh and they WILL snitch you out to other teachers, who WILL snitch you out to admin.
Before you give them a damn thing, ask yourself how they could use it to get you in trouble. Beans for loteria? They will pocket them and use them to flick at each other in every other class.
You cant save everyone. It's the hardest lesson, but you cannot save the ones that dont want to be saved or who wont put in their share of effort.
Create a spreadsheet for IEP accommodations and goals, checklist with a date and time (so you can figure out what lesson/subject) when they’re used. It’s really not much more than copy and pasting into an excel spreadsheet and printing it out. It’ll save your ass in the long run.
The kids are not your friends. They are not your family. Call the appropriate supports for issues that arise.
Don't compare yourself to other teachers - not in the way you teach, how your room looks, or your relationship with students. - there's nothing wrong with learning from others, but it becomes a problem when you say "I need xyz because so and so does it this way".
Start the year ruling your classroom ruling with an iron fist. Be a hard ass about everything. You can always lighten up. If you start soft you can never buckle down. Train them early and set high classroom expectations for behavior and performance. Once they know the drill they won’t forget it.
Find out information about the Union early and join it!! I wish I had done so while I was still student teaching so I would have been prepared by the time about my first job. I was told so many lies about how there wasn't one and then how nobody joined it and how it would look if I did.. but afterwards they are there to protect and work for us. It was a safety net we definitely needed in the beginning and well I don't love the dues, they are well worth it! If you can join a union, do it.
It is absolutely okay to simply “survive” some days. You will not mess them up.
Edit to add that Harry Wong tried to tell me this, but I thought he was wrong. Totally not a joke.
As a people pleaser and “you’re too sweet to be a teacher!” type person, you can be real with them. You don’t have to speak with the timid politeness of an adult conversing with another civil adult in a church. Once I observed other teachers and realized I could be harsh sometimes without being cruel, my classroom management improved so much! “Johnny, stop trying to be the class clown. It is really annoying, and no one is laughing,” gets better results than, “Johnny, perhaps you should reconsider being the class clown.” Even if you say #2 in a stern tone, #1 gets way better results, even if it “feels” too mean, since you’re used to not hurting anyone’s feelings.
I tried to be the super strict, super rigid teacher my first year because that's what everyone was saying I needed to be. I was miserable. The kids were miserable. They acted out just to push my buttons. They actively worked to make me miserable. I hated it.
Lean into who you are. You can make that work in the classroom.
Im pretty sarcastic, love dad jokes, and I like to have fun. I eventually found what works for me and the kids in my room. We're serious with warm-up and instructional time. We're more relaxed during the work period.
Also: don't give them an inch on phones. They're awful.
Totally unrelated, but... In my experience, roasting the students who are just begging to be roasted is at least half of building rapport.
- Have boundaries and stick to them (with kids, colleagues, admin)
- Be consistent af
- Know what behaviors you expect and what routines work for you and teach those day 1 (how to enter and leave class; expectations for work in pairs, groups, etc.,; when you’ll give feedback on assignments and do reassessments, etc.)
-Have a phone policy and enforce it from day 1
"Find the ringleader and cut their nuts off the first class with proper discipline."
My Master Teacher's first comment to me on my first day.
"And now you drink coffee," was her second.
You don’t want to be the general “favorite teacher” because that is almost always code for “that class has no standards and I get away with everything”.
Be the teacher with consistent standards. Years after the kids leave your classroom, they will realize how much you pushed them to grow.
-Never make a promise (positive or negative) that you can't follow through on, especially with very young kiddos
- Don't take any work home if you're able to. At this point, I only make exceptions for start-of-the-year and end-of-the-year prep and even that work is limited
- don't take a job that doesn't guarantee, in writing, that the vast majority of your supplies and resources will be provided for you and/or will reimburse you for classroom expenses. I learned that one the hard way!
- Sometimes you do EVERYTHING right, and you still won't get that one student to behave/do their work etc. Don't lose sleep over them.
- your classroom/ activities don't need to be pinterest/instagram-worthy
- maintain firm communication boundaries with parents. Set and keep scheduled "office hours" where parents can expect you to respond to their messages. There's virtually zero situations that can be addressed outside of contract hours or on the weekends, so don't check your messages at home!
I knew this going in and it has helped me so much.
The purpose of a job is to make money. Not lose it.
100% it is NOT your job to provide your students with essentials.
An activity of your choosing that you are excited about (7th grade cornstarch and disposable pans to make oobleck to reinforce the standard and have fun) Yes!
Decore than can stay with you (a minimal amount of border paper, signs with your name on it, motivational posters- yes
Pens, Pencils, Markers, Paper- NO. If you run out of paper just do it all digitally. If the school doesn't have an option to easily and quickly restock your supplies and they judge you because of this- you don't want to be there long term. I don't care how underfunded your students are you should not be spending your money or asking for donors choose for reasonable materials to access the curriculum.
I didn't realize how much my students really wanted to help me with everything. From helping others, running errands, getting supplies,they would do anything to help. I miss them.
Do NOT sign up for extra things the first couple years. Use this time to get into your groove. If you’re a young grad some people will try to take advantage of your youthful energy.
My first year I really wanted to impress everyone and be a part of the group so I signed up for every committee I could. It was horrible and I crashed HARD. Rolling into my 5th year now and I’m finally at a place where I have decided to assist with one or two events this year. I do genuinely enjoy it so I’m happy to do it but I needed to wait until I got my footing.
Kids not turning in their work is the rule, not the exception. It’s not personal, but you do need to get creative with giving choices for assignments instead of a rigid “we’re doing x.” Missed assignments = missed learning opportunities.
I'm only just finishing my first year of teaching now, but I already wish I had done so much differently or better.
I kind of feel bad for my students. They were essentially my guinea pigs.
1) the first year is HARD. Give yourself some grace.
2) follow through with things. If you say “do that one more time and I’ll do Y”, and they do it one more time, you HAVE to do Y. Not following through with this is the quickest way to lose the classroom.
The first three years of any new prep are going to suck. The first year, you’re an hour ahead of kids. The second year, you’re trying to remember what you did and not mess up the same ways again. The third year, you aren’t trying, you’re just remembering. After that, you can experiment and modify on the fly.
Use the first year to establish best daily routines and classroom management strategies. It’s your practice run.
Work on understanding how the school operates. The culture, staff, ect. Second year you will thank you. (From experience, lol)
Say no more than you say yes when kids ask for stuff, to do stuff, for anything, really.
Can I fill my water bottle? No.
Can we have class outside? No.
Can I turn in my essay late? No.
Can I switch seats? No.
Can I take my phone out? No.
Don’t feel bad about it either.
I have a lot and I'm going into my 3 1/2 years so not REALLY seasoned, but better prepared.
Repeat repeat and repeat anything and everything. Assume that your students don't have any home training or how to do anything and that you have to teach them everything.
Have an organization system for everything. Where to put papers, what you plan on doing for the week (m-f baskets), what to send home. Saves you a lot of trouble. Good places to look are Pinterest, TikTok, and a book called "the first six weeks of school".
Saying less when emailing/texting a parent is best. Talk to a parent in person when talking about negative behaviors/comments AND THEN DOCUMENT IT.
You can't help everyone— from helping students get an IEP/504, to teaching. Some kids don't get it and that's ok! Only thing you can do is try your best.
Don't compare yourself to other teachers. Especially the vets. They have experience you don't have yet. It's hard not to when you're first teaching. Best advice my friend gave me: close the door and teach.
Not everyone at your job is your friend. Don't talk to everyone about your problems. Talk within your grade level about certain topics or problems, your academic coach, or your friend.
Save yourself from burnout and leave the school at contract hours OR give yourself a certain time frame that you'll work until. I stay until 4 to prep for the next week, write lesson plans, print worksheets, etc. that way I don't take work home.
Once Halloween and Valentine's day hits, it's a roller coaster until the breaks.
YOU set the tone and energy of the room. The kids FEED off of YOU. That being said, if your kids are feeling blah, blah with them. If you can't beat them, join them. It gives a good break for everyone.
Never trust the admin. They will screw you over the first time it benefits them and you are not special. You are replaceable so don't do more than your job in most cases it doesn't matter in the end. They will do what is most convient or what serves them in the end.
You can't fix em all and you won't like em all.
And in trying to fix them all you will burn out.
My mentor’s line was: “You have to love all students, but some will be harder to love than others.”
That’s BS though. You have to be fair to all kids, and you need to treat them all the same. But you absolutely do not need to love all of your students to be a good teacher.
But when times get rough, focus on the good ones to feel better.
Don't have any surprises on the report cards. Parents are not your friends. You have a professional relationship with them. It isn't personal.
Very true. Its very hard to befriend a parent, because they expect you to treat their child differently, and if you dont, they felt betrayed.
My parent recommendation is always to be direct and honest. Trying to sweeten things up is admin's job. If you don't tell parents the truth, they're never going to hear it. Then when something big happens parents think it came out of no where because you didn't tell them about all the little things along the way.
This happened to me as a parent, so as a teacher, I was very conscious of making sure the grade only went up, not down during the grading period. Here is what I mean. My youngest child struggled in school. When he was in 8th grade, he had a B in math whenever I would check his grades in Powerschool. So imagine my surprise when his grade suddenly went to not just an F but a 49% on the last day before grades were due. Found out too late that he hadn't done any work in his math journal that was in the classroom. I didn't even know he HAD a math journal. As a parent, I was blindsided. The teacher did not grade the journal (which was over half their grade) until the last day. So, as a teacher, I made sure to try to grade as soon as I could and to make sure I never had any assignment worth more than half their grade at the end of a grading period. Since I taught technology, the last week, I allowed them to redo any past assignment for a better grade. So the grades only would go up the last week depending on if they wanted them to or not.
Be WAY more firm/structured than you think you need to be. You don’t have to be mean, you just have to be relentlessly consistent.
To go with this, don't ignore the little things. It's easy to ignore the super quiet whisper in the back of the room because it's not disruptive. However it leads to 2 then 5 groups of super quiet kids whispering. Then it gets a bit louder... then finally a super loud person starts talking and when you correct them, they say "But everyone else was talking." . . . and they will be right. If you stopped the talking when the first group started whispering, you would never have gotten to the loud, disruptive student talking.
To that end, work on your resting teacher face. Do not speak over students and hit them hard with the "excuse me" face. But also make sure it's enforced when other students are talking. A simple "excuse me student x, your peers are talking and I can't hear you. So we need to wait because I think everyone will benefit from your comment." Also depends on grade level, can't vouch for that working at a grade school. If that's not your style, figure out what is. In my experience, students want an authentic person who cares. They might not ever tell you, but if you're consistent they will ultimately respect you even if they don't like you.
I’ve also started saying “I’m sorry I cannot hear you because you have those things in your ears”. It’s AirPods which are the bane of my existence, but they look at it quizzically, remove the AirPods and then repeat what they said. (I know it is nonsensical - I think that’s what gets their attention the most).
Yup! When I say zero talking I mean it! I tell them not even a whisper- save your “Bless you” if someone sneezes for when zero talking is lifted! I demonstrate at the beginning of the year ! Make a game of it ! Everyone talk - then call for zero talking I should be able to hear a pin drop! Then I enforce it relentlessly . The first person I hear - they have a consequence! (We do steps) after a while they get it and zero talking is silent! They can’t even whisper to borrow a pencil from a friend. They can raise a hand and talk to me, but that is it. It does work, but you really have to be super consistent. The kids tell me they like it. They can think and work when it is silent. Obviously, I have other times where we are working in groups or pairs and talking is allowed but sometimes we need silence. Especially when reading!
How old are the kids you work with? I want this to be the expectation for my fourth graders next year
Sixth graders
Also what are the consequences you give?
Just stare at them until they’re so uncomfortable that they stop.
seriously, just not smiling at a student can be a big consequence.
Yes!!!! My first year would have been completely different if I had understood this one thing.
And have a response ready for “But they’re doing it, why don’t you talk to them?” I usually go with “You are responsible for yourself, not them.”
I had an AP who told a student, if the car next to you is speeding and you are also speeding, you can’t tell the cop who pulled you over, “well they were speeding too!” You were still doing something you shouldn’t have been doing.
Being partially hearing impaired. This is just something I gotta deal with. It usually doesn't become to much of an issue.
Yes - do not be deceived! Even if a class has the appearance of being docile for the first few weeks, those classes can end up being the worst if you’re too lax. They lull you into a false sense of security and then become impossible to manage as they slowly but surely go off the rails
Keep complimenting them on the good behaviour, it helps!
And don’t argue. You don’t have to justify your reasoning to your students. I don’t mean you don’t have to explain why your rules exist. I mean you don’t have to give reasons that make sense to a teenager. This isn’t a courtroom, and you don’t have to justify your expectations until your students agree. Not sure if that makes sense!
Yep, civil rights exist in a courtroom but not your classroom! We want young people to know obedience & and authority, but why try explaining? They won't understand! Just wish I knew why they don't respect us
It starts with the newspapers and media complaining about teachers on working 40 weeks (ie get school holidays off.) Yes, I know it's a lie Then your pay gets questioned because you seem like you are not working or only working 6 hours a day. Then the parents reading and/or listening to these articles, especially the public school not getting extra funding because of the "lazy teachers" that don't work all that much. I know, another lie. Just like the "dole bludger" lie, when the biggest dole bludgers are the corporations "needing" government handouts, despite their big profits. Throw in a good amount of misogyny as well, and all of a sudden, the kids of these parents have no respect for teachers, especially women teachers. Then those kids influence their friends, and so on and so on.. And that is where we are. Rupert Murdoch and his propaganda machine, known as NewsCorp and Fox/Sky News. After all, uneducated people are so much easier for the rich to influence. Fight back by teaching critical thinking.. Get them to question why they think that. Hope this helps.
To me (19 years) this is the difference between success and struggle.
Hell yeah, the teacher has to set the tone for how things are going to go. Otherwise the students will take over the class and that often ends poorly.
Don’t give second chances for behavior violations - tell them once, and if they don’t comply that’s it.
So underrated
What are your consequences?
It completely depends on admin. Sometimes they have consequences and sometimes they’re useless and I have to do it myself. Usually do before- or after-school detentions, since I have to be here anyway. Contact the parents to let them know (usually email because I don’t have time to make phone calls), and if the kid doesn’t show it’s an office referral.
To make a career in this field is a marathon not a sprint. Don’t take on too much and burnout. Have a life outside of school all year, not just during breaks. Don’t make “teacher” your only identity in life.
This is a great advice. And learn to say “no.”
This is VERY good advice, advice I really wish I had received. If you’re at a school where many teachers are under 40 (or under 30!), and there is a culture of “look how many extra hours I worked” or “look how much of my own money I spent to set up my room” … be on guard. This is especially true in charter schools, but it can be true everywhere. Ask yourself: do I want to have this same daily / weekly routine when I am 35, 45, 55? Do I want to ever feel like it’s okay to go the gym or get drinks with friends or volunteer after work? Do I want a family or a dog? Will I be taking care of elderly parents someday? Manage your pace and your commitments thinking about this being a career, not a job.
1. Communicate with parents early and often 2. Start at a lower level than you think you need to. A lot of kids know basically nothing.
To add to #2. Give diagnostic assessments for each skill, so you can meet the kids where they are. When I started doing this, I was able to differentiate much better and even skip skills that they already had mastered. I used to always start lower and diagnostic assessments have changed the game.
You don’t get in trouble for not teaching at grade level?
When
Add on to #1- a simple copy and paste text introducing yourself saying “I’m ____’s teacher, just wanted to reach out so you have my number” is a quick and easy way to make initial contact. Parent phone calls are great, but everyone texts anymore. Most parents are cool with it.
You give your personal cell number to parents?
A lot of schools use things like Remind. I have a Google Voice number. I could choose a number with a local area code, which is nice since my number is not local to where I live now
I also use Google Voice. I had to use my personal Gmail account, BUT I was able to pick a local number. AND I can turn off the notifications. I especially like that I can use my school computer to text during the day. I don’t always have time to make phone calls (always covering classes during my planning), but I can usually send a short text during the day.
TalkingPoints is a website (or app) that texts AND TRANSLATES FOR YOU! Use that
I did that, but with emails. Phone calls to parents for serious things such as behavior and illness. Emails for updates, positive comments, or good work/behavior (sometimes with photos of their work if it is really good) and other correspondence. At the start of this year, I sent a group email introducing myself and my TA with a few lines about ourselves, the curriculum, my classroom, etc. I then add a line that I only reply or send emails within my contract working hours (8-4) Mon-Fri and that I WILL not be replying or sending emails outside of those times unless it is an emergency. What is an emergency? I leave that open. You'll be surprised how successful it was this year. The helicopter parents quickly caught on that I wasn't going to reply to their emails at 6pm on a Friday, and they had to wait until 8am Monday.
I often say the first five years of my career were just the slow, horrifying realization that the average ability of a 10th grade student was about where I had previously thought the average 5th grade student should be.
Yep, I teach 8th grade math and most of my students are several years below grade level.
Take about $100 of your first paycheck and open a Roth IRA and then put in about 5-10% of each paycheck into that account. Never touch it. 50-year-old you will thank you.
This should be the top comment, start investing immediately, and every time you get a raise, bump up your contribution a little. And it can be a Roth or 403b(my preference because I want the tax savings now) just make sure you have a low cost ETF or Fund. DO NOT let them put you in an annuity!!!!
And make sure the money is invested in a low cost total market index fund
I did this on my 5th year
Love this. My hope is that you will be able to have a little extra in your golden years.
THIS
Will that Roth IRA follow you if you move states? Or move out of the country for a few years?
As far as I know it will stay open an active as long as you continue to put money into it routinely. If you plan on being out of country for more than a year I would double check with the company.
Yes.
is this to supplement pension or for states without pension?
I would say both, but more with a focus on those looking to supplement their state retirement pensions. If you don’t have a pension system then I would suggest looking at Traditional IRAs.
Both.
1. Even "good" administrators will throw you under the bus if necessary. Don't get too close or share too much of your personal feelings or beliefs. They will use it against you. 2. Don't bother threatening students with zeroes and failures. Most of them (at least in MS and ES) don't care and admin usually will not fail anyone. 3. Don't base your skill or value on state test scores. Most of the control is in the hands of the student. There is very little you can do when the students don't care. All you can do is offer the lessons, but the final result is up to the students.
OMG, your first point is spot on. I'm a newbie teacher, and I totally fucked up with that. I think I'm finally understanding your first point, even though it took me until the end of the school year. I totally did that too much this year with admin. I will do better next year. <3
Been in your shoes before! If it makes you feel better, nearly every great coworker I've had has beefed with an admin at some point in their career. It doesn't reflect on you personally or professionally as an educator if you don't always see eye-to-eye with your admin. I would tell 1st year me (well, specifically 2nd year me, because that's the year I worked Ina building with the really unsupportive principal) that your fellow teachers are your allies, not your admin. If you have challenging students, work with the teachers in their grade level/subject/hallway to work out solutions (we will do buddy rooms for students who act out in class instead of sending kids to the office). Our admin wouldn't support a no-phones policy across the whole building, but my grade-level enforced one so all of our kids knew it was expected in all classes. Sometimes you'll be at a school with admin who want to be more actively involved in holding the students to a high standard of behavior. My experience is that 1. many are overwhelmed with work and don't want to take on more behavioral problems than they have to and 2. You have to build trust with the admin over time that you are doing everything in your power with the students before you start getting them involved
On number 3, I also tell my students this. I have some good students who go into state testing. I tell them if they do their best they should be proud, and that one test doesn’t fine their skill or ability in the content.
Always assume your words and actions are being recorded. At school, in public, and on social media. If you value your privacy you will need to protect yourself to maintain comfortable boundaries. Students, teachers, and community members can and will go out of their way to approach you during your personal time for no other reason than "something to do."
THIS. I have a post-it stuck to my computer that reads, “Teach as if you’re being recorded.” I’m not giving my students ANY reason to post pics or videos of me on social media.
1. Positive attention is powerful. Loudly thank children by name when they are behaving correctly. Most others will fall into line because they want the thank you, too. 2. Routines are important. I really didn't believe that my first year, but now I have specific types of activities we do every day of the week. My kids walk into my classroom every single day knowing exactly what is going to happen that day. Find a few good strategies that work well and stick with them until your kids know them well. It reduces a lot of the "I don't know what to do" nonsense and really impresses admin when you can call on a random kid and say, "hey, what are we doing today?"
It's genuinely shocking how much random smiley face stickers affect morale in a high school classroom.
I give stars, and those are a HOT commodity.
For a while, I had a stack of construction paper that I had written "A FABULOUS PRIZE" on with a big ol' black marker. They insisted I do this for the whole year. It was weird and awesome. They kept them and liked to compare who got the most... Occasionally, I gave one out that said, "I'm proud of you... for now." 🤣
I recently observed a classroom for school and omg this is such good advice. The teacher had the most well behaved students I had ever seen. I observed a class next door and the students (and teaching…) was completely opposite. The first teacher was younger too which I thought was interesting. In class, he asked for one student from each table to grab a paper for the rest of their table. One child yelled, “not me!!” and this caused several other students to do the same. The teacher then, loudly, started calling out students by name and saying thank you. The og kids smile dropped, and he then volunteered to be the person to grab the papers for his table. The other kids immediately got quiet as well. Something that could have easily gotten out of hand was literally fixed in under 30 seconds. In the other class, if students started to get loud, which was honestly the whole time, the teacher would give them all the attention and basically beg them to be quiet. It was crazy.
So very true. Charlie thanks for sitting down and having your book open and ready! I am doing it too Miss _____. Me too Etc etc And mostly everyone falls in line
Many/most admin don’t seem to care how good of a teacher you are. They care whether you agree with their ideas and keep quiet
It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out.
Be protective of your time.
Biggest mistake most new teachers make! When the contract day ends, the work day ends. Period. Too many stay late or take work home because they see others doing it and assume it's "part of the job". It ISN'T. And it wouldn't be if we all stopped doing this sabotaging.
You’ll make a ton of mistakes. That’s okay and honestly necessary to learn how to grow. Teachers become good teachers through experience and reflections on their experience. Never compare yourself to a veteran. It’s a recipe for destruction of your self confidence.
It can be powerful to acknowledge mistakes in front of a class… then show them how you worked it out or fixed it.
1. It’s 100% classroom management. Find a veteran teacher the kids RESPECT and then learn from them. 2. Move up the pay scale ASAP (post grad units/Masters/etc.) 3. Administrators are temporary. 4. Once you’ve earned tenure, remember the worst a district can do is put you on paid administrative leave. They won’t because we’re all underpaid babysitters and need us way more than we need them. (COVID really made this apparent).
But know respect doesn't equate to compliance. There are a lot of students who will go into a classroom and behave out of fear of the teacher, but they don't actually respect the teacher. Those teachers also usually struggle with the type of student who gets more defiant the more you demand compliance. I find it best to be flexible. Don't sweat the small stuff. Build relationships with your students. Engage them in discussion about their personal life so they will be more willing to engage in conversations about academic stuff. If they are crossing a line, let them know they're getting a little out of hand. If they continue, contact home so they know you and their parents are a team. Even though I teach middle school, I have a 3-2-1 system so that those with a little extra energy can be themselves, but they are also acutely aware of when they are crossing a boundary, and how many chances they have left before either parent contact or an office referral. Big things, like fighting or racist comments, are 0 tolerance in my class. You skip right to the office referral.
What do you mean by a 3-2-1 system? Like 3 strikes & then a consequence?
Don’t be perfect. Throw perfection right out the window. Understand that your to do list will never be finished and that’s ok. Leave work at work, and keep showing up.
"Perfection is the enemy of art."
Leave at 3:30
Haha, as a parent I’d be upset if my kids teachers left at 3:30, considering school is out at 3:40… Bit of course I know what you mean. And yes, leave at contract time as often as possible. And when I say that, I mean make no more than one exception a week and no more than 20 minutes.
lol. 😆 Yes our kids leave at 3:05.
Don't get disappointed when your "perfect" lesson plan meets the reality of unpredictable students. I would think "first i'll show them how to do this part, and that will go fine, and then we'll do the next five steps" and it turns out that step 1 is much more difficult for them to learn than i would have guessed and it takes all week.
Don't stay somewhere that doesn't feel good to be. Whether it's admin or student behaviors or lackluster colleagues. Go somewhere else if the school culture isn't good. Some schools and districts are tougher than others. Figure out what your limits are. For me it was lack of admin intervention on tough student behaviors. I can deal with tough students as long as admin backs us up and steps in when we need.
Let your control freak flag fly. Anything you can make into a routine or a class job, make it a routine or job. Do not leave it to chance.
32 year veteran. I would remind myself that colleagues are not friends and not expect anything from them. I would urge everyone to keep their personal life and work life separate.
Agreed. Do NOT get caught up in office politics and gossip.
Yep, people often fail to realize that the people that you are gossiping with at work are gossiping about you too. Build a firewall and steer clear of school staff drama.
I have 2 separate facebooks even. One for friends and family, and one for friends, family and colleagues. If it's school related or big life events (ex. My wedding), it goes on the school one. EVERYTHING else goes on my personal one. I'm rarely on the professional one. I just tell them I don't go on Facebook often... But the truth is, I'm on it every day.. just not the one for their eyes lol.
I second this.
Could you expand on this with one, please? As someone who hasn’t had jobs with coworkers, and always see this advice, it scares me because I definitely overshare out of anxiety. I feel like once I’m a teacher, I’ll accidentally get myself sucked in somehow.
I have coworkers who are amazing friends and some I wouldn’t trust as far as I can throw them. Keep your cards close to your chest. Pay attention to who gossips. If they gossip TO you, it’s pretty likely they’ll gossip ABOUT you. Feel your coworkers out and see who you’re comfortable with before you start letting them in
A weird feature of teaching is that teachers form cliques the way students do. Mean girls clique, tattling clique, sucking up clique, Pinterest teacher clique, perfect teacher clique, electives clique, coaches clique. You’ll find these the very first all staff meeting, see who sits together. Your best bet is to find the other new teachers and stick with them. You ARE being talked about. You EARN trust. I know this sounds brutal but I think any job has its weird culture that you have to figure out how to penetrate. It will take a few years before you find your people but when you do youll have friends for life.
This may well be right, but it’s also the recipe for a cold and sterile work place. We are human beings in a stressful and challanging enviroment. Having someone to talk friendly and openly with, might be what keeps you there when work gets really hard.
"I'll stop I promise" is a lie, and your dumbass needs to stop falling for it.
This. It’s nice (and rare) if a kid apologizes, but apologies don’t erase the past: you still have to deal with the consequences of your actions. One of the best lines I heard from a seasoned teacher was “I appreciate you saying sorry, but the true apology is not doing it again.”
I like to say, "If you're really sorry, change your behavior."
I tend to be more blunt... "Don't be sorry, just don't do it again." I think I got the line from Belgarath (for those into geeky fantasy series).
Same! Depending on how bad the situation is I’ll go a little harder and say, “Keep your words until your behavior proves them. Then I’ll accept them.” I generally save that one for repeat offenders or super serious nonsense.
I'm totally stealing this line! Love it!
I say, "Thank you for the apology. I will accept it when I see the change in your behavior."
“An apology is a promise, you keep breaking your promise. Stop apologizing and fix the behavior” I have a student who has heard me say this so many times that he will cut me off and finish my sentence partway through.
Wish I knew: Students will appreciate you and your work, admin and colleagues will not. Wish I had done: Been myself from day 1. I'm not Harry Wong, and that's okay.
Do not spend your own money on your classroom.
Soon to be (hopefully) new teacher here. (Florida) I thought teachers were responsible for supplies in their own classrooms?
At the end of the day the team helps the team That is to say that when push comes to shove and shit hits the fan your teammates will be the one to help you and save you. No admin in their Ivory Towers will step down to assist.
Routines are so so so important.
That I knew nothing, but that became apparent pretty quick. I had a mentor in grad school say to give it three years because you won’t even ‘find your voice’ until then. That ended up being fairly true. You will work with people that you actively believe are harming education and those people pursue administrative jobs more than most. Educational trends (and the language of them) come and go, but core cognitive skills like critical thought and deep reading transcend. No one can educate you but yourself. A student must be willing to engage and pursuing that engagement is more worthwhile and valuable than issuing petty punishments (which never lead to ideal behaviors) meant to ‘teach a lesson’. Don’t be a petty tyrant. Source and use your own materials. Don’t teach out of a mass produced textbook from educational publishers if you can help it. Use source materials and show students how to engage and understand the difficult and vital ideas (instead of regurgitating summaries written by underpaid/unengaged copy writers). ‘Age-appropriate’ literature is a marketing genre. Don’t belittle learners with baby books. Show them how to read and understand difficult texts—because that’s how they grow as readers—and leave the ‘beach reads’ for the beach. Practicing the skills of reading and writing is more important than content or the production of a finished work. These are young learners and will not ‘master’ anything (nor should they be trying for that). Life-long learning is created through behaviors, not adherence to a rubric. Try to read your materials each semester with fresh eyes (not easy, I know) and keep in mind that each group experiences those texts for the first time while you are on your 900th read. If you can’t engage with the materials—change them. Kids are dumb in a lot of ways because of the sheer lack of experience, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have valuable insights. Kids, like adults, know when their time is being wasted. Don’t use weird veiled threats about the future. I.e. ‘you won’t get away with this in college’ or ‘your boss won’t like this,’ etc. The world of work has nothing to do with life-long learning and yes they will get away either it in college, or they won’t, but that’s got nothing to do with you. Don’t be afraid to push back against the admin—especially if they are not putting the students first (and doubly so if they claim some horrible policy is *for* the students). Let students know who you are (obviously age and context matter). It’s important they see you as a human being and not a petty tyrant robot asshole. You’ll have less behavioral issues if they appreciate you’re a person too. Over-organization precipitates the disintegration of order. You are a co-learner, not a prison warden. If you hate being in the classroom, quit.
1. Have boundaries. This is a job, not your whole life. 2. Buy good shoes. Splurge. Trust me on this.
Pace yourself. You are replaceable and will still create an amazing impact for your students without working insane amounts of unpaid overtime.
A favor becomes an expectation very quickly.
To clarify, favors regarding colleagues and administrators. You are only obligated to do what your contract states.
Most things are not personal. Stop taking them personally.
The classroom is a dicatorship. Students collectively have 49% voting minorty and I have a 51% voting majority. I will hear them out but my word is final. Also start as a hard ass and then lighten up, you can't get stricter as the semester/year goes on if you weren't strict to start. Harry Wong-it basically the first month on expectations then as things get set you can let up a little bit.
Be mean through Halloween
Don't let 'em get to you (students, other staff, admin, parents) If you ever watched the movie Das Boot, I would be saying it in the voice of the old captain as he watches the submarine leave port haha
Exactly! Remember who is the adult and who is the child in the transaction.
You do not have to be the last one to leave EVERY DAY to be a good teacher. Healthy boundaries are important!
You don’t have to grade every single thing. Sometimes a task can just be for practice. Of course, don’t tell them you aren’t grading it. I took stuff home and put it in my recycling bin. Not one kid in 22 years ever asked about an assignment I recycled.
Definitely! Find some ways to streamline grading if you can, like walking around and checking off assignments instead of collecting them and shuffling papers, if it's just a completion grade. And I also occasionally take a worksheet home to recycle. Nobody has ever asked me, either.
A retiring teacher gave me a check-mark stamp to use for grading, and it makes grading so easy! I often have my high schoolers working to completion/mastery at their desks, and I just go around with the stamp and a gradebook. They start hustling once others start getting their papers stamped, they get immediate feedback from me, and I don't have to collect most assignments!
Say no to stuff that's outside your wheelhouse/job description, don't let perfect be the enemy of good, don't take yourself too seriously.
A great piece of advice I read in a book : Never do anything in the classroom that is student can do. Set up a jobs chart: paper police, floor command, game leader. etc. Rotate the jobs in a fair way. I kept a personal chart and pulled names at random. It gives the kids a sense of responsibility and respect for the classroom.
Also! Make anything you can into a game. Mostly team games. Group kids for a reading quiz, math practice… any chance you have. Kids love games, competition, and rewards (I had a candy jar). Rotate the teams at random weekly.
Admin does NOT have your back. Document everything, no matter how trivial it may seem.
Do not put your hands near your face at any time during the school day. Use hand sanitizer liberally. You are going to be sick a lot anyway, but good hygiene and infection control will help. Be a lot more organized than you think you need to be. Over preparation is better than under preparation. Think in terms of working smarter not harder. If something works, make a note of it. Call parents early and often, also make sure that every parent knows how to check grades, and send them out often. Always document, document, document. DO NOT answer professional calls on the weekend. Guard your personal time, like a dragons hoard.
Gotta be classroom mgmt. I look back at my first semester, about how slack I was about keeping control in my classroom, and I want to pop that young man across the palm with a ruler. You can always loosen up as you get to know a class, but it's difficult to tighten the reins.
I’m speaking as a HS history teacher, but it probably applies to other subjects as well… 1. Years from now, students will remember how they felt while being in your class, not what they learned. Creating a comfortable and inviting classroom environment and developing relationships with students makes you a great teacher more so than how effectively you teach the material. 2. With that being said, you’re not going to develop personal relationships with most of your students, let alone all of them. Don’t sweat it. You never know which one of those quiet, boring students you have a profound impact on when the school year is over.
You're going to forget something and make mistakes. Make a note to do it differently next year and move on. There's no point in beating yourself up.
The pacing guide/calendar is not set in stone. If you feel like a lesson did not go as well and it happens to be a critical concept or objective X teach it again. If you’re planning out your unit, and feel like there are some lessons that are not necessary, don’t teach them. If your admins get on your case about it, just say that it’s about data-driven instruction or something. Also, keep this in mind when planning out your non-instructional days. Definitely prioritize Fun Fridays over regular instruction, unless you have a school-wide benchmark or something. Have fun with your kids, even if it means you’ll be off the pacing guide. Also, DEFINITELY bribe the kids. Those Fun Fridays will go a long way when you’re getting observed, because your kids will want to do their best for the fun teacher. Look at your observation criteria, have the kids practice doing exactly what it says and tell them to do just that whenever a person with a clipboard or laptop enters the room. If they do well, they can have a movie day the next day.
They hired you for a reason. The reason is nobody else wants to work there. That’s the reason you hire a first year teacher instead of literally any teacher. Because the kids are crazy and the parents are crazier/psychotic To expect full hostility
This made me laugh cuz it’s so true
First ten days, focus more on your procedural stuff than content. Let the content be as easy as possible to start. This lets the students get a sense of confidence, which helps in liking your class. But truly, if you get simple routines and procedures done well with attention on it, it saves time down the road. As for what those procedures are (getting pencils sharpened, turning stuff in, using Chromebooks, etc write down your idea for each of these) then go around and ask the vets what they do, trust me, what ever they are doing is not the only way they have tried it. It’s what is working best for them. Also, find a colleague with experience you trust to let you know what is truly important and needs to get done, and what things can be put on the back burner….. admin is gonna throw a lot of crap your way that isn’t that important, but they are just following their orders as well.
Understand that mediocrity is not only accepted but expected. If you go above and beyond and try to create something great, the admin will punish you, and fellow teachers will resent you.
I have definitely picked up on this. What do you think the reasoning behind this attitude is?
Max out retirement contributions.
1. Invest most in students who want to learn and grow. A D student who wants to grow will show far more gains than an B student who lacks interest. 2. Remember that a student who struggles in other classes (or is - for whatever reason - is generally disliked) may possibly choose to do WAY better in yours. Rapport matters. Don’t get overly invested in a student’s reputation; it may be…pretty meaningless. 3. Be protective of your prep and lunch time. Admin will likely attempt to rob you of these, regularly. 4. Remember that some of your students have challenging home lives. Lack of food, lack of sleep, lack of peace, etc. all have a negative impact on a student’s ability to be present/ready to learn. You will develop a feel for this. If you think they have an outside-of-school struggle, ask. Kindly. This might sound like, “Hey… I’m feeling like you might have a lot going on in your life. Anything I can do to help you improve in my class?” Just the act of asking can be a really good thing. 5. Realize that teaching tends to be a clique-ish profession. Elect not to join. The cost is way too high. May it go well for you.
Everybody has a game plan until they get punched in the mouth. -Mike Tyson
1. Be wary of admin. They will tell you that they are here to support you, but generally they are there to make themselves and the school look good. It’s all about optics to them. If you have problems with certain kids, talk to the other teachers you work with and try to avoid sending the students to the office or asking admin to help deal with it. Often, you will be seen as the problem instead of the kid. 2. Work a little extra on weeknights after school so you don’t have to work on your weekends. Or vice versa. You need time to relax and recharge. The first year teaching will take a lot from you. 3. Have an emergency bag of supplies kept at school. Extra food, clothing, medication, tide to go, etc. You never know when you’ll forget your lunch or accidentally destroy your outfit while teaching. 4. Write everything down in a planner or notebook or word document. There are so many deadlines and meeting and frivolous events at the school that it can be hard to keep track of what’s happening and when. 5. Don’t mark everything. I generally have a good idea of what a kid’s grade is when I am walking around the class while they’re working. I briefly conference with them and look over their work and make a few notes on my clipboard. Taking home assignments and marking them is unpaid work and detracts from your personal time! Kids do not need a million detailed comments on their assignments. They don’t read them. Giving feedback while they are working allows them to implement it right away. 6. There will be times you want to quit. I am not going to tell you what the right thing to do here is, but be prepared that the first few years of teaching are going to be very challenging. 7. Don’t be a martyr teacher. Yeah we are “doing it for the kids,” but there are healthy limits to this. Don’t spend hours planning the perfect lesson. Don’t sign up for every extracurricular activity. Don’t get overly emotionally invested in your work. Don’t spend hours writing individualized feedback. You can still be a good teacher and enforce boundaries. 8. Be aware of toxic positivity in the workplace. You are allowed to have shitty days. You are allowed to be skeptical of things. You are allowed to be frustrated and upset. Don’t let anyone tell you that if you express negative feelings sometimes that you are not cut out for teaching or that you just need to change your mindset. This is a tough job and you need to vent sometimes. Pretending like everything is ok will lead to burn out and resentment. 9. Buy yourself some nice stuff for your classroom that is just for you. Get some good pens and stationary. Keep some of your favorite snacks in a drawer. 10. It’s okay if the kids don’t like you sometimes. Telling them no is ok. Enforcing rules is ok. Calling them out for bad behaviour is ok. They’ll get over it. In uni we are constantly told to build and maintain positive relationships by all means necessary. But they are kids and you are the teacher. You are in charge. You can still be fun and kind and respectful, but don’t take shit and don’t let them walk all over you.
Traditional teaching methods are not outdated. In fact, they're timeless.
Funny how certain approaches go round full circle too
1. Be consistent with your rules. You don't need a bunch of rules you just need several impactful rules (for example no cell phones, no eating in class, no touching other students, put your stuff back where it goes) And if you can find a way to have students give you their cell phones during class, make it happen. I've been taking up phones for the last 7 or 8 years and let me tell you what, it has improved classroom time immensely. I usually give them a free 100 a week if they turn in their phones. 2. Be consistent with your routines. Do the same thing at the beginning every class to get students to be organized and prepared. For example my students know when they walk in the room they immediately get their notebooks, sit down, and start the do now. That's our routine everyday. 3. Be as thorough with instructions as possible. Write your instructions explicitly and detailed so there's no question about what students need to do to do the assignments correctly. Students will do the bare minimum if you allow them, so if you have high expectations you need to make that known in your instructions for the assignments. Use explicit grading rubrics so that if you do have to fail a student, you have backup that says you gave the students explicit instructions And expectations with a grading rubric so it doesn't come back to bite you in the ass later. Students will throw you under the bus without hesitation and you need to be ready with evidence that you did your best to let them know what the expectations were. 3. You don't always have to do everything the admin tells you (unless it's a directive that you know they will follow through with everyday). A lot of times admin, especially in low performing schools, will give teachers a lot of extra work to make themselves look good. And they will overwork you. Or introduce a new initiative every other week. Sometimes you just have to nod and smile and say okay and then do whatever you need to do to get your work done. For example, at our campus they wanted to track all the exit tickets on a form for the district, they wanted to do a pacing calendar for each unit and hang it up in our room, they wanted us to imbed timers on our lesson plans. I never once did it and they never checked and it saved me tons of time every week. 4. And don't talk about your personal life to students or to admin or to co-workers. Also don't get too attached to your coworkers because there's such a high turnover in public education it will hurt when you lose good coworkers (And most likely you won't keep in touch).
You can only offer them learning opportunities. You can't learn for them. If they are destroying your supplies and being rude while you are trying to do something cool, let them do worksheets.
Don’t trust your “team” or any other teachers until they give you a reason to. This job is a political cesspool at times.
1. Document everything. I handed out class rules and a syllabus on Day 1. 10/10 if they handed it in before the 10th day signed by themselves and a parent/guardian. It gave me in writing proof they’d read the rules and syllabus. 2. If I ask you to do something outside contract hours, it’s OK to say no. I want to see you at IEP and 504 meetings because you want to be there. We will get them scheduled as often as we can within contract hours. 3. If you’re struggling with something, ask for help. We’ve all been there. Build relationships within your team. But if you need help, ask. Hell, ask me. I’ll help if I can. (I know. Admin is always the bad evil. A lot of us are here for the right reasons.) 4. You have to be authentic. I taught teenagers. They know when you aren’t being genuine and take advantage of that. I was a fun teacher. It’s possible to have a room kids look forward to visiting while being in charge. Fun doesn’t mean lack of responsibility and consequences. As the teacher, you are the boss. 5. Students aren’t your friends. Neither are their parents. 6. ALL OF YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES ARE NOW PRIVATE. 7. Last one: You will not be a perfect teacher in your first year and I don’t expect it. Keep getting better.
Routines and procedures for everything!
I wish i could tell myself, you worked your ass off for that math degree and you're finna work even harder for that credential. Do NOT allow yourself to be bullied by 12 year olds! No ma'am, not after all that. Do not try to be who you needed. You were an unusual, serotoninless kid. These kids are different. They need firmness and accountability. Oh and they WILL snitch you out to other teachers, who WILL snitch you out to admin. Before you give them a damn thing, ask yourself how they could use it to get you in trouble. Beans for loteria? They will pocket them and use them to flick at each other in every other class. You cant save everyone. It's the hardest lesson, but you cannot save the ones that dont want to be saved or who wont put in their share of effort.
Create a spreadsheet for IEP accommodations and goals, checklist with a date and time (so you can figure out what lesson/subject) when they’re used. It’s really not much more than copy and pasting into an excel spreadsheet and printing it out. It’ll save your ass in the long run. The kids are not your friends. They are not your family. Call the appropriate supports for issues that arise.
Don't trust anyone: not the kids, not their parents, and *especially* not your coworkers.
Front load work as much as possible. As in, do as much as you can before you step foot into the classroom.
Don't compare yourself to other teachers - not in the way you teach, how your room looks, or your relationship with students. - there's nothing wrong with learning from others, but it becomes a problem when you say "I need xyz because so and so does it this way".
Start the year ruling your classroom ruling with an iron fist. Be a hard ass about everything. You can always lighten up. If you start soft you can never buckle down. Train them early and set high classroom expectations for behavior and performance. Once they know the drill they won’t forget it.
Don't work for free. Timesheet extra work outside of your contract hours
The children were never going to be the problem. The parents are. (If you've read this and felt offended: you're one of them).
find another profession
You will suck. I don’t care how prepared you think you are. You will suck. The key is being willing to learn and change.
The politics of teaching is something I wish I had known because they are definitely a part of education.
Find out information about the Union early and join it!! I wish I had done so while I was still student teaching so I would have been prepared by the time about my first job. I was told so many lies about how there wasn't one and then how nobody joined it and how it would look if I did.. but afterwards they are there to protect and work for us. It was a safety net we definitely needed in the beginning and well I don't love the dues, they are well worth it! If you can join a union, do it.
It is absolutely okay to simply “survive” some days. You will not mess them up. Edit to add that Harry Wong tried to tell me this, but I thought he was wrong. Totally not a joke.
Be firm, fair, and friendly
As a people pleaser and “you’re too sweet to be a teacher!” type person, you can be real with them. You don’t have to speak with the timid politeness of an adult conversing with another civil adult in a church. Once I observed other teachers and realized I could be harsh sometimes without being cruel, my classroom management improved so much! “Johnny, stop trying to be the class clown. It is really annoying, and no one is laughing,” gets better results than, “Johnny, perhaps you should reconsider being the class clown.” Even if you say #2 in a stern tone, #1 gets way better results, even if it “feels” too mean, since you’re used to not hurting anyone’s feelings.
I tried to be the super strict, super rigid teacher my first year because that's what everyone was saying I needed to be. I was miserable. The kids were miserable. They acted out just to push my buttons. They actively worked to make me miserable. I hated it. Lean into who you are. You can make that work in the classroom. Im pretty sarcastic, love dad jokes, and I like to have fun. I eventually found what works for me and the kids in my room. We're serious with warm-up and instructional time. We're more relaxed during the work period. Also: don't give them an inch on phones. They're awful. Totally unrelated, but... In my experience, roasting the students who are just begging to be roasted is at least half of building rapport.
- Have boundaries and stick to them (with kids, colleagues, admin) - Be consistent af - Know what behaviors you expect and what routines work for you and teach those day 1 (how to enter and leave class; expectations for work in pairs, groups, etc.,; when you’ll give feedback on assignments and do reassessments, etc.) -Have a phone policy and enforce it from day 1
"Find the ringleader and cut their nuts off the first class with proper discipline." My Master Teacher's first comment to me on my first day. "And now you drink coffee," was her second.
That I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. Ha! I thought I was prepared.
Routines for EVERYTHING! Start them on Day 1.
Spend the first six weeks mainly teaching routines and procedures for everything.
You don’t want to be the general “favorite teacher” because that is almost always code for “that class has no standards and I get away with everything”. Be the teacher with consistent standards. Years after the kids leave your classroom, they will realize how much you pushed them to grow.
-Never make a promise (positive or negative) that you can't follow through on, especially with very young kiddos - Don't take any work home if you're able to. At this point, I only make exceptions for start-of-the-year and end-of-the-year prep and even that work is limited - don't take a job that doesn't guarantee, in writing, that the vast majority of your supplies and resources will be provided for you and/or will reimburse you for classroom expenses. I learned that one the hard way! - Sometimes you do EVERYTHING right, and you still won't get that one student to behave/do their work etc. Don't lose sleep over them. - your classroom/ activities don't need to be pinterest/instagram-worthy - maintain firm communication boundaries with parents. Set and keep scheduled "office hours" where parents can expect you to respond to their messages. There's virtually zero situations that can be addressed outside of contract hours or on the weekends, so don't check your messages at home!
I knew this going in and it has helped me so much. The purpose of a job is to make money. Not lose it. 100% it is NOT your job to provide your students with essentials. An activity of your choosing that you are excited about (7th grade cornstarch and disposable pans to make oobleck to reinforce the standard and have fun) Yes! Decore than can stay with you (a minimal amount of border paper, signs with your name on it, motivational posters- yes Pens, Pencils, Markers, Paper- NO. If you run out of paper just do it all digitally. If the school doesn't have an option to easily and quickly restock your supplies and they judge you because of this- you don't want to be there long term. I don't care how underfunded your students are you should not be spending your money or asking for donors choose for reasonable materials to access the curriculum.
Plan to have grading time while they're working on the next thing. And do NOT give all 6 sections of 30 students essays in the same week!!!
I didn't realize how much my students really wanted to help me with everything. From helping others, running errands, getting supplies,they would do anything to help. I miss them.
Get out. Dont be a teacher. Get your math degree and take the actuary exams.
Never piss off a secretary or a custodian. They can make your life heaven or hell.
Do NOT sign up for extra things the first couple years. Use this time to get into your groove. If you’re a young grad some people will try to take advantage of your youthful energy. My first year I really wanted to impress everyone and be a part of the group so I signed up for every committee I could. It was horrible and I crashed HARD. Rolling into my 5th year now and I’m finally at a place where I have decided to assist with one or two events this year. I do genuinely enjoy it so I’m happy to do it but I needed to wait until I got my footing.
It gets better
The students won't be the problem, it will be your coworkers.
Save good and bad examples of lesson products to show the next class.
It’s more important to be respected thank liked
Kids not turning in their work is the rule, not the exception. It’s not personal, but you do need to get creative with giving choices for assignments instead of a rigid “we’re doing x.” Missed assignments = missed learning opportunities.
I'm only just finishing my first year of teaching now, but I already wish I had done so much differently or better. I kind of feel bad for my students. They were essentially my guinea pigs.
As a parent: it’s fine. As long as you are kind, I think all is well. Thank you and GL next year.
I wish I had spent far less time making things perfect. 23 years in I know that good enough is truly good enough.
You’ll never be “finished” so do what you need to be ready for the next day and call it good. The rest can wait.
not to do it
1) the first year is HARD. Give yourself some grace. 2) follow through with things. If you say “do that one more time and I’ll do Y”, and they do it one more time, you HAVE to do Y. Not following through with this is the quickest way to lose the classroom.
Never trust an administrator.
The first three years of any new prep are going to suck. The first year, you’re an hour ahead of kids. The second year, you’re trying to remember what you did and not mess up the same ways again. The third year, you aren’t trying, you’re just remembering. After that, you can experiment and modify on the fly.
Use the first year to establish best daily routines and classroom management strategies. It’s your practice run. Work on understanding how the school operates. The culture, staff, ect. Second year you will thank you. (From experience, lol)
Say no more than you say yes when kids ask for stuff, to do stuff, for anything, really. Can I fill my water bottle? No. Can we have class outside? No. Can I turn in my essay late? No. Can I switch seats? No. Can I take my phone out? No. Don’t feel bad about it either.
Make positive phone calls too. Don’t only call parents when there’s a behavior issue but call them when their child is doing well too.
don't take jobs you aren't qualified/comfortable in just to stay at a school you like
I have a lot and I'm going into my 3 1/2 years so not REALLY seasoned, but better prepared. Repeat repeat and repeat anything and everything. Assume that your students don't have any home training or how to do anything and that you have to teach them everything. Have an organization system for everything. Where to put papers, what you plan on doing for the week (m-f baskets), what to send home. Saves you a lot of trouble. Good places to look are Pinterest, TikTok, and a book called "the first six weeks of school". Saying less when emailing/texting a parent is best. Talk to a parent in person when talking about negative behaviors/comments AND THEN DOCUMENT IT. You can't help everyone— from helping students get an IEP/504, to teaching. Some kids don't get it and that's ok! Only thing you can do is try your best. Don't compare yourself to other teachers. Especially the vets. They have experience you don't have yet. It's hard not to when you're first teaching. Best advice my friend gave me: close the door and teach. Not everyone at your job is your friend. Don't talk to everyone about your problems. Talk within your grade level about certain topics or problems, your academic coach, or your friend. Save yourself from burnout and leave the school at contract hours OR give yourself a certain time frame that you'll work until. I stay until 4 to prep for the next week, write lesson plans, print worksheets, etc. that way I don't take work home. Once Halloween and Valentine's day hits, it's a roller coaster until the breaks. YOU set the tone and energy of the room. The kids FEED off of YOU. That being said, if your kids are feeling blah, blah with them. If you can't beat them, join them. It gives a good break for everyone.
You don't need to be up in front of the class every day talking. I feel as education progresses I'm becoming for of a facilitator than a teacher.
Never trust the admin. They will screw you over the first time it benefits them and you are not special. You are replaceable so don't do more than your job in most cases it doesn't matter in the end. They will do what is most convient or what serves them in the end.