This is a guest post by Kathryn Laster, who teaches math in a suburb of Dallas, TX. She writes:

This year was my 20th year of teaching, so my humble opinions qualify as part B of your “call for guest bloggers.” I really started working on my formal philosophy as a grad school assignment, and I have been slowly tweaking it for several years. Since this was a milestone year for me, I thought it would be appropriate to really re-think and re-visit my philosophy, and your call for guests inspired me to do so. My brief resume: this year, I taught ESL algebra 1, pre-calculus, and AP calculus AB, and this is also my 10th year to sponsor StuCo. At school, I am our campus staff development leader, mentor new teachers, participate in our school leadership team, and work on the AVID site team. I must confess that I have never before contributed to a blog (but I am a regular reader of lots of blogs!) and I just last week joined facebook and Twitter. (I’ve always been so worried about the whole student/teacher line…)

I’m glad she contributed and proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone! I’m sure you will get much out of her wisdom as I know I sure did!

My views of education are constantly evolving, so I have learned that teaching is actually all about lifelong learning. H. Jackson Brown’s book Live and Learn and Pass It On has inspired meaningful discussions in my Student Council Leadership class; we have presented essays on some of the things we have learned and wanted to pass on to others. Therefore, I felt it was very appropriate to use the format in Mr. Brown’s book to reflect on my years as an educator and to offer a few words of wisdom to those new to education.

Students learn best in positive surroundings
Make your classroom one of your favorite places. I want students to walk into my classroom and feel a nurturing, comfortable, and encouraging learning environment. Posters highlighting kindness respect, character, and citizenship cover my walls. My shelves are decorated with photographs of current and former students, and my windows are covered with college pennants, donated by past students. How do you encourage your students? How do you make them feel comfortable in your classroom?

It’s important to “keep it real”
Not all of your students will love your class and/or subject, so I have learned I have to make some connections with the students on a level that may not necessarily require your content area (math, in my case). For that reason, I like to attend school sporting events, fine arts programs, or sponsor club activities. I enjoy running into students who are working when I’m grocery shopping or eating out. I want students to know that I’m interested in their hobbies or extra-curricular activities. When students are struggling in math, I want to see them experience successes outside of the classroom. Seek out students at their jobs, performances, and even in the halls to make those connections!

It’s important for a teacher to occasionally sit in a student’s chair
Several years ago, I returned to school for a master’s program. Attending classes on the weekends and in the summers, taking tests (and having test anxiety!) writing papers, studying vs. spending time with friends—all reminded me of some challenges my students face. I love being a “life-long-learner,” and each time I am student again, I know I am a much better teacher. Keep learning, either online, or during school or district professional development, or state/national conferences, or graduate school.

You must know your subject
Be prepared to answer difficult questions! If a student does not understand a particular topic or question or objective, I want to be able to find another way of explaining something to him/her until I see that “light bulb” appear, until I see that wonderful expression of comprehension, or until I hear him exclaim, “Oh, now I get it!” I hope that my students are inspired to ask the types of questions as “Why does that work? Why does x⁰ = 1?” or “Why is a negative times a negative a positive?” (And this is another reason why it’s important to keep learning!)

It’s also not always just about the math
I hope to be a role model to my students and exemplify only the best character traits. I expect my students to follow the “Golden Rule” in our classroom and treat all others—adults and peers—as they wish to be treated. Furthermore, I have high expectations in my classroom, and I often must teach students to take pride in all that they do. I hope this attitude transfers to other classes, outside work, and in their future. Students learn about responsibility, a good work ethic, and respect for themselves when they take such pride in their work. Kindness, caring, and respect rule in my classroom! What else are you teaching in your classroom? What kind of role model are you?

Teachers need to take care of each other
Teaching is a difficult job, so it is crucial to help others whenever you can, whether it is helping someone with his/her computer, teaming with other teachers to create lesson plans, or just listening when someone needs an ear. As a new teacher, it’s also important to ask for help! There are people in your school who are willing to mentor you, either formally or informally. Seek out those who can help you with your classroom, content, or other struggles.

I must do whatever it takes to ensure that students have a successful, positive year
As Benjamin Disraeli wrote, “The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.” I teach to share my knowledge of mathematics, to instill a love for learning in my students, and to model kindness and caring in my classroom. I also want my students to experience successes, to encounter those “Ah-ha!” moments, to feel confident enough to question, and to discover their strengths and gifts. When I teach, I hope I help “reveal riches” in each and every one of my students. What do you want students to experience in your classroom?

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This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

Maybe this job doesn’t pay enough for those with heavy material needs. But, working here has helped me with the most important part of my life.

10. Family – My comfort level with my material for class has improved each and every year. I spent Friday nights, usually until the wee Saturday morning hours, setting up lesson plans for the next week. I was never able to get ahead on my work. I had two preps and no lesson plans from other teachers to guide me. By November of this school year, I had stopped bringing work home on the weekends. If I did, nothing required late nights. With my daughter graduating from high school, I was able to focus on this, her last year at home before she heads off to college. I wrote a detailed diary of her last year as a gift to her. In it, I write about not only school events but also reflections about our family, our faith, and what the future holds in store for all of us. Whatever you can give back to your family will always be remembered more than any iPhone or computer or any other material good. Thank God for summers. Is this a great career, or what?

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This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

Shout out to my college roommates for always giving me a hard time about being cultured.  Was I full of myself, or what?  Nothing goes together better than Austin and music.

8. Music – I actually played Ted Nugent’s ‘Great White Buffalo’ in class because the song tells the story of buffalo from the Native American perspective.  I didn’t think much of it until our 3-on-3 basketball tournament yesterday at TAKS celebration.  One of the teams, 3 girls from one of my classes, made t-shirts at home and their team name was….White Buffaloes. I wonder if they’ll wear their shirts to the Ted Nugent concert on July 4 at the Sunken Gardens in San Antonio?  Anyway, they lost to the Skittles.  Next year, I’ll figure out how to use ‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’ by Filter or maybe ‘Slam’ by David Sanborn.

9. Speaking of Austin – For the fifth year in a row, I have a student attending a social studies summer camp in Austin.  Before you run off laughing imagining a bunch of students sitting around a campfire with their nose in a book, just listen.  This camp is an interactive five day adventure featuring the sights and sounds of our fair capital city. The students come from around the state and get to meet the people working in their state congressman’s office, if not the representative themselves.  From the archive room of the LBJ Presidential Library where they see formerly top-secret documents being catalogued to McKinney Roughs to the Texas State Cemetery, the students get to breathe in our wonderful state history.  All of my students who go, come back and thank me for recommending them.  Students as young as 4th grade attend a camp in Ft. Worth, 7th graders in Austin, and 8th graders go to Houston for a Science intensive week. Shameless plug: www.educationinaction.org.

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This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

A wise investment is just that. Find ways to invest in your school and yourself.

6. Next year – To complement our emphasis on relationships at school, I will be leading a field trip to Washington, D.C. in 2011. This requires advance planning and nothing matches the looks I get from the students who will be attending. You can just see the excitement in their eyes. In others there is dread because their parents and siblings will be joining them.

7. Professional Development – My personal fav. I did the first-ever book study with ATPE at www.atpe.org. I read a really great book and provided weekly feedback at their website. It was good for 9 CPE hours, and the other teachers insights were eye-openers. As a result, I have committed my Pre-AP class to reading a book for ATPE and then submitting lessons and questions about it. Our work will be published on their website in March 2011. I also did the CHAMPS course through Region 20. If you are frustrated in your room, find this course somewhere. I will use much of what I learned in the coming year. Hint: Your positive attitude shows through in everything you do, even how you set up your room for your new students.

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This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

 

Here I discovered the proper use of multimedia and how proper procedures can help ensure mental well-being.

3. Movies – I have used movies in the past, but mostly to kill time.  This year, I wrote some great questions for the movies I used.  I suppose I set my expectations higher as far as how I used movies like ‘The Alamo’ or ‘National Treasure 2’.  My students compared the information from our textbook to how Hollywood presents historical facts.  Kudos to Nicolas Cage for the ‘hysterical’ side of the facts.

4. Procedures – I have reached a real comfort level with my classroom procedures.  I created jobs for my students and the ‘Student of the Week’ was still popular in this, its second year.  Both of these really helped maintain student ownership of responsibilities within my room.  It really helped my PDAS because my students were constantly engaged in classroom procedures, especially during transitions.  Who knew that the mundane task of handing out red pens could keep even the most reluctant learner involved?

5. Seating – In the past, I have not always changed seating assignments as frequently as I should have.  This year, I moved students every nine weeks instead of each semester, and I tweaked their spots as necessary.  I did stop the use of a special desk by my desk.  I understand I will need to re-implement that practice next year.  I’ll give the 6th graders a chance to use this summer to do some growing, and we’ll see what happens.

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This is a guest post by Drew, who currently teaches 7th Grade Texas History in the San Antonio area, where he has taught since 2004.

At the end of this, my sixth year, I have a few moments to reflect on the road taken.

While I am looking at this year with the rose-colored glasses all teachers wear on the last day of school, I urge one and all to take whatever time necessary to enjoy all that you have accomplished this year. But do so as objectively as possible. All teachers have growing pains every year, but don’t let those get in the way of what you did right. In no particular order, here is what I did right this year, and what I hope to improve upon next year.

1. Student Council – With our new bell schedule this year, my Student Council meetings had to change. We had to meet after school which took lots of members out of the mix due to athletics and band commitments. We still managed to get to Austin for a field trip, and I really enjoyed sharing lots of info about our capitol complex. And instead of waiting until the start of next year, we have designs for our shirt ready. We learned a lot about flexibility.

2. Moving on up – This year I moved up from 6th to 7th grade to teach Texas History. The bonds I developed last year in Geography only got stronger this year. I was able to work on bonds with my new students really quickly, so this year went really well. Coincidentally, the entire faculty has been encouraged this year to focus on our student relationships as a way to effectively reach the economically disadvantaged and reluctant learners.

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Ivy writes:

I am in my first year as a Special Education teacher. My class is out of control. Kids are yelling at each other. Nobody is focused on their work. I am yelling and screaming and they are talking back and yelling back at me. Everybody is trying to help me out. Some say I need to be more positive, some say I need to be stronger and more strict. I do not know what to do. As a group, they are against me. The situation is very confrontational. I can not stop them going crazy. The kids know it. They are going crazy but they do not care. Some kids even have a lot of fun of it. they want the class go crazy so I can get fired. Please help. I am seriously thinking resignation because I do not think I can turn the classroom around since I can not change the nature of some of the students.

Suggestions?

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This is a guest post by Liz Cutten, who helps run FindCollegeCards, a college student blog that helps students learn about everything college.

All college professors are different, but what you’re going to find out is that all of them are human, and many of them are going to be impressed by the same things. I went to college over 6 years, and what I had found out is that most professors will honestly look at the good students in a different way, compared to those that are bad.

Now, I know when you read the title, you’re probably thinking, “I don’t want to be suck up!”, and that’s fine. I’m not writing this to show you how to brown nose, or suck up to your teacher. Instead, this is a way to show self respect to your teacher, and be on their good side, rather than the bad side. Trust me, teachers will grade differently on those who respect them more. They won’t come out and say this, but if you know someone that has taught in the past, or present, they may tell you this when they have drank one too many.

1. Always show up on time
   This is a no-brainer. When your class starts at 8AM, show up at that time. If you show up late, not only are you disrupting the class, you’re ticking everyone off. It’s really not that hard to show up on time. Get on a schedule, and stick with it. With today’s world of technology, you should know about traffic, the weather, and everything else ahead of time that’s going to hold you back.
2. Show up to class
   A professor hates a person that shows up only 50% of the time. The person that always skips is the one that’s going to always ask the dumb questions. Unless you’re sick, don’t skip out. In college, you’re paying for your classes, so there’s no reason on why you should skip out.
3. Turn off all electronics
   Yes, I know we all have iPods, Phones, Laptops, and more. You can bring these to class, but for the love of god, TURN THEM OFF! I don’t know how many times I’ve been in class where I’ve heard the cell phones go off.
4. Be patient
   Your teacher is more than likely willing to help, but what you have to understand is that they can’t help you 24/7. If you have a question at 2:30AM, you can’t just shoot an e-mail, and expect the answer back within a few minutes. Cut your teacher some slack, and don’t harass them. They will more than likely get to your question sooner, or later.
5. Follow directions
   It sounds stupid, but many people can’t even do this. Your teacher is always going to set rules, and have direction for assignments. As long as you follow them, you’re going to be good as gold. You don’t have to be the rebel out there that’s going to break all the rules, because you’re not going to prove anything by doing this.
6. Do your work
   Homework is given out for a reason, and the same goes with your reading assignments. Always make sure that you’re keeping up with the class. If you can’t accomplish this one, you’re going to find that you’re going to slide fast. Trust me, a teacher can always spot someone that doesn’t know what he/she is doing.
7. Be respectful
   Treat your teacher with respect. Raise your hand to answer questions, be polite to your fellow classmates, and ask your questions that don’t relate to anything after class. As long as you show respect toward your professor, he/she will show it back to you.

It never hurts to be respectful to your professor. By impressing them, you’re going to find that you’re going to have an advantage of those that don’t. What does this mean? With some teachers, it may mean nothing, and while with others, it may mean a grade higher, when grading essays, etc.

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Do you hate your job? I just finished my third week of school and am excited about how much fun my job will be this year. It’s super exciting. I remember back when I was a first year teacher, though. It wasn’t quite like this. This was underscored this week when a couple of anonymous readers (disgruntled and hey) left the following comments:

It’s interesting reading all these comments and I was searching the internet for other jobs I could do if I wasn’t a teacher.. My story is the opposite. I have a great bunch of students and a really supportive (mostly) group of parents also. I am disgruntled by the workload and also extra things that end up taking all of my time. The processes in my school are frustrating and I feel like we spend all of our time preparing our students to sit standardized testing so that our school results can improve. My frustration comes from not being able to nurture the other aspects of my students and that the day is taken up by all these other commitments. There is no time for doing those ‘just because’ activities. I am finding it really hard to overcome the politics at my school, the lack of consultation, the procceses and procedures and that unstable employment. It’s these things that are weighing in my mind and making me consider all my options.

And

I’ve been teaching two weeks and am stressed out to the max. I teach special ed and have to prepare 33 lessons a week. I teach three classes in one hour, jumping from two kids to another to two more. I literally run around all day like a chicken with my head cut off. I work 12 hours a day and constantly worry about my job. I come in on the weekends. I have the worst job for a first year teacher. I hate it.

I don’t know that you actually have THE worst job for a first year teacher, but admittedly, you have it pretty bad! If I were in your situation, I would do the following things immediately.

1. Commit to stay at the school through the year
   This could easily be a defining moment for your life as you confront this challenge head-on. Don’t give up, no matter the circumstances.
2. Remember that you do have some days set aside as sick days
   Use them. There is much to be said for the value of “mental health days.” Don’t abuse them, and also keep in mind that you need to save them and use them throughout the year, but why can’t you miss a day every three or four weeks? Let the subs see the mess you have to deal with.
3. Avoid the temptation to gossip
   As we get more stressed, it’s a lot easier to say things about people behind their backs. If you do and end up looking for another job next year, it will come to bite you in the end.
4. Avoid the temptation to live excessively
   Don’t live for the weekend. Don’t overeat. Don’t start smoking or smoke more than you have. Just keep a level head.
5. Talk to friends
   It’s easy to focus only on yourself when the situation seems hopeless. Don’t do it. That simply makes you feel more hopeless. As we focus on others, we come out of our selves more.
6. Do less, but do what you do exceptionally well
   You really don’t have to have a different lesson plan for each student. Copy and paste. Focus on the group of students you are working with completely while you are working with them.
7. Slow down
   The only one stressing about your job is you. If you slow down, you will be less likely to make mistakes, and you will breathe more easily. I find that the parents of students with special needs tend to be more patient with teachers when the teachers are trying their hardest to help the student.
8. Become friends with you administrators
   You don’t have to be their best friend, but get to know your administrators at least on the surface. Have a good
   relationship with them, and things will be much easier for you down the road. Always act with a conscioucness of how your actions will affect your situation later on.
9. Keep complainints out of your vocabulary
   Talking about problems without suggesting a solution is complaining. Talking about problems while considering possible solutions is brainstorming. Come up with solutions before you even mention a single problem to anyone else. It’s tough, but it will make you much more pleasant to be around and you’ll find people become more sympathetic to your situation.
10. Set aside one day a week to completely leave work by 4:00
    It’s easy for me to say “never take work home” but if most teachers did that, they would be at school until 8:00 most nights. But it is realistic to plan to have one  night a week where you don’t do anything work-related. Every week. Without fail. If you can’t do it the same day every week, be sure you know which day it is this week and just get up and leave at 4:00. You’ll find that you’re not much furhter behind tomorrow morning than you were this morning.

I remember how stressful things were for me when my coworker had a stroke. We had kids in the band hall constantly from the time I opened the band hall before 7:30 in the morning until I locked the door usually after 5:00. Even during my lunch time. I was perosnally responsible for over 225 students for three months. I know how hard it can be!

Hang in there, my friend. Welcome to the world of teaching. Hang in there. As is usually the case, I am sure I’ve overlooked some glaring solution that one of my lovely readers will point out in the comments here as well. So be sure to read whatever they write below!

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Are you looking for a new job this summer? I know some people are sticking it out in their current district just because of the insecurity with the recession and current economic situation. I also know that some people have graduated from college and are moving into the world of education. Others have chosen to leave the teaching profession entirely. Are you looking for a new job this summer? Care to comment about your questions/fears/experiences?

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