Aha... I thought that might catch your attention.
Hi, all -- I've started to compile a list of helpful hints for new (or veteran) teachers. Please help me add to my list. This could be very helpful for many of us, as well as the rookies entering our profession. I’m starting all of us off with my fave dozen … and trusting you all to add to this important list. Thanks! Sheila
1. Introduce yourself to the building principal, assistant principal, counselor, and nurse at the first opportunity in the new school year. Find out the names of the building secretaries, custodians, and food-service workers. They will be counted among your best friends.
Hi, all -- I've started to compile a list of helpful hints for new (or veteran) teachers. Please help me add to my list. This could be very helpful for many of us, as well as the rookies entering our profession. I’m starting all of us off with my fave dozen … and trusting you all to add to this important list. Thanks! Sheila
1. Introduce yourself to the building principal, assistant principal, counselor, and nurse at the first opportunity in the new school year. Find out the names of the building secretaries, custodians, and food-service workers. They will be counted among your best friends.
2. Carry a small notebook, dayplanner, or PDA in your pocket to write down names, phone numbers/extensions, room numbers, mileage, deadlines, projects, etc., as you explore your new schools or different buildings. Get the names and email addresses of the teachers and guidance counselors for each of your students. If you use a notebook, tape a business card onto it… you will eventually leave it someplace and have to backtrack to look for it.
3. Stay out of the toxic teacher room.
4. Take care of yourself. If you don't take care of you, then you won't be able to take care of anyone else. Keep a sense of humor on the front burner. Sometimes, humor is the only thing that gets us through the day. Eat lunch. Drink water. Correlate both of those activities with your prep times so you can get to the restroom.
5. Keep a journal of your successes. On the days when it seems that nothing is going right, reread it for validation that yes, you ARE doing your best for your students, and that -- yes -- they are achieving as a result of your efforts.
6. Avoid saying, "In my other school, we did...."
7. Collect building floor plans for all of your school buildings. Collect fire drill and emergency drill procedures for each building, too (if different from each other). Get a calendar for each school and go through it with a yellow highlighter to mark the activities that involve you or your students. Put your name and phone number on the emergency notification network or snow chain at each of your schools. Know how to find out if your school will be closed for inclement weather. If you are an itinerant teacher, ask for a mailbox in each of your buildings.
8. Know your legal responsibilities in terms of special education paperwork and practice. Be prompt, professional, and accurate when completing and submitting these legal documents.
9. Create networks and work to maintain them, be they with teachers, physicians and their staff, community resources, or parents. These relationships all pay off for the children you serve over time. Get some colorful stationery and hand-write brief notes to colleagues complimenting them on their efforts on behalf of your students. Have your students write thank you notes or notes of appreciation, too. Join the Sunshine Club or whatever group celebrates the achievements and accomplishments of your colleagues.
10. Ask for help when you need it from a veteran teacher in your school.
11. Carry with you in your car –- or keep in your classroom -- electrical tape, a set of miniature screwdrivers, a Leatherman (or something similar), a full size 5-in-one screwdriver, an extra USB cable, an extra phone cable, and a variety of common batteries. Keep a full change of clothes in your car –- all the way down to socks and underwear.
12. Maintain a positive, can-do attitude. It’s all in the attitude!
Your turn…
13.
3. Stay out of the toxic teacher room.
4. Take care of yourself. If you don't take care of you, then you won't be able to take care of anyone else. Keep a sense of humor on the front burner. Sometimes, humor is the only thing that gets us through the day. Eat lunch. Drink water. Correlate both of those activities with your prep times so you can get to the restroom.
5. Keep a journal of your successes. On the days when it seems that nothing is going right, reread it for validation that yes, you ARE doing your best for your students, and that -- yes -- they are achieving as a result of your efforts.
6. Avoid saying, "In my other school, we did...."
7. Collect building floor plans for all of your school buildings. Collect fire drill and emergency drill procedures for each building, too (if different from each other). Get a calendar for each school and go through it with a yellow highlighter to mark the activities that involve you or your students. Put your name and phone number on the emergency notification network or snow chain at each of your schools. Know how to find out if your school will be closed for inclement weather. If you are an itinerant teacher, ask for a mailbox in each of your buildings.
8. Know your legal responsibilities in terms of special education paperwork and practice. Be prompt, professional, and accurate when completing and submitting these legal documents.
9. Create networks and work to maintain them, be they with teachers, physicians and their staff, community resources, or parents. These relationships all pay off for the children you serve over time. Get some colorful stationery and hand-write brief notes to colleagues complimenting them on their efforts on behalf of your students. Have your students write thank you notes or notes of appreciation, too. Join the Sunshine Club or whatever group celebrates the achievements and accomplishments of your colleagues.
10. Ask for help when you need it from a veteran teacher in your school.
11. Carry with you in your car –- or keep in your classroom -- electrical tape, a set of miniature screwdrivers, a Leatherman (or something similar), a full size 5-in-one screwdriver, an extra USB cable, an extra phone cable, and a variety of common batteries. Keep a full change of clothes in your car –- all the way down to socks and underwear.
12. Maintain a positive, can-do attitude. It’s all in the attitude!
Your turn…
13.
Thanks for the great article and support for parents. I wanted to let you know that I have included this article in "What We Are Reading" on www.schoolpsychologistfiles.blogspot.com
Erin
Posted by: Erin | September 08, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Thanks for the great article and support for parents. I wanted to let you know that I have included this article in "What We Are Reading" on www.schoolpsychologistfiles.blogspot.com
Erin
Posted by: Erin | September 08, 2008 at 12:41 PM
I just found out about this blog and really enjoyed reading the dirty dozen and everyone's comments. This is my fourth year teaching preschool special ed. This year I am transitioning from a nonprofit organization over to a public school. It feels as though I am a first year teacher all over again. I found your tips to be very helpful. I do find the teacher's lounge to be toxic but think it's ashame that it has to be that way. Thanks for all your tips!
Posted by: Jessie | August 29, 2008 at 08:31 PM
I am a brand new special ed resource room teacher. I am so glad that you shared your "dirty dozen"!
I am very excited to start my first year and these tips are definitely helping me already in these first days of school. Thanks!
Posted by: Roxana | August 28, 2008 at 02:32 AM
Sheila... I particularly agree w/item # 3. FYI...there's a very interesting site : endteacherabuse.org that u and others who read this post might enjoy exploring.
Posted by: Peg | August 21, 2008 at 06:28 PM
Great suggestions, Leigh! Thanks for taking the time to share them. I love the idea about magazine holders... hmmm... wonder how they would hold up in my car? I provide blindness-related services for 11 students in 8 of my district schools. I usually use a tote-bag; one bag for each student. This way, as I enter the school, I just grab the bag for that particular student.
By the way, I'm deliberately using the phrase "blindness-related service." I know that many educators refer to me as a "vision teacher" but I cringe when I hear that. I'd like folks to think about that term - vision teacher - from the perspective of the student who is blind. They're doomed to failure from the start, because I can't teach a blind kid to see. So, I'd like the world to realize that I teach skills of blindness that will enable my students to be independent and confident in whatever they choose to do. Jumping off one of my soapboxes now.
Posted by: sheila amato | August 13, 2008 at 12:33 AM
Shelia, I have enjoyed reading your posts. They very reassuring and are getting me excited for the new year. That is a great list! I'm about to start my 4th year as a sped teacher and it is still helpful! Two of the great things I did last year (before school started):
1. marked on my calendar the likely iep meeting date, then I worked my way back putting notes on the days I should start the iep, proofread, send home the draft, etc. This helped me get started early on paperwork and feel less overwhelmed. I did the same thing when a new student came up for eligibility so I could plan their testing and write the educational report. It really helped me because I do better (and feel less stressed) when I can complete the work in small chunks. I also felt more organized and efficient because I had a plan.
2.I bought a bunch of magazine holders from IKEA (very cheap), I assigned one for each of the students on my caseload. In it I put a notebook (where I wrote notes after every session with the student, parents, teachers, my thoughts and ideas), and a binder (the student's iep with mini post-its marking the goals, accommodations, hours, etc.) this helped me keep on top of each students' program and needs. I could also stick a post-it on the outside of the box if there was something I needed to do or check for a student. I also drew a simple date collection chart on the goal pages in the iep, it made it much simpler to collect date. And when I went to update the IEP or rewrite the IEP I had all the info in one place.
Posted by: Leigh | August 12, 2008 at 11:30 PM