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Slide Notes

A selection of advice, and some obvious statements (!), provided by teachers entering the district in the last few years
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Advice For New teachers

Published on Nov 22, 2015

Advice from the class of 2014

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

ADVICE FOR NEW TEACHERS

A selection of advice, and some obvious statements (!), provided by teachers entering the district in the last few years

ITS GOING TO BE

A REAL CHALLENGE
"Always remember, the good days will always outweigh the bad days"
" As long as you give your all, your students will benefit and have a successful year"
Maybe the hardest six months of your life so far but you will get through it".
"Nothing you do in college can quite prepare you for the first year of teaching"
Photo by dualdflipflop

IT WILL GET EASIER

IT MAY JUST TAKE A BIT OF TIME!
"By the time the Spring rolls around, you may feel like you are in a little more control".
"There's nothing like June of your first year!"
Photo by anieto2k

YOUR BEST RESOURCE

......... IS OTHER TEACHERS
"Teachers are the greatest thieves. Don't be afraid to steal material from teachers who have gone through it all before."
"Most teachers in NP are more than willing to share advice and resources. You don't have to reinvent the wheel, but feel free to modify the wheel to make it rotate just as you want it to."

DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK

LOTS AND LOTS OF QUESTIONS
"No question is too simple."
"Better to feel embarrassed asking a colleague than be found out I front of a group of laughing kids."
Photo by Siebuhr

EAT

.....IN THE TEACHERS LUNCH ROOM
You can have great conversations and learn so much.
Photo by Dru!

TAKE RISKS

DON'T BE AFRAID TO FAIL
"Use your classroom as a laboratory for teaching. The district encourages you to try new and different ways to engage your students and help them learn."
"often the most effective and innovative lessons are developed through trial and error"
Photo by inthesitymad

EXPECT TO MAKE MISTAKES

"Learn from the mistakes and share them with your kids. Make 'making mistakes' a theme of your classroom"

WORK ON DEVELOPING

POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS
"Students don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care".
"Kids don't learn from teachers they don't like so work on developing relationships from day one".
I agree that forming positive relationships with the parents and trying to be as visible/involved in the community as possible is key to any teacher’s success in New Providence. Always keep the lines of communication open between yourself, your students, and the parents, and always let the parents know what’s going on in your classroom. Update your teacher website, class calendar, and online gradebook as often as possible. Always email/phone within 24 hours if a parent reaches out to you. Transparency and communication are crucial to credibility. Ultimately, the parents will always support you if they know you are honest and have their child’s best interests at heart.

"Find out student's interests outside of school, it will help you build good relationships. They will work hard for you if you show that you're interested".

YOU ARE AN ADULT

YOU DONT NEED KIDS AS FRIENDS
"Keep all relationships professional. Avoid social media in the community".
Photo by andres.thor

WATCH EACH OTHER TEACH

"Take a moment every once in a while to see another teacher teach. It's eyeopening to see how other people do it."

BE FLEXIBLE

GO WITH THE FLOW
"Easier said than done, but try and keep an open mind".

Photo by srgpicker

ATTEND TO THE MIND AND SPIRIT.

"Take some time for yourself every now and then".

1) Get consistent sleep (go to bed and get up within the same 30-minute time span every day)
2) Exercise regularly, but not an hour before bed
3) Attend to mind and spirit (e.g. a support network, tai chi, yoga, etc.)
4) Eat and drink fresh, healthy foods and drinks
5) Avoid caffeine after mid-afternoon, as it will confuse your body's natural clock
6) Allot extra time to complete tasks so that you don't feel rushed
7) Keep away from negative people or things, and focus on the positive
8) Be flexible and go with the flow!
Photo by VinothChandar

TAKE THE LEAD

BE AS INVOLVED AS POSSIBLE IN ALL ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL
Make your motto, "the answer is yes." When you're new, you can wait to hear the question, but you should always plan to say yes to accepting new responsibilities or professional commitments, even when it takes you out of your comfort zone. Everyone at NP is very involved, and you should enter the district with the same willingness and determination.

TAKE CONTROL

OF YOUR CLASSROOM. WORK ON ROUTINES
Work on the routines early, classroom, hall, specials etc so the class can eventually run itself.

BE AWARE,

OF WHAT THE DISTRICT WANTS FROM YOU
The new teachers workshop gives you a great insight into what you need to be successful in the district. Use the info from Byron and Jon wisely.

Another aspect of your work that is critical is what you’ll be doing with your students in your classroom. The Essential Elements Professional Development workshops that you’ll attend will be extremely helpful. One area to focus on will be the performance tasks and assessments that you begin to design for your units. You will have some practice with this during your workshops and probably have experience with this from previous learning. However, I believe this is an area where we all still have much to learn. Use examples provided during the workshops; seek out your colleagues’ advice; use sample tasks and assessments from district curricula; and continue to research and try new performance tasks. This is one of the most important sections of the unit plans that you’ll be implementing.
Photo by niznoz

THRIVE, GROW AND ENJOY

ITS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK
Most of all, enjoy New Providence! There is a tremendous support system for teachers here and it is an overall wonderful place to work.
Photo by garryknight

USE THE VIDEO LINK IN THE NOTES. GOOD LUCK

Writing a letter to first year teacher me
http://youtu.be/miPYLJI247g
Photo by Pulpolux !!!