10 Mistakes New Teachers Make (And How To Avoid Them) New Teachers by Joel Wagner - August 8, 2016February 6, 202025 If you're anything like me, you gained a great deal of academic knowledge about your content area in college and very little actual knowledge about getting students to stay quiet long enough to learn from your abundant knowledge base. Over the years, I have observed young teachers enter the profession and make many of the same mistakes. I have compiled a list of 10 mistakes new teachers make. Nobody makes all of the mistakes, but invariably we all go through a few of them within our first few years of teaching. Mistake 1: Many new teachers try to be "the cool teacher" and end up being "the pushover" I get it. We all want to be liked by our students. The mistake many teachers make is that they
5 Great Books About The Science Behind Growth Mindset General by Joel Wagner - August 3, 2016August 5, 20163 Rigor Grit The "10,000 Hour Rule" Growth Mindset We hear these buzzwords thrown around a lot in educational circles these days. Why? Because they're catchy! But what do they mean? The concepts are interrelated, and they stem from a series of recent research projects. Today we'll look at a few new books about the science behind growth mindsets. Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool This is the book that initially resparked my interest in this subject. Anders Ericsson was the researcher who studied "deliberate practice" back in the 80s and early 90s. Some of the those studies centered on violin students in a German music conservatory. The analysis concluded that the students who performed the best at the University level, and who would eventually
10 Books That Rocked My World Personal by Joel Wagner - November 7, 2009June 30, 20106 Over the last decade, I have read a handful of great books that forced me to think and consider a lot of things about the way I was living. I've mentioned some of these books before on the blog, but this week I read another one of those kinds of books and thought I would share more with my readers about some of these amazing books. 1999 - How To Win Friends And Influence People (buy on Amazon) Back when I was in college, I didn't know much about social interactions at all. I was horrible with remembering names, I didn't really make much eye contact, and I just sort of needed this book to really open my eyes to
20 Books Everyone Should Read Personal by Joel Wagner - July 12, 2008July 1, 201012 Summer is a great time to read and catch up on reading. I have a bookshelf full of books, but very few that I have read really jump out and grab me as being amongst the greatest. But a handful do. These books have, in one way or another, changed the course of my life. I recommend each and every one of them to you now, in no particular order. We'll start 10 spiritual books. After that, we'll go to 5 personal growth books, and finish up with 5 teaching books. 10 Spiritual books that everyone should read The Bible Absolute Surrender by Andrew Murray The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret by Howard Taylor
5 Surefire Tips For Handling Misbehavior Classroom Management by Joel Wagner - September 12, 2007July 5, 201019 Laniza over at Walk Tall has posed the question, how do you handle students who continually test the rules? She writes: I have about 3-4 students in each of my classes that I'm going to have to keep a tight leash on, at least for the first couple of months. My response is that I find warnings basically give the kids a free pass to misbehave once before getting in trouble. I give a warning at the beginning of the year and from then on, any misbehavior is fair game to punishment. When I first was learning how to do it, I would have the kids call home and tell whoever answered the phone what they did. I learned quickly
The Purpose Of A Personal Mission Statement Personal by Joel Wagner - July 26, 2007July 5, 20109 Last summer, I read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. The book radically impacted me and helped me to begin becoming much more organized. This week, I was talking with a friend about his auto repair business. I asked him why he had to be at the shop all day every day. He told me it was because when he's not here, the guys who work there don't do a great job of greeting the customers. I remembered reading Stephen Covey's account of a great customer service experience he had in a business. Upon asking why it was that they had such a welcoming environment, he found that the company had a mission statement. On top of that, each
Shut Up And Teach! General by Joel Wagner - July 19, 2007July 5, 201010 I get so tired of hearing teachers complaining about No Child Left Behind. I get so tired of hearing teachers complain about administration. I get so tired of hearing teachers complain about parents. Shut up and teach! It's a simple concept, but some teachers seem to derive greater joy from feeling victimized than they do from feeling victorious. After all, it's much simpler to complain than it is to create solutions. I am convinced that if I took the skills that I use in teaching beginning band, that my students would excel. I want to share a few things that really seem to help my students learn the material well. Keep in mind that as they enter 6th grade, many
Sharpen The Saw Personal by Joel Wagner - May 26, 2007July 5, 20100 In his book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey refers to Habit #7 as "Sharpen The Saw." As teachers, the summer vacation offers us a structured time to do just that. Here is a list of some things that I intend to do with myself this summer: Move to my new office Reread The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People Reread How To Win Friends And Influence People Read Getting Things Done (GTD) Make lists of what worked this year and what didn't work Revise my educational philosophy accordingly Revise my band handbook Set up a website for my band Add lots of cool content to the website Write an ebook Post to this blog DAILY