1.  Don't feel like you have to spend money out of your own pocket.

Set a budget for the year that you will not go over (mine is $100).   The best teachers make do with what they have! Borrow or make things that you have to have. Scour yard sales and flea markets if you 'must' buy something. You don't get paid much- don't spend the money on cutesy bulletin board borders! Your kids will learn without them! (BTW, some of my BBs were paid for by HeadStart when I worked for them, and the rest were given to me by a retiring teacher).  Send home Highlights magazine order forms- even if parents don't buy, you still get cool stuff (I have gotten pocket charts, stickers, carbon copy notepads, and more).  Check out the links page and visit Free Stuff for Educators- there are literally thousands of items you can request.  Ask parents, local businesses, friends, relatives, your significant others' co-workers, and other community members for items you are looking for.  I have gotten everything from free children's books to furniture to file folders and art supplies just by asking. 

2. Never say anything bad about anyone in the school system, *especially*  during your first year.

Why? Because you don’t know the dynamics yet. You don’t know who is friends with whom, who had a falling out, and so on.  When I was in high school, I worked part time at a daycare. My third week there, I went to a woman I viewed as a friend to complain about how rude another teacher was to me. Her response? “Oh, you mean Mrs. ___? You know that’s my mom, right?”. I was mortified, and learned (not as quickly as I should have) to keep my mouth shut. You also never know who might end up being your supervisor in the future, or who is close friends with (or married to) the superintendent.  My school system employs over 20,000 people, and I am constantly amazed at how often my reputation procedes me and how nearly everyone in the school system I meet knows another employee I know.   Remember, everyone seems nice in the beginning, but some people have big mouths or big connections: you need to figure out who those people are and never tell them anything personal about yourself!  We are all supposed to be here for the children, but it's naive to think that teachers aren't human too, and the educational system can be just as cutthroat as the business world.

3. Establish a strong, trust-worthy support system. 

Pick one confidante as your mentor and tell only that person your problems. The whole school does not need to know about your argument with a parent or the bad behaviors in your classroom. People you don’t know well should see and hear mostly good things about what’s going on in your classroom, because very few people ever get to see for themselves- you will be judged as a good teacher or a bad one based on your reputation. You will need to complain at times and ask for advice, so after the first few months, pick someone you feel is trustworthy and confide what you must in him or her. Remember- negativity feeds on itself, and complaining rarely accomplishes anything.  Every workplace has a person who never has anything good to say about anything, and being that person (or around that person) will cause you to burn out.   Utilize the resources around you- share lessons and ideas with your grade-level team, and find a veteran teacher to help you problem-solve.  When you have an academic or social concern with your child, your mentor should be able to point you to the liasons and resources you need.  Often there are books, software, programs, grants, etc. that teachers don't even know exist even though they have been available within the school for years.

4. Pick your battles with administration.

Every principal has good points and bad. If you are asked to do something that is too much for you, or goes against what you believe is appropriate for your class, decide whether you can go along with it anyway or if you must conference with the principal.  If you resist every mandate that is passed down, you will be viewed as difficult.  Speak up only on the things that you MUST. I usually try see my principal no more than once or twice a year, at most, with concerns. I hope this has given me the reputation of being cooperative and a team player. Then, when something is really bothering me, my principal is more likely to take me seriously because she or he knows that I don’t complain about much. Think about it- we as teachers do the same thing in the classroom: the child who starts bawling every time someone looks at her funny can get ignored after awhile, but when that child who NEVER cries comes running, you drop everything to find out what the problem is- you know it must be serious.

5. Make as many accomodations for your students’ parents as possible.

It is hard having to do this, but it’s important. Most of the time, parents just want what’s best for their children. GIVE IT TO THEM. It will make everyone happy. If they ask for something that is unfair, compromise, but make sure they leave with the feeling that they were heard and their opinions were validated.  You WILL have at least one parent every year who cusses at you, or goes over your head to the principal, or just disrespects you in a myriad of subtle or not-so-subtle ways. Be prepared and don’t take it personally. This happens to EVERY teacher, whether or not they tell the world about it (remember tip #3?). You want to have a good working relationship with every parent in your class, so do everything you can to contribute to that. Learn which parents want updates on everything, and be sure to cater to that.  Remember that everything you say to a child might be relayed to a parent at home, most likely out of context, so choose your words carefully with the children.  Little ones often go home and complain about children teasing or hitting them and parents always say to them, "Did you tell your teacher?  What did she say?".  I had a child just last week who told me her glasses broke during recess because "a kid socked me in the nose".  After a bit of questioning, it came out that the child knocked the glasses off by accident.  If I had not investigated the situation and clarified what happened, she probably would have gone home and told her mom some kid beat her up, broke her glasses, and I didn't do anything about it.  Be careful: if a child says you told him he's fine and go play (or "don't tattle"), be prepared to defend those statements.  If you know you are going to get a phone call later about something, head them off at the pass with a note home, or a call yourself, to explain your side of the story before any misunderstandings occur.

6.  Document E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.

I kept horrible records my first year of teaching, which resulted in several uncomfortable parent confrontations, insufficient anecdotes during special ed referral meetings, and constant self-questioning as I tried to remember every little detail about every aspect of my job.  I now keep a file on each child in my classroom and put EVERY note from home inside, even the insignificant ones like early dismissal notifications.  If a parent sends me a note, I respond on a carbon-copy note if my reply is short, typed if it is lengthy, sending home the original note and stapling a copy to the parent's note for my file.  Whichever note was sent first, mine or the parents', is always stapled on top with all future correspondence on that issue added behind it.  Whenever approaching a potentially controversial subject, such as grades, attendance, or behavior,  I send a copy of the note to my principal to initial first.  This way, the note holds more weight with the parent, since admin has gotten involved, and if the parent decides to go over my head about it anyway, the principal already has a heads up- AND I know I'm in the clear.  Also, with NCLB, it's a good thing to document everything with your lessons, as well.  Keep detailed lesson plans, have your curriculum guide and state standards handy and be familiar with them, and be sure to have a paper trail for your differentiation methods: reading group lessons, above grade level student contracts for independent study, anecdotal records for kids with IEPs and 504 Plans (special ed), etc.  Photocopy low test scores and poor/ incomplete classwork samples before sending them home for students that you think will get below a C on their report cards, and be sure to send out progress reports midway into the quarter so parents aren't shocked and have time to intervene if they want.  Have students fill out missing work forms to justify your homework grades (classwork, too, if you have your students fill them out for incomplete CW assignments)- you will be able to show parents exactly what was not done, when, and why, in the child's own words.  Students file these papers for me so it is very little work. At the end of every quarter, they empty each child's file, staple the papers together, and stack them in my file cabinet.  I keep the papers through the following school year, if I have space, in case their next teacher needs them or a liability issue arises (you just never know what you will be held accountable for, or when).  You don't have to stress about it, just get in the routine of keeping good records.  Refrain from making comments such as, "My desk is always such a mess" and "I can never find anything", and really have your stuff together at Back to School Night- you will develop a reputation for being well-organized and people will be far less likely to question you and try to take advantage.


7.  Don’t do anything that students can do themselves.

I read in Harry Wong’s book “The First Days of School” that at the end of the school day, the kids should be exhausted and the teacher should be sipping margaritas by 4:00 every day! But it’s often the opposite, isn’t it? Students are there to work hard and to learn, not you- your job is to make sure they are doing theirs. I just reached this point last year. My students went home with their brains full, happy and well-stimulated, and I went home relaxed (most of the time!). That’s because the kids worked harder than I did. This does not make me lazy- it means I trained my students to run take responsibility for their education and their actions without depending on me to be a drill sergeant commanding their every move. Why call students to line up when you could spend that thirty seconds finishing a conference with a child, or getting your materials together? Have a student call them- they LOVE this, and it takes the responsibility off of you! My students did bulletin board displays, filing, cleaning, grading (their own work, on occasion), errand running, and so on. They ENJOY this and it frees you up to do less menial tasks, like, say, teach! And even when you teach, have a student write on the board or overhead, not you, so you can circulate around the room and engage the kids more. Have students read directions out loud, not you, so you can see who is following along and ready to begin (and redirect those who aren’t without interrupting the class). You are a facilitator to their learning, you are not there to hand-feed it to them. The older your students are, the more this is true.

8. Skip the worksheets and textbook assignments when something more creative will do.

I use lots of great worksheets, and I utilize the textbooks daily. But if my purpose for the assignment is not to see how well they write a paragraph, why make them write a paragraph? Why can’t they make a mobile, or pop-up book, or poster? Why can’t they dress up as a character from their book and act out a scene instead of reading a report? There is no reason, provided they do have practice in doing those sorts of things. There is almost always a more creative way to have students present material or express what they have learned than writing it on loose leaf paper, and a more creative way to do math problem than worksheets. If you turn it into a game, they’ll love it (and they’ll be on their best behavior). I played a game on the last day of school in which my students were doing math problems from their textbook for an hour and they begged not to stop.  I had selected 25 problems from each chapter, 5 from 5 different pages, and written each set of problems on a little slip of paper. The slips went into a bowl marked with the chapter number (12 chapters, 12 bowls). They selected partners and took turns going up to the front of the room and choosing a bowl, then picking 2 slips from inside the bowl to work on. Because they got to pick partners, move around, and choose which chapters they wanted to work on, they loved it. This sort of thing takes a little more prep work but can be re-used from year to year. Laminate and use sturdy materials for these items, and instead of writing student’s names, assign them a number (1-25, or however many kids you have in your class) and write numbers instead. They will learn each others numbers very quickly, and so will you. I did not have to take down any cubby labels or even files for children’s folders because their names were not on them, just their numbers.  These kinds of activities take planning ahead and require you to gather materials, plus some lessons just require more straight-forward presentation, but whenever you can squeeze them in, they are worth the effort.


9. Try never to leave students with more than 30 seconds of nothing to do.

Obvious right? WRONG!  Have a friend or co-worker observe your class informally (or observe theirs) and pay attention to the amount of time we as teachers often waste.  Anytime the whole class is sitting there watching one child come up to the board to answer a problem, they’re not doing anything. Anytime you stop a lesson to help one child (or discipline one child), the rest aren’t doing anything. This is a classic beginning teacher’s mistake, one that I learned along with the rest of them! When a child is working on the board, the others should be working the problem at their seats. When someone doesn’t get it, give 5 problems, and THEN go help that child who doesn’t get it. Sitting, waiting, and watching should be minimized if you don’t want behavior problems and you want your kids to stay on task. If someone comes in the room to ask you a question, say, “While I’m talking to Mr. ___, I want you to discuss with your partner ___, and then we'll share with the class what our partners said", so that even for that 30 seconds, your students are not sitting idle. Remember, it’s the kids who are supposed to be doing all the work! Don’t waste their time!

10.  Focus on the kids, not on the test!

Boy, is this a tough one!  There are so many days when I feel impatient with the kids because I have so much to do- papers to grade, parents to call, forms to fill out, lessons to plan- it never ends!   I have to force myself to step back and realize why I'm here.   I spend my recess duty just relaxing with the kids, finding out about what's going on in their lives and getting to know them on a personal basis.    In class I  try to stop and ask questions about the pictures they draw for me, and listen closely for the cute things they inevitably say.  There have been numerous times when I had a lesson planned and something happened:  a child made a racist remark, we went on lock-down because of gunfire in the area, or even something more benign, such as a really incredible rainbow peeking out from behind the clouds or a child loosing a tooth.  All of these are really special learning opportunities, ones that may not be taken advantage of at home with their parents.  There's a lot of pressure on children and teachers to perform well on standardized tests, but kids are coming to school less prepared to learn, both socially and academically.  If we don't address the problems that they are pre-occupied with, they're not going to be able to absorb what we're trying to teach.  I will drop a lesson in a heartbeat for a "teachable moment".  I am not here to produce high test scores- I'm here to produce higher-level thinking, socially-concious citizens, and my principal is behind me 100%.   I hope you are in a school that supports that sort of vision as well- for your sake as well as the children's.  Don't let NCLB diminish your love for teaching or the students' love for learning.


BONUS TIP: Accept the fact that teachers are overworked, under-appreciated, and that you will be asked almost daily to go above and beyond what is reasonable.

Forget reasonable. Forget how it “should be”.  I spent my first three years of teaching wondering why things weren't like they told me it would be in college.  This is the real world, and you will not have the materials you need, children will come to school unprepared, you will have to discipline the same kid for the same infraction constantly all the way through June. Come home and whine (on the 'net if you have to!) but don’t take it out on the kids. You’ll start to hate your job if you complain all the time (and it’s easy to complain because there are so many little inconveniences in our daily lives as teachers). The only reason to stick with teaching is because you enjoy it. Some people say it’s because of the children, but come on, when your head is pounding and your throat is sore, the children being our future does not exactly come to mind!  Just remember the looks on their faces when they show you an ingenius way they've applied a skill you taught them, or the hugs they give you at the end of the day.  Teaching is your creative outlet, and its FUN. If it’s not, then change procedures quick, or grade levels/ schools the following year. Make sure you're in an environment in which you can enjoy yourself to keep from burning out.   The children need you!!  :-)