New Teacher Mid Year NERVOUS, WORRIED, STRESSED!

Congrats on getting a job so quickly after graduating. I also graduated in Dec 2012 with a M.S in special Ed and sent my résumé out and I haven't received a call back, I live in NY by the way. If you don't mind me asking, how did h get a job so quickly?? I believe with a PHD in leadership and teacher experience you can eventually become an AP or principal .

girl hs kids are testy as hell! here's my advice from what i saw in teachers that got respect and didnt get respect
-unorganized teachers. makes you look like a scatter brain. We have to know what we are doing today, tomorrow, and even at the end of the week. what helps is sort of having up a chart that you can fill in what the homework is for the rest of the week, chapters to read, test dates, etc.

- weak teachers. Dont threaten to take my phone or kick me out the room the next time you see my phone if you really dont intend to do it. be firm. Follow through with your warnings, make sure parents are contacted for reoccurring offenders.

- not enough work. dont let them lounge about for the majority of the period, or giving measly work. also dont give work thats a tad too hard. the work should be challenging but doable.

- screaming- screaming teachers never win, the kids think its funny. One way to avoid screaming is again always follow through with your warning. you dont have to scream at the kid repeatedly to stop or they're getting kicked out. A teacher with respect looks them in the eye, says if they do it again their out, and keeps it moving. the kid already knows your not joking about kicking them out.

-dont neglect the kids in the back- they sit in the back on purpose. pay special attention to them, make sure they know just cause your in the back doesnt mean your not gonna call on them or your not watching.

-incentives- incentives work no matter the age. Dont give them no damn sticker or pencil though, dont no body want that. i remember i had a teacher that would walk around the class and check if we were doing our work. if we were, she would let us choose out of a bag full of candy, this was in senior year! they're still kids and will work for immediate rewards. this same teacher also gave those with 90+ grade on our weekly tests cupcakes or cookies. we all worked hard in that class.

-exciting work and exciting teacher- reading from the text book or filling out questions on a work sheet is dull. exciting work example- i had a world history teacher in 10th-11th grade that would play history jeopardy. He would split the class into groups of 4-5 and give us small dry erase boards and a marker. he then stuck up all over the board flipped over questions separated by category and arranged by increasing points and increasing difficulty (it was also an incentive game- winning group got a bag of candy each or cupcakes.). then he would go group by group and make us pick a question. we all wrote the answer down. when time was up we dropped are markers and held up our boards, each team with the correct answer got a point. This made all the student go as far as asking to play jeopardy the next class. everyone was competing, challenging other teams for cheating, laughing and best of all LEARNING. also an exciting teacher makes learning fun. Dont be so stiff. My worse subject is math, but i remember one teacher that was so damn funny and interactive that i got the highest score in the class at the end of the semester! Make sure you are always available after school for help and even during lunch time. dont be a stranger, some of my fav teachers would let me and my friends sit in the class room with her when we had lunch and we would talk to her and really get to know her and she got to know us too. this even works with the trouble maker kids. once they hang out with you a bit they wouldnt want to act up as much with you.

-please dont ignore quiet students- some kids are quiet and dont participate in class. Dont put them on blast and force them to answer questions, that'll make them dread going to your class. but make sure that they are doing their work, go kneel next to them and give them one-on-one time (while keeping your eye on the rascals). this makes sure that ALL kids are progressing and not at a stand still because they had a question but were too afraid to raise their hand and ask.

thats all i can think of for now.if i have more ill add on


Edited by HaitianLuv - Jan 12 2013 at 4:51pm

Luv2Teach wrote: Ladybird0724 wrote: finding a mentor teacher is extremely helpful. sometimes they can be your biggest support system. don't let the kids run over you. they can smell fear 3. Structure is key. Keep a routine so that they are aware of what they are supposed to do each and every day they set foot in your classroom. This comes with keeping yourself organized as well. Everything can't be for a grade, I promise you'll kill yourself.  4. KEEP RECORDS OF ALL PARENT CONTACT! 5. Leave work at work. Do not let any of it come out of the building with you.

such good points.

routine is so important...a lot of ppl think it is just for the younger grades (i teach prek so it's all about routine for me) but it is just as important. put your expectations about things (like homework, tardy policies, etc.) out there and stick with them. spend multiple days on it. have your expectations posted and have them agree to follow it, or even get them to brainstorm expectations.

when you are talking to parents, take notes. note the day, time, who you talked to and about what and for how long. you may want to make up a form and keep it in your desk. if by email, never delete them. this is SO important. document EVERYTHING. i personally would not give out my cell number and limit calls to before 5pm. also let parents know when is the best time to call, and answer them as promptly as possible.

def. agree about keeping work at work. if you are constantly bringing it home, youre interrupting your private space. this not only includes lesson plans, but issues at work that come up, whether its admin or students. otherwise youre just stressed. try to do everything at school. plus this cuts down on possibly losing things.

since you work w/ high schoolers, make sure all of your social media is kept private. check your FB page and make everything private. check twitter and do the same. dont friend/follow students or their parents.

maysay1 wrote: Do you have any classroom teaching experience at all? First thing, make yourself familiar with your school's policies and culture. Second, decide your classroom management strategy before you step foot in the door, make it clear to the students (by explaining it to them and having it posted all around and having them explain it/repeat it to you, daily if you have to), and then enforce it. Depending on the school you may have to run your classroom in a very strict way because of the number of students you will have combined with their attitude and behavioral issues. And if you lack support from admin/school policy some things will be hard to enforce so that's why it's important to get familiar beforehand. Third, and this is what I've found to be most important when dealing with high school students, NO DOWN TIME. There should be a clear objective for the period and every minute should be filled with relevant work.

Do you have any classroom teaching experience at all?

First thing, make yourself familiar with your school's policies and culture.

Second, decide your classroom management strategy before you step foot in the door, make it clear to the students (by explaining it to them and having it posted all around and having them explain it/repeat it to you, daily if you have to), and then enforce it. Depending on the school you may have to run your classroom in a very strict way because of the number of students you will have combined with their attitude and behavioral issues. And if you lack support from admin/school policy some things will be hard to enforce so that's why it's important to get familiar beforehand.

Third, and this is what I've found to be most important when dealing with high school students, NO DOWN TIME. There should be a clear objective for the period and every minute should be filled with relevant work.