Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Some Advice...... and a trip down memory lane

Advice........for new teachers. First of all if you are a new teacher, CONGRATULATIONS!!!  I am so excited for you.  I can remember how anxious I was for my first teaching job.  I taught 1st grade special education my first year.   I learned so much that first year.  I had such a great 1st grade teacher to work with.  I don't think I could have made it without her help. 15 years later and I can still remember my first class and each of my students' names.  They were such a special group of kids.  I had one student that had grand mal seizures, one that often bruised my shins because he did NOT want to go to music, art, or p.e.  , another student who had major issues due to a  horrific past , and another whose mother had passed away from a terrible illness during the middle of our school year.  Wow!  AND I'm still teaching.   I learned so much that first year. 

Okay, enough about the trip down "teacher" memory lane.   I'm linking up with Fabulously First for their  new teachers linky party.  Check out all of the great advice by clicking on the link below.  I loved reading all of the posts.  I'm never too old to learn some more "survival tips" for teaching and many of them work well for parenting also. 

1.  Organize,  organize, organize.....  I felt so much better when the unexpected came up ( which can be often in this profession) when I was overprepared and organized.  I often planned much more than what was needed just in case an activity went faster than what I thought it might.

2.  Laugh....  Love your students and be able to let things "go". Laugh at yourself and be able to laugh WITH your students. 

3. Ask for help....   I asked lots of questions my first years of teaching.  As I said earlier, if it weren't for my mentor teacher my year wouldn't have been as successful.  I  would have crashed and burned.

4.  Take time for yourself... Go for a walk, watch a great move,  simply RELAX.  I can remember that first year going home each evening and working on school work until I was so exhausted I finally went to bed...  It took me awhile to realize I  needed to take some time for myself.  It helped relax me, and gain a better perspective about everything. 

Best wishes and have a fabulous first year of teaching!!!


Check back soon.  I can't wait to share with you my classroom theme this year, and what I've been working on.  I hope to have it finished in the next day or two.






1 comment:

The Writing Mama said...

Wow! I am so glad I stumbled across this linky! I will be a first year 2nd grade teacher this coming August and couldn't be more excited. I know that I am going to have to work hard to remember to take time for myself because I haven't been too great at this in the past. Thanks for all your great advice! I hope my first year is as memorable as yours! (I already have my kid's names memorized!)

Ashley
That's So Second Grade