Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Linky Party - Advice for New Teachers!


Long time, no see! It has been a crazy few weeks in the household. AP Literature training, moving apartments, then onto to two vacations just days after moving. We still haven't even broken down all of the boxes in the apartment! So sorry for not updating in a while. My sincerest apologies :(. I am linking up with Latoya Reed today for her "Let's Get Acquainted" linky party. Today I am giving advice to first year teachers. It seems like yesterday that I was a first year teacher at Spingarn in DC. I learned a lot from that year and I use that advice everyday at my new school.

BUY...extra school supplies. Especially if you work in a low-SES school/district. Many times, my students come to school with only the shirt on their backs. I always make sure that I have extra pencils and notebooks for the students.

ALWAYS...have a back up plan. Sometimes I think a lesson is going to be frickin amazing and it blows up in my face. The problem is that I have 2 other classes to teach the lesson to that day! Always make sure that you go back and reflect on what worked and what didn't. Also, don't have a meltdown if a lesson sucked. This is a learning process, don't let it get you down. We tell our students not give up, try, try again so practice what you preach!

NEVER...let the kids see you sweat. You are the expert in the room. Kids can sense weakness and can and will exploit it. Own your classroom.

FIND...a teacher mentor/friend. This is probably the most important thing to do in your first year of teaching. You need to find someone to talk/rant/cry/practice teaching with. They can help you!

MAKE...memories. Look for the positive in everything. Enjoy your first year because you will probably not experience anything like that again.

BE...flexible. Crap happens. I know someone people (ME) HATE when things don't go according to plan. I tend to get irate when things go south on me. But I just pop another prozac and go about my business. Don't sweat the small stuff. You are working with kids. They are so unpredictable and you never know what they are going to do. It is ok! Just roll with it.

I hope this was informative! Let me know down below in the comments :)