Chocolate for the Teach

If teaching were a mere transaction of knowledge from the teacher to the student, then the job of teaching would be easy and business-like. But it’s not that way. The vast majority of teachers that I have grown up knowing and have come to know as colleagues care about the whole development of the children they teach. We care about whether the student had breakfast that morning or if she has any books at home. We care about who the students are as people and the character they’re developing. It’s a very personal job. During the school year, children spend about half their waking hours with teachers. Teachers are helping raise these children. A struggle since I began teaching has been relationships with parents. I have had parents that serve and give so much, I don’t even know how I would go about repaying them. I just am in awe of the incredible hearts they have to help not only their child, but the others in the class. And then there are a few—maybe one or two out the ...

If you are a parent, you probably already know this.  I, however, am not a parent. Granted, I knew that children just don't come wrapped in packages wielding magnificent promises such as, "Simple" and "Stress-Free." And yet, I had hope as a new teacher. After my first year of teaching, I discovered that no amount of streamlining and planning on my part could account for the vast array of surprises and sometimes challenges that present themselves throughout the day. This was because of the very unpredictable factor known as children. Here are some examples:  Have you ever had to make a quick beeline for some supply across the room? You've charted your exact steps and mentally accounted for the approximate time it will take you to obtain said supply, but unknown factors occur! A child suddenly hops into your path out of what seems like nowhere! What are they thinking?! Do the children not consider the teacher's ease and conven...

My first year teaching, I knew it was important to keep data on my students, but I didn’t know exact quantities and qualities. The logistics of the data keeping were a bit frightening. If you teach at a data-heavy school, the process can be intimidating. Luckily, my school was adamant that data-driven instruction was very important, but the higher-ups never kept exact tabs on the data I was keeping. I liked it that way. If your school allows for a certain degree of freedom on this matter, the next step is for you to decide what kinds of data to take, how often, etc. Here is what I learned:             My favorite data from teaching first-grade reading:                         -Word reading fluency once a month                 ...

If you get hired for a teaching position at the last minute, the tasks ahead of you will seem daunting and impossible to get done before the students arrive. You will have to think of everything from getting your room ready to what procedures you will have. Time may not allow you to get every detail taken care of, however. Learn to be okay with that! I got hired a week before school started last year, so I know the feeling. I honestly felt like I rushing and fighting to keep my head above water from that point until Christmas. After going through that, here’s what I would prioritize, especially if you’re pinched for time:         1.       Get the basics of your room set up. This doesn’t mean you have to “choose a theme.” Sure, themes are cute! But not a top priority. New teacher, this year, your theme may be “learning,” and it will be a great year! Ignore frivolous decorations for now and just set up the materials that will be easil...

Happy 4 th of July! When you’re a new teacher, you’ll find you won’t have the expenses to get all of those quality picture book read-alouds you desire. Instead, you’ll slowly acquire them. The question is, what is worth getting right away for your first year? What are the staple, go-to books? Every teacher is different, but I’ll give you a list of books I would buy right off the bat: I typically like at least one read-aloud for each holiday. But because there are a lot of holidays, buy half of what you need this year and borrow the rest from other teachers! Buy this year:              Borrow this year and buy next year: -Halloween                  -Thanksgiving -Christmas                   -St. Patrick’s Day -Valentines ...

Before my first year of teaching started, I looked up dozens of articles and websites that gave advice about the first year of teaching. I figured that by now, newbie teacher, you have also scoured these websites. The following list is my attempt to offer some advice that would supplement the already sound advice out there:       Libraries: Proceed with caution. Libraries can be a great free resource for some teachers, but for me, it was a headache. Returning library materials was the last thing on my mind most days, so I racked up some pretty hefty fines. After a while, it was probably cheaper to buy the book. And you have to factor in the risk that one of your students damages the item (accidents happen). Then you are held responsible for paying for it. So, in conclusion, libraries are my useful-but-dangerous classroom friends.       You will often not be aware of what you don’t know. You won’t know what kind of questions to ask. So many teache...

If you’re hired last-minute, you won’t have time to study, but try to squeeze in a little time to research the habits and behaviors of the little people you’ll be teaching. I didn’t do any developmental research at all before I started teaching first grade. I thought I knew that age group because I had worked with second graders in my internship the year before. But for children, there can be differences in behaviors based on even one year of age! Here is a great resource to get you started.  Also, here are some personal findings [unscientific] about 6- and 7-year-olds that I experienced last year:             -6/7s are not too cool for stuffed animals, which is great. I let my students read with reading buddies (aka donated Beanie Babies) sometimes, and they loved it!             -6/7s lose a lot of teeth. The other teachers had cute teeth holde...