Tag: New teacher
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50. Relationships are Everything!
Haven’t we already covered this? Well, yeah, as it relates to students. Students are who you work for. Students are the reason you are even here. But there are other teachers in the same building, doing the same job, some of whom are wonderfully personable and helpful, and some of whom….well …frankly they are scary.…
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49. Don’t Judge the Environment from which these children come.
My very first placement was in a school affected by poverty. I accepted the challenge because I have compassion and I thought that was the magic ingredient to serving children who experienced food insecurity, high mobility, and low income. I have always been grateful that our government provides for women with children in the way…
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48. Go to the Birthday Party
About a dozen times a year, a student of yours will come up to you and give you an invitation to an event. Over the years I’ve been invited to birthday parties, Little League games, piano recitals, baptisms, and community plays. It was usually for a weekend when I was OFF and the last thing…
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47. You Work for the Children
I have heard some teachers giving other teachers advice about how to perform when the boss walks in your classroom. If by boss, you mean principal, I guarantee she can tell it is a performance. Everything you do in the building, every interaction with children and colleagues, every task you volunteer for, and every problem…
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46. Don’t Take Work Home
Yeah, right. What teacher in the whole world doesn’t take work home? Much like a regimented schedule, this is the goal. If you pack your school bag with all of the papers that need to be graded, all of your teacher’s editions, your grade book and lesson plan book, data notebook, lamination to cut out…
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45. Recognize the Commonality of ADHD in the Classroom.
Many people who grow up to be teachers were very successful as students. They were good readers, they did their homework, they respected teachers and they liked being graded. They loved for the teacher to read to them and they were intensely focused when the teacher was giving instructions. Many were served in a program…
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44. Send lots of photos
All day long, the parent is thinking about the child sitting in your classroom. She is wondering what the child is learning and how he is behaving. She is wondering if he came to school and told everyone about that unfortunate episode last night. That child may be one who jumps in the car and…
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43. There is NO downtime.
Oh how I wish that this was not reality. There are days when someone calls your classroom telling you to send a form to the office immediately. There are days when someone comes by to collect the Emergency Procedure cards and you can’t find them. There are days when you need just five minutes to…
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41. Recognize that every skill is learned.
(organization, hygiene, manners, self control, respect, responsibility) As a new teacher, this one was particularly hard for me. My own frame of reference came from a middle class family that valued education and taught me respect and responsibility. I don’t remember learning to take care of my hygiene, brush my teeth, wear clean clothes but…
Fire Drills 