What advice for new teachers would you give?

Often teachers coming into the profession have an ideal expectation and are often hit with the harsh realities once they are in the classroom. Much of the work can be overwhelming, but over the years I’ve learned to focus my priorities and create a manageable schedule for myself.

• Use your time wisely
• Use technology when you are able
• Use rubrics for quicker grading
• Make parent contacts a priority
• Don’t take work home

Use your time wisely

I had a teacher once tell me that I needed to plan some seat time for myself. I didn’t understand what that meant until much later. Many times you are often needed to walk the room and monitor students, but you also need to find time to sit and accomplish tasks. For example, during our independent reading time, while I monitor the students and observe their reading habits, I also respond to emails, jot down things on my to do list, and pull up any learning material I may need for my next class to have it ready to teach. Seat time is an opportunity to do quick items that need to be taken care of that would limit you if you waited until your planning to take care of it. In other words, if you have 20 small things that need to be done, plus 5 larger items, those 20 will take too much time. If I can knock a few of those out in 10 minutes, then that’s what I tend to do.

Use technology when you are able

This advice for new teachers goes without saying. Much of a teacher’s time is spent grading items or reinventing the wheel (you know that cool PowerPoint you are working on that someone else already did, too). Technology exists for a reason: to help lessen the workload. I use Microsoft Forms to create tests. It serves two purposes:

1. It will read the test which is helpful for those oral administration accommodations.
2. If it is all multiple choice, or short answer, it will grade the test for you.

I even use documents in Schoology to have students answer questions that would normally be a worksheet so that I can read the answers. This has been a lifesaver even though I have developed a unique ability to read bad handwriting. Now I just read through the spelling errors.

Use rubrics for quicker grading

Whether it is grading essays or projects, rubrics are lifesavers! I never understood the need for a good rubric until I started grading papers and projects. Now I don’t have to mark up a paper in red pen. I simply assign it a grade on the rubric.

Make parent contacts a priority

Do not let the first time a parent hears from you be because their child acted up. Build a good rapport with your parents. Then when things do go awry, you will have a leg to stand on. This was a difficult one for me to learn, and sometimes I still slip and realize that I forgot to make a positive contact with a parent when something ugly rears its head. Positive contacts put the parents on your side, and the students on your side as well. Those students would rather have the positive contacts home and will work harder to get more of those.

Don’t take work home

If there was one piece of advice for new teachers that is at the top of my list it would be to not take work home. Too often new teachers feel the need to be successful, and they take things home and work until the wee hours. Don’t do that to yourself. There will be days when you will have some downs and the last thing that you need to do is to carry your work home with you. You need that time to separate yourself from work. Take time for yourself. Take care of yourself.

This one took me a long time to learn. However, I now make sure that nothing comes home with me. I may still need to type up lesson plans on a Sunday from time-to-time, but for the most part, when I walk in the door at home, it is my time. The weekends are for relaxing. Off days are for relaxing.

Overall, take care of yourself. If you run yourself down, you will not be an effective teacher, even if you have the greatest of lessons. You need to find time to keep your sanity about you and fill your bucket so that you can fill those of your students.

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