First Year Teacher

I have a bit of a theme going lately, back to school.  I was thinking about all the first year teachers my old school just hired and was then thinking about my first year teaching.  I got very lucky my first year when I found an experienced teacher who took me under her wing.  She helped me navigate all the school politics that I wasn’t expecting and also gave me helpful teaching tips.  Now it’s time to give back.  Here are a few of the things I learned.

School Politics

• During staff meetings don’t ask questions.  Experienced teachers want to get out and will resent you.  Instead, find a teacher you trust and ask him or her.  If that doesn’t apply ask the secretary, principal, or vice principal.
• About school secretaries.  They know absolutely everything.  Be very, very nice to them and chat them up if you want to know what is going on before everyone else.
• Be nice to everyone.  This is less a political thing than a pet peeve.  It irks me no end to see teachers being dismissive of the custodians.  I loved all of our custodians, they kept my room running and watched out for my classes when I had subs. 

Teaching Tips

• You are not there to be friends with the students.  You are there teacher, it doesn’t matter if they hate you as long as you can keep them under control and teach them.  This doesn’t mean be a total jerk to them, just don’t try to make them ‘like’ you.  Just do your job.
• Don’t assign homework that will take you hours to grade.  Homework is to help children learn but it isn’t the main point.  You aren’t going to be allowed to base their grade on their homework so don’t kill yourself grading it.
• Don’t take on a lot of clubs and sports.  This may not seem like a teaching tip, but it is.  If you are spending a ton of nights and weekend time working on the extra stuff you’ll have less time for teaching stuff.  You are there to teach, it needs to be your top priority.  When done right it isn’t an easy job.  Give yourself some time to learn the ropes before you jump into a lot of extras.

If you are a new teacher do you have any questions or need some advice?  If you are an experienced teacher do you have any tips to add??

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Summer is winding down and kids are starting to think about ‘having’ to go back to school.  I can’t really fuss at the kids for this because as a teacher I felt the same way.  It is so nice to be completely free for a few months (well as a teacher not completely free because there are all of those summer workshops but mostly free at least).  There are a few things you can do to get your kids ready to start a new school year but they aren’t necessarily things your kids are going to be happy about.  I suggest them because doing them now will make actually going back to school soooo much easier for you as a parent, and for your child.

• Get back on a regular sleep schedule.
• Often children stop having a bed time and wake up time in the summer.  A few weeks before school starts implement both.
• Exercise
• Twenty years ago I wouldn’t have had to say this (or rather a teacher wouldn’t have to give this advice because twenty years ago I was a student).  Too many kids spend all summer sitting on their butt.  Once they go back to school they will be expected to jump back into the P.E. groove.  In most parts of the country it is still very warm (or if you are where I am DANGED HOT).  Make sure they start playing outside for half an hour to an hour each day continuously to get ready for P.E.
• Review
• Try to review the big concepts they learned last year so they will be ready for new information this year.  This is especially important in math because math skills build each year on the skills learned the previous year.  Trust me, your child will have a much easier time if he or she has had a chance to review.
• Go over expectations.
• Let your child know what kind of behavior and study habits you expect from them.  Some parents think their children should just ‘know’.  They don’t.  There kids, you’re the adult.  Tell them what you want.

Are there any other ways you try to help your child get prepared for the upcoming school year?

As schools around the country get ready to start many parents are worried about the expense of back to school shopping.  I have one thing to say to you.  SALES.  As a teacher I became at expert at scouring school supply sales.  I think it is actually a requirement that you be addicted to school and office supplies to become a teacher.  I’ve found that the two best times to get crazy bargains are the month before schools open and the month after. 

Before school opens all of the stores have amazing bargains on a few things.  These are the things you want to purchase.  Go to the school your child will be in and get a list of everything he or she will need. Then watch the sales papers for all the stores in town and grab their loss leaders as you find items that are on your list.  I recently saw five packs of mechanical pencils for only .o5.  The same for sharpies and notebook paper. The stores do this so you’ll come in and then see the pretty, shiny, full priced items and drop a ton of cash on those.  Your goal is to get in and out of the store with only those super cheap items. 

Don’t worry if you don’t find everything you need on sale right away.  Usually students are fine for the first week or so with only paper and something to write with.  It is after the first few weeks of school that the truly amazing sales take place.  I’ve seen lunch boxes for 80% off and they will practically give away paper, notebooks, crayons, markers, pencils, and colored pencils.  If you can hold off till these sales you will spend only a fraction of what everyone else is spending on school supplies.  Even if you do give in and buy a lot of your items before the sales, consider stocking up once the sales hit.  This will save you last minute runs to the store later in the school year and you now eventually you will use the product!

Do you have any great tips for saving money on your back to school supplies?  Share so we can all save money together