This is a guest post by Kelly Wilson, an editor for Teaching Resource Center. Teaching Resource Center has quality teaching materials at discount prices.

The first day of school for me traditionally starts with decaffeinated coffee. Not my first choice, but I don’t need any extra stimulation. I usually haven’t slept the night before due to anticipation and excitement, but because of the adrenaline pumping through my veins, I feel pretty jazzed up.

Over the years, I’ve learned to control my stress level by being prepared.

Fuel Up
My school starts around 7:45, and I find that I’m starving by 9:00 on the first day. All of the excitement takes a toll on our appetites. Pack a variety…

So here’s the situation:

You’ve been teaching for quite a while. You’ve pretty much gotten a handle on classroom management, paperwork, classroom rules, and any number of the other day-to-day tasks we encounter. But how many of these teaching vices do you struggle with? I know I’m not guiltless in these areas. In fact, I’ve had run-ins with most of these. Not all of them, of course.

1. Luxuria (extravagance or lust)
   While most people think of lust in a sexual kind of way, in the original context, it essentially meant excessive love of others. Even so, some teachers take this one quite literally and end up losing their jobs over abusive relationships with their students.
2. Gula (gluttony)

…

This year, we have done things quite a bit differently in our band classes. We have not spent any time really outlining classroom rules. In fact, we really have been operating on a rule-free teaching model. Earlier this week, I clarified my “don’t talk to me” policy. Beyond that though, we really haven’t gone over anything specifically. No lists of rules and consequences. No do this, don’t do this. It’s just been fairly smooth.

Of course from time to time, we have to elaborate on a few points (restroom passes, phone usage, etc.) but those are more policy type things. In fact, we have normally spent an entire class day going over the Band Handbook and passing it out to…

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about how my friend Junior had posted on his blog calling for people to write about what kind of a legacy we wanted to leave. I have been thinking a whole lot over the past few months about my progression as a teacher, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to really flesh out some about what kinds of things I have been through.

I’ve sort of broken things down by year and I would be interested to know how many other teachers could say their progress as a teacher has been similar. Clearly I have not yet arrived, but I have learned a handful of things along the way, and it’s been…

“Welcome to education.”

“Deal with it!”

“Didn’t they teach you in college that you need to be flexible?”

‘What do you want me to do about it?”

“Wow, I wish I had it that good my first year!”

So you graduated and then spent all summer looking for a job. You got your job, get to the school, and suddenly the classes or students you have bear no real similarity to what they told you in the interview.

The good news is that you’re not alone. The bad news is that this is probably what you are going to be dealing with all year.

I recently got an email expressing a similar situation:

I’m a first year who was hired…

This summer, I began playing golf. I’ve actually wanted to learn for a while now as I have a handful of friends who enjoy the game. Over the last few years, I have expressed that interest to some of my friends. Last spring, one of my friends saw me at church and told me to come out to his truck. When I got there, he handed me ten golf clubs.

So last summer, I went to a couple of driving ranges a few times and learned from some of the good golfers in my life. One of these men in particular has really been helpful. It’s great that he also happens to be the best golfer I know, and I…

If this is your first time visiting this site, or even if you’ve been reading for a while, there are undoubtedly some articles that you’ve missed along the journey. As I have been working a lot on organizing the site lately, it has come to my attention that there are over 400 posts on the site. This can be kind of daunting for a new reader to say the least.

These are some of my favorite articles and series that I’ve written on the site. If you’ve read these, maybe you could check in and respond to a comment or two!

1. Questions That Will Save Your Career
   • How Do I Keep My Students Quiet? (8 Things That Work

…

I recently got an email from a reader who found my blog and is looking at moving into the teaching field. This individual has been in the business world for over two decades and has recently been laid off.

Last month I was laid off from my position with a multi-billion dollar company as a national recruiting manager.  I have a friend that went through iteachtexas.com last year and is finishing her first year as a middle school teacher [in Texas].  Talking to her has really made me think hard about teaching.  In almost every job I have held, I have found a way to teach someone something.  I have taught martial arts and have over a decade of experience working with teens in church.  I…

Many of my readers have left comments or sent emails asking me if I have more information about transitioning from teaching to another field. Unfortunately the answer for them is simply that I don’t. But I think I can finally refer you somewhere that should help out. If you stick with teaching (which is sometrhing I highly encourage you to do), you can at least perhaps see what it’s like vicariously.

I was somewhat confused this morning when I opened up Twitter and started reading some disconcerting comments to @ddmeyer referring  to him leaving teaching. I tracked back, and found it.

So that’s that. This year was far and away the most fun I’ve had in a classroom, which definitely…

This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents.

One of the biggest difficulties that many teachers face is grasping the reality that treating students equally is often not even remotely fair. In fact, fairness in most circumstances necessitates inequality.

One hallmark of a great teacher is that she is fair in her dealings with her students. He has different expectations for every student, but they are all equally achievable. Students with disabilities are one example that immediately comes to mind. We have to provide accommodations for their education. That doesn’t mean we are treating them unfairly, simply that we are adjusting their education to make it more conducive to learning and appropriate…

I’ve been thinking lately about trying to have each day be a sort of theme day. I don’t intend on posting every day (that’s not realistic for me at this time), but I would like for things to be a bit better aligned. So for instance, if I write a list article, I’ll schedule it for the next available Monday. If I have a blogging article, I’ll schedule it for the next available Wednesday. Or something along those lines. Here’s the ideas I’ve come up with:

Monday
Music Monday - I am a band director. I haven’t posted a whole lot about teaching band. I would like to overcome that and really begin to place a bit more emphasis…

I got a comment on one of my articles about quitting teaching last night that touched my heart. I will respond to her more in depth later on today, but I don’t have time right now to get back except for briefly. I thought I would use the opportunity to tap the resources of the SYWTT community and throw the question out to the readers for some feedback.

She writes in part:

I think it is too late for me. In my 2nd year of teaching 5th grade – first year barely made it and this year is worse. I definitely have some helth issues that have just sucked away my creativity this year. I always struggled with lesson plans…

It all started innocently enough. As a band director, I have been to numerous rehearsals of orchestras, jazz bands, mariachis, bands, and even choirs. So when Mr. Teacher (of www.learnmegood.com) asked me if I wanted to join him for choir practice, I was excited.

“Well, I was just watching these 100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You A Better Teacher. But I have a few minutes to spare. Wait a minute, I didn’t know you could sing!” I responded.

“I doesn’t,” was the puzzling reply.

Thus began the longest day of my life

If I had simply pulled out my handy New Revised Teacher Dictionary, I would have known I was in for way more than I had bargained…

When I entered the field of education, I was well aware that I wasn’t going into teaching because of the prolific amount of cash I could accumulate from the career. I entered education basically because it’s a good thing to do and it’s something that I absolutely love doing.

Last week, I posted a question about when the right time to relocate to a different teaching job might be. I received some great responses (in the comments, through Twitter, and in email). However, some of the comments sort of caught me off guard.

A few of the comments referenced the Recession of 2009 as being a reason I might want to stay in my current teaching situation (despite the social…

In what has turned out to be some of the best comment-produicing material on this blog, I wrote about Asperger’s Syndrome early this month. Amidst the comments, G. Broaddus dropped this little gem:

Fairness in the classroom is not always about giving equal tasks; it is sometimes about giving students an equal chance to succeed, and clearly a student with Asperger’s will need a different way to demonstrate learning than his or her “typical” peers.

He then later fleshed out that idea on his own blog with the post Fairness and equality in the classroom. Please check out his post to read some of these thoughts.

As we take this break and get ready to go back into our classes…

Miss A writes about a student she has who is being tested for Asperger’s. She has had some difficulties with him lately. I responded:

Just curious…how much do you know about Aspregers? It is similar to autism (both disabilities are different levels of Pervasive Development Disorders).

While the student may be using the disability as a crutch, it is very likely that the group work that he has to do in biology is very different from the group work he does in history. That being said, the situations may be completely different in his eyes.

As far as coming up with a different assignment, I think it is your obligation to do this as an educator.

I have a student…

A comment was left recently that said,

Joel, I really enjoy your blog. You have written some amazing articles that I have printed and put in my first year file. I am currently student teaching right now. I appreciate your honesty about how scary and hard it can be sometimes, but also the greatness in the experience. I am having the time of my life, and I hope the enthusiasm I have stays with me. Your blog is helping, so thank you! If you could give one single piece of advice to a beginning teacher, what would it be? Just curious!

That challenged me to see if I could come up with something I hadn’t written before that was better…

If I accomplish nothing more, students should leave my class with a deeper grasp and appreciation of music. I strive to nurture an environment of love, respect, high expectations, and high achievement, primarily by teaching and implementing basic classroom behavioral skills.

Fifty word post inspired by Abraham at 22 Words.

Have you ever caught yourself trying to blame other people for something that is entirely your fault? Do teachers ever yell at kids for the teacher’s failure to prepare? Never!!!

We had our Homecoming Parade this week. I was there with the seventh grade band and we were setting up. One of the parents who was there with me noticed that I had put them in lines and they were out of lines and talking. She asked me if I wanted her to get onto them about it, because they were in for a rude awakening when they get to high school.

I smiled and told her it wasn’t necessary. They were out of line, but I told her it…

Everybody loves being right. Everybody loves to win an argument. What if we change our mindset completely? What if we aim not to win outright, but to win by letting the other person win?

There are some situations where winning is vital. And there are far more situations where winning an argument will net no real benefit. These are the situations when it is okay to lose. In fact, losing may be the biggest victory of all.

How do we choose?
Dr. Laura Schlessinger often uses these three statements to evaluate if a battle is necessary:

1. Is it immoral?
2. Is it illegal?
3. Is it fattening?

If the answer to all three questions is “no,” then it may do…