As I
prepare for the new teacher panel discussion at Wichita State University I will participate in this
week, I try to think of what I wanted to know as a first-year teacher, but I
feel that’s not enough. The thing is, I had no idea what was ahead of me, so I didn’t
know the questions I should have asked. Due to this, I have tried to put together a list of some
things I learned this year. In retrospect, this list is minute compared to the
list I could have for what I learned this year, but I must move on to other responsibilities
and should probably get this posted sometime soon as the panel is quickly approaching. So, I’ll stick to the big ones.
Say Yes
to “No”
Don’t
be afraid to say, “no” to extra work. Please know that I’m not implying we should say no all
the time, but I am saying that it is okay to know when your plate is full, and
you cannot take on anymore. Honestly, I still need to work on this. I am one
that enjoys my job, I enjoy helping others, and I enjoy successfully completing
tasks, but I also enjoy completing tasks to the best of my ability and I have
learned that I can not give my all when my plate is too full. I do not want to
do anything half heartedly and if my plate was too full, I found that I did
just that. I want to take pride in my work, not walk away with my tail tucked
between my legs because I could have done better.
Find
Your Marigold
This
one pulls from an article I read as an undergrad by Jennifer Gonzalez, titled, “Find Your Marigold: The One
Essential Rule for New Teachers”. I loved it so much I mentioned it in one
of my very first blogs - you can find that here.
Basically, I’m saying – find the positive teacher that spreads their light
wherever they go and only wants the best for everyone. They are the one that
will help get you through some rough days. They are the one that will give you
the much-needed pep talk when a lesson falls flat. They are the one that
sprinkles their love of education like fairy dust as they glide through the
building. For those teachers on Tik-Tok, I’m picturing the “purple flame”
filter here as their love of education illuminating the outer edges of their
body. Hmm, maybe I’ll make this video later. Ha!
Lean
on Colleagues and Classmates
By this
I mean, YOU ARE NOT ALONE. I stayed in contact with many colleagues from my
graduating class – almost my entire group actually. Not only did we go through
the teaching program together and leaned on each other then, but now here we
are all going through similar situations with different scenarios. We collaborated
well in college and continue to do so outside of college. If you can, stay in
touch. It helps. Additionally, you will soon have a building full of people
with many years of experience and knowledge to soak up and pull from. Utilize
them. It has been my experience that most of them want to help. We’ve all been
a first year before and understand the difficulties that lie ahead, but we also
know the amazing, rewarding experiences that lie ahead, too. Lean on them in
good times and in bad. Oh and, please remember to celebrate the good with them
too. Even with experience to help through the rough times, they like success
stories and can learn from you also.
The
Power of “Yet”
The
inspiration for this comes from Trevor Muir, a teacher I follow on social
media. He posted a YouTube video that I fell in love with, titled “The Power of YET”. As a
tier 2 and 3 reading teacher I hear often how my students think they can’t read
or are bad readers, so I took what Trevor had to say to heart and put that to
use in my classroom. One of my tier 3 students at the beginning of the year received
my “yet” speech and about a month later she wrote an affirmation to me stating
how much that helped her. As her teacher, I could see it helped. She put forth
more effort in class and she even practiced reading at home. Something she says
she never did before. Well, at semester, she was moved up to tier 2. She saw
improvements just as I had and felt confident in her newfound abilities. I’m so
very proud of her and confident in her ability to continue to grow throughout
the years. All because she was told, she might not feel she is a good reader - yet,
but she can be, and with practice and purposeful work – She will be!
Flexibility
This is
a huge quality and applies to many different categories. It’s important to be
flexible in our lesson plans, but also flexible in our abilities, collaboration,
and schedule. I think it’s a given to understand the importance of flexibility
in our lessons. It is inevitable that we will make lesson plans that flop and
require changing on the fly. I think it is also a given that we think our
students are at one point of understanding, but discover they are actually in a
different place; hence, flexibility is a necessity.
I also
feel that it is important to learn to be flexible in our abilities to provide
our students with a broad spectrum of instruction so that we can meet all their
needs and learning capacities. I believe flexibility is needed for
collaboration as well to understand that just because someone might not do
things our way, does not mean it is ineffective. Additionally, as teachers, but
also humans, we are all different – thankfully – and being flexible allows us
to collaborate with one another and grow our weaknesses. Finally, schedule
conflicts happen. Whether that be a parent that ended up having to stay late at
work and unable to meet for the scheduled IEP meeting or that be you getting
sick and needing to take that dreaded day off. Learning to be flexible in our
schedule can relieve us of that stress when we brush the conflicts off and find
a proactive way to switch things up and move on to the next. We have enough on
our plate and should not add to the stress by overreacting when something does
not work out like we had in our mind.
Para
Expectations
During
my four years as a para, I appreciated when teachers would go over their
expectations for me in their classroom. Each teacher is different just as each student
body is different, so it was important to understand my duties to effectively
assist them and our students. For example, I had some teachers ask that when
they are giving direct instruction, I remain seated and take notes along with
the students for those that were absent and for those that required note-taking
assistance. While other teachers might have had me actively roaming the room
and monitoring all students as they took notes during their direct instruction.
Another example would be that some teachers do not want the para to give
permission to students to leave the room, while others might be okay with you
giving permission for those bathroom, drink, or nurse visits. My advice on this
would be to put together a quick reference sheet for your paras to keep in
their folder or binder for your class and include things like: What to do
during direct instruction, what to do during student active participation or
work time, classroom management and/or discipline system, and maybe a quick
check guide for specific students and their accommodations. I can tell you from
experience it doesn’t take long to get the flow of each class down and meet
each teachers’ expectations.
Flexible
Seating
I love
flexible seating. My classroom currently has a loveseat, two mid-century modern
acrylic chairs, and two super cute cushioned chairs set up like a living room. With
that said please know, I’m still working on a system that works for me. I’ve
read blogs and articles on many different avenues to utilize flexible seating,
and I continue the search to find a system for me. I’m open to suggestions.
This
year I tried two different systems. Semester one, students would pay me ten
gorilla bucks – our school monetary reward system – to sit in the flexible
seating. Second semester I used a grade reward system where the students with the
highest grades in the class could utilize the flexible seating. This worked, in
that it drove some students to put forth more effort, but I still don’t prefer
it and here is why: one, some students that really benefited from the flexible
seating no longer had the option to use it. Two, it created more work for me as
anytime I entered grades, I then had to update the board showing who could
utilize the flexible seating based on their current grade, and three, I felt
this put too much emphasis on grades. I’m not saying grades are useless by any
means, but I also don’t feel that I should put that much emphasis on the grade.
Especially when I want the seating to be used to benefit all that need it.
Death
This
one is dreadful to bring to the table, but one that happens. As a para, I lost a
student to suicide and I lost a co-worker this year. Both instances were
unexpected and shocking and I’m sorry this is a topic on a “getting ready for your
teaching career” blog post, but it’s one I felt was necessary because in just 8
years of education experience I’ve lost two. I know that we all grieve
differently, and that’s partially the point of this section. Grieve in the way
you need - use the counselors or take a day off if you need but stay healthy
and take care of you because your students need you more than ever during this
time. Many of my students had the other teacher we lost this year right before
or after my class and it was important to remember that just as much as we were
grieving, so are they. Check in with them, whether that be verbally or just by
simply observing, - make sure they are okay too. I hugged one student while she
cried and let another student who refused to go with a counselor just lay her
head on her desk and cry as that’s what she said she needed. Meet them where
they are and help them through it.
Update: I just posted this today and I'm heartbroken. I found out today that we lost a student that I taught last year during my student teaching.
Update: I just posted this today and I'm heartbroken. I found out today that we lost a student that I taught last year during my student teaching.
Build
Relationships
I know
we are taught this in college, but I can’t stress enough how important building
relationships is. When I first entered my classroom, I was armed with our old
textbook “The
First Days of School” by Harry Wong. Spending the first few weeks of school
building those relationships and classroom procedures and expectations – I
believe – set the tone for my year. This next point might be harder to come by,
but some districts use Capturing
Kids Hearts training for all teachers and adhere to those standards throughout
their building and district. Mine being one. It was just announced that my
building is a national showcase school for the fourth year in a row. This
training touched my soul. We cried, we laughed, we grew as humans and as
teachers, and we grew closer to one another as a community. This training will
forever be a part of me. My hope is that you also get the training and see the
amazing outcomes.
End
of Year
First
year certainly ended differently than I think anyone could have imagined. Thank
you, COVID-19! The thing is though, while it may have changed what education
looks like for now, it hasn’t changed our ability to implement, collaborate,
and find new ways to meet our kids where they are. If anything, it has strengthened
those qualities. My district and my building have been amazing in paving the
way for continuous learning. Kansas being the first to close schools for the
remainder of the semester was a scary thought - but very real - and a challenge
we faced head on. I couldn’t be prouder to be in my district and see the ways in
which we are reaching our students. I mean prior to this; I would have never
opened a Tik-Tok account for my students to follow me on but look at me now. I
couldn’t reach some students and now I’m keeping in touch with students virtually
by meeting them where they are. My advice on that though, if you should choose
to make a teacher Tik-Tok, as many are, think long and hard about everything
you post before you post it – then of course, follow me!
We
have the best job there is! Trust in yourself and trust in your education. You
ARE ready. Congratulations and welcome to a wonderful career!