Summer break is in full swing and with it the drop off in blogging. I’m still job hunting and getting more and more frustrated by it every day. It appears that my experience and credits may be hurting me as I am now the more expensive teacher. My friend called from his classroom today after the earthquake and listening to the kids in the background just so made me miss teaching at that school and with that group of colleagues. The saying is so true that you don’t know what you got til it’s gone. I want nothing more than to be back in that scene. I know it’s not perfect, the kids aren’t perfect, the parents are a pain and even my colleagues drove me crazy at times but I have learned just how bad things are other places.
I just miss teaching. This is why I love year-round school so much since this time of year is when I really am missing the kids. I took the CSET a week ago to try to get my high school credential and am finishing this insane class at National University on how to teach in a departmentalized setting – something I have been doing for 8 years. The test and the class are required by the state to get my high school credential but it’s ridiculous being in a class that requires me to learn how to write lesson plans again! The only advantage of the class has been the discussion boards and hearing the voices of soon to be new teachers. It’s amazing to me how people go in to a classroom and start teaching without ever really having spent a lot of time in the classroom prior to that. I was an I.A. for many years and grew up with a parent who was a teacher so I was always around education. So many of these young people are just stunned that they have to work outside the school day and that lessons don’t go quite as smoothly as they thought they would.
Anyway the discussions have been good as they’ve reminded me how much I really have learned over the years. Which is what brought me to this. I woke up in the middle of the night last night pondering what ten pieces of advice I would give to a new or experienced teacher if asked what good teachers do and this is what I came up with. . .
10 things I think good teachers do
1. Get to know their students as individuals
2. Joke around and have fun in class once in awhile – know that it’s O.K. to go on tangents every now and then
3. Say hi to students in the hall
4. Acknowledge when you’re having a bad day, and remember that kids have them too! Don’t forget that we as teachers often don’t know what our kids are facing outside of the school day.
5. Whenever possible let kids know the “why” of what you are doing
6. Post an agenda on the board for the day including homework
7. Listen to students concerns and be open to suggestions
8. Grade things in a timely manner
9. As much as possible be consistent and fair with discipline, acknowledging that fair isn’t always equal
10. Have fun and let the kids get to know the fun side of you! Kids love to know that their teachers are real people and have a life outside of school. Sharing the tiniest tidbit of information about yourself is like a golden nugget to many kids.
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