New teachers are flooding classrooms across America. Baby boomers are retiring, and the classroom is gradually becoming younger, even at the front of the room.
There is so much about teaching that varies according to location, administration, and grade level that it’s hard for a veteran, like me, to know what to say to a new teacher. My daughter is teaching her first classes and, truthfully, I’ve become tongue-tied each time I open my mouth to give her advice. But I’ll give it another try.
Sometimes I think adapting the Woody Allen line “90% of life is just showing up” works for teachers, since reliability is one of the chief qualities schools look for. Lack of reliability—which includes not just showing up on time, but attending meetings and fulfilling all the incredibly boring paperwork tasks asked of us—is a red flag and puts a teacher in jeopardy. So always remember your schedule and placement are dependent on the good will of your administrators.
New teachers should also listen to other teachers’ advice and complaints, but not believe everything they say—about students, colleagues, or administration. Each teacher’s experience is unique, and you may have no trouble with an administrator or student you’ve been warned about. Everyone evolves, especially the students. That’s what education is all about.. Usually the other adults in the building will respect your rapport with your charges once you’ve got that established. Good teaching is not just its own reward, it’s a great insurance policy because student and parent opinion should never be underestimated.
It’s even more important to listen to students than to colleagues. Again, don’t take everything they say as infallible. Students at Oakton High School always told their English teachers they’d never before studied apostrophes or metaphors. It was a little game they played so teachers’ expectations weren’t too high. The only time I was able to expose their distorted memories was when I once asked them about something I knew I’d taught a few months earlier. Busted!
Listening is important because everyone in school wants to feel valued. Even administrators (who pretend they are impervious to any human frailties) like to be complimented occasionally. Students love it when teachers mention something they’ve said. “As Carolyn pointed out earlier …” goes a long way toward making you one of Carolyn’s favorite teachers of all time! And a year is plenty of time to do that for everyone in your class.
Yet even if you listen to students and colleagues and give them the benefit of the doubt, you might still be subject to people who may, for reasons of their own, develop a negative impression of you. My final piece of advice is “Don’t let the turkeys get you down.”
There are nay-sayers in all professions, and those in teaching are particularly virulent. Always remember that students are the most important people in your day, and when you succeed with them, all the rest of it doesn’t matter. Students are full of surprises, most of them good ones. Showing up will only the beginning of your exhausting and wonderful journey as a teacher.
Erica Jacobs teaches at George Mason University and taught high school for 23 years. E-mail her at [email protected].
What kids are reading
This weekly column will look at lists of books kids are reading in various categories, including grade level, book genre, data from libraries, and data from booksellers. The following list is based on Amazon.com bestsellers in the children’s books category.
Bestselling books featuring animals (for older children)
1. Eclipse Warriors: Power of Three, Book 4 by Erin Hunter (part of a 6-part series about warrior cats, all of which are also bestsellers)
2. Warriors: Tigerstar and Sasha (#1: Into the Woods) by Erin Hunter
3. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (featuring adorable coonhound pups)
4. Warriors: Power of Three (#5: Long Shadows) by Erin Hunter
5. Outcast (Warriors: Power of Three, Book 3) by Erin Hunter
6. Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan
7. Warriors: Cats of the Clans by Erin Hunter
8. Dark River (Warriors: Power of Three #2) by Erin Hunter
9. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate Di Camillo (Winn-Dixie is a dog)
10. Sword Quest (Swordbird) by Nancy Yi Fan (bird kingdoms in conflict)
