Technology Journal Blog #5
Review this collection of tips for new teachers. In at least 200 words, share your thoughts about the best advice/worst advice, topics you would like to hear more advice on, etc.
One of the best pieces of advice I got from these Google slides was not to be afraid to ask for help. Many people say to be humble and willing to admit when you don't know something. One piece of advice I found really interesting was from someone names yourkidsteacher (slide 5). They basically recommended only picking one content area that you can teach exceptionally well in the first year. Then slowly build up other content areas. They said this helps to avoid burnout, which I had never really thought of before. Pretending to know something has always been stressful to me so this advice will be really helpful. It will be harder for me to teach high school. I will likely have a lot of different content areas to teach but I will keep it in mind. Another piece of advice that is similar is on slide 15. They said "It's ok to NOT know every answer. (Help students see how you find answers and solve problems.)" This piece of advice is so important. When I was in high school I had a calculus teacher who would constantly workshop the homework with us. The book we had that semester had many wrong answers in it so she would have to solve them herself. Many of those questions were really REALLY hard. The teacher working with us through such hard problems showed us how to do that ourselves and it was really helpful!
I would love to hear more advice on how to keep a balance between being someone your students can laugh and goof off with, and someone who they respect and listen to. Some one the advice was to not be your students' friend and I get what they are saying. But how do I still show them I care while maintaining the rules?
I'm glad you found some of these tips useful - they are great reminders for returning teachers, too. And I like that they came from teachers - not from a textbook and not from someone who hasn't seen a classroom in years. There are lots of sites that offer tips for teachers - I especially like this version because of the contributions of many. Yes, that means repetition, but it also means that these teachers thought the advice was strong enough to take the time to add it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have to admit that I thought the very first tip was discouraging and inaccurate, in my opinion. No one can be fully prepared for their first year of teaching. But that's true in nearly every job. My best guess is that the intent of that 'tip' was to let new teachers know that there is much on-the-job training involved in teaching and not to be discouraged when faced with something you aren't prepared for.