“You’ll understand when you’re older.” We tell that to our students, and they don’t like. We hear it when we start out in the teaching world and we don’t like. I remember an experienced band director told me once that he would tell me how to be a better teacher if he knew. He just … Read more
Shelly Sanchez Terrell is an English teacher living in Germany. She is also the co-organizer and co-creator of the educational projects, Edchat and The Reform Symposium Conference. Find more of her challenges on her education blog, Teacher Reboot Camp or in her free e-book, The 30 Goals Challenge. Find her on Twitter, @ShellTerrell. I remember having a lesson observed for … Read more
A former student of mine who is now in his second year of college as a music education majors emailed me some interview questions a couple of weeks ago. Since many of my readers are early or pre-service teachers, I thought the answers might be useful to more than just him. 1. What discipline methods … Read more
This is an article in the Total Teacher Transformation series. Click here for a complete table of contents. As we’re going through the transformation, one of the key things to remember is that you must remain respectful to your students. As I’ve written before, classroom control is essential. Some of us have a naturally abrasive personality, and … Read more
Please don’t tell me this picture represents your views! As a teacher, and specifically as a band director, I am not a big fan of Mondays. As a worker, I really love Monday. Why? Great question. Why I don’t like Mondays Kids generally don’t practice over the weekend. This means that part of Monday is … Read more
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 … Read more
The common classroom management wisdom we all hear is, “Don’t smile before Christmas.” I believe that advice is good advice when taken metaphorically. If taken directly as written, it is about the worst advice you can follow. Good advice In the middle of my fourth semester of teaching, when I was learning how to really … Read more
November is Reader Appreciation Month at So You Want To Teach? Today’s featured reader is Pamela. Name: Pamela Location: Michigan Occupation: Elementary Teacher, Reading Specialist Blog: Blog may be coming soon, but none yet 😉 Tell me some of your favorite things about your job Some of my favorite things about teaching: I enjoy sharing … Read more