Last thing about being a first year teacher. Write EVERYTHING down. Invest in a planner/calendar that you will actually use. You will have a packed schedule and you don't want to be that person that everyone has to text saying, "were r u" (with that atrocious grammar/spelling, as well). Write down how your lessons went. How your day went. You don't want to forget this stuff. It will help you grow and develop as a teacher. It will help keep you sane.
Ok. That's it for my unsolicited advice on what you need to have/do for your first year of teaching. For now. I might (meaning, I most likely will) throw in a few extra tidbits here and there. But they will be totally and completely worth your time and completely new things that no one has ever dreamed of advising you on before. Because I'm cool and innovative that way.
-GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS-
Let them get to know you and the rest will follow. At first, I tried prying information out of my students. It was as if I was prying toughly embedded rusty nails out of an old piece of wood that had swelled up and encased the darn things. It was beyond difficult and there was so much resistance. I'd ask a kid, "What's your favorite sport?" They'd respond, "Why do you want to know? or "Masturbating." Mature, I know. But I realized that they did not want to share information with me because they did not know me at all. This led me to start Storytime. Storytime is the time that I share stories about myself and my past with my kids. A lot of the time, they get to pick the topic (or I come up with a topic that highly relates to something that I know they are going through at the time), and I answer it honestly.
This means I ended up telling my students about my first kiss, my thoughts on marijuana, deaths I have witnessed, toughest school situations, least favorite teachers and classes when I was in school, my life growing up, and they always want to know about my current love life. Yes, it can be awkward. Yes, it led me to crying in front of my classes. Multiple times. I got known as the teacher that always cries. But it built trust with my students.
"Ms. Agnew's been there. Ms. Agnew's done that."
That is what my kids would always say if anybody was questioning whether or not to talk with me about something. It allowed them to know that I was real and that I wouldn't judge them. No matter what they wanted to talk with me about.
Ok. That's it for my unsolicited advice on what you need to have/do for your first year of teaching. For now. I might (meaning, I most likely will) throw in a few extra tidbits here and there. But they will be totally and completely worth your time and completely new things that no one has ever dreamed of advising you on before. Because I'm cool and innovative that way.
-GETTING TO KNOW YOUR STUDENTS-
Let them get to know you and the rest will follow. At first, I tried prying information out of my students. It was as if I was prying toughly embedded rusty nails out of an old piece of wood that had swelled up and encased the darn things. It was beyond difficult and there was so much resistance. I'd ask a kid, "What's your favorite sport?" They'd respond, "Why do you want to know? or "Masturbating." Mature, I know. But I realized that they did not want to share information with me because they did not know me at all. This led me to start Storytime. Storytime is the time that I share stories about myself and my past with my kids. A lot of the time, they get to pick the topic (or I come up with a topic that highly relates to something that I know they are going through at the time), and I answer it honestly.
This means I ended up telling my students about my first kiss, my thoughts on marijuana, deaths I have witnessed, toughest school situations, least favorite teachers and classes when I was in school, my life growing up, and they always want to know about my current love life. Yes, it can be awkward. Yes, it led me to crying in front of my classes. Multiple times. I got known as the teacher that always cries. But it built trust with my students.
"Ms. Agnew's been there. Ms. Agnew's done that."
That is what my kids would always say if anybody was questioning whether or not to talk with me about something. It allowed them to know that I was real and that I wouldn't judge them. No matter what they wanted to talk with me about.
