TheApple

My teacher asked me if I was interested in teaching... she told me when she thought I was ready that I should start publicising and sending my CV to places I thought could use my skills and when she got contacted by other people who needed a BD teacher she started giving them my number... When we reach a certain level she also invites us to start attending didactics classes ... we do not teach beginners classes until we have gone trough beginners, intermediate and advanced levels...
That´s how it worked for me!

gifts for her

To cmkluesner: What involvement do the parents/guardians have in the education of this 2nd grader? To me, that is a key question. The onus should not be on you and the school to get this child to learn--his parents have to be assisting in this endeavor. If they are not involved, then more than likely, they are not doing things at home to help you. Is the child getting any kind of counseling or other external help?

A comment on number 8: You can't earn the respect of someone who doesn't even see you as a real human being. Real human beings have faults, frailties, and most important, EMOTIONS. I have heard many teachers give the advice of not showing emotion in front of students (particularly anger) and not taking things personally, etc. This sounds like the definition of a robot to me, and I won't have any part of it. I want my students to see me as a human first and THEN as their teacher. Just last week, I displayed real anger with one of my classes because of their rude and obnoxious behavior toward me during an activity where I was trying to do something educational, interesting, and NICE for them (they were getting extra credit points from a physics game we were playing). I just left the classroom in the middle of the activity, and stood outside the door pacing back and forth trying to cool off for about 30 minutes. The room was SILENT during those 30 minutes. In a written reflective exercise the following class period, I made it clear that they were doing something that personally hurt me and I didn't appreciate being treated this way when I had done nothing to them to deserve such. There was not one word of protest about my comments, this class has been nearly angelic since then, and I am noticing that students that were more reserved and guarded before seem more open now. Two of the most problematic students have been working much better, and seem to now understand that I am doing this because I want them to be successful.

Students HAVE to see you as a human being that cares. You can not accomplish this by doing the British "stiff upper lip" shtick all of the time. It sometimes means showing your emotions.

Also, I have some issues with the concept of "being fair," because it has been my experience that adolescents have a somewhat warped sense of what "fair" means. This is something I touched upon in this reflective exercise. For example, if your students don't have a sense for the role they play in their education (i.e., they don't take any responsibility for their education), your acts of fairness will always appear unfair to them. There are some things that need to be in place BEFORE you can expect them to see your acts of fairness in the correct light. Some of these things need to come from home.

Finally, on the point by greenkelleen, I think delving into the world of your students is dangerous unless you are actually INTERESTED in those things. I have no interest in reading "Twilight," even though many of my female students are constantly talking about it. I have no interest in surfing, bodyboarding, dirtbiking, and monster trucks even though most of my male students do. Engaging in such activities to get "in" with the students is DENYING me of my own humanity. I have my own interests. I don't tell my students they should like what I like, and if asked about what they like, I will tell them I don't like those things if I don't like them. Now, if I find I share an interest with some student, that is another thing, but I'm not going to go try to pick up interests just to be part of their world. That seems just as fake as dropping some "hip lingo." How about we just be honest with them? Is that so difficult?

Very insightful article. I especially enjoyed point 8, where you discuss the issue of respect. I would like to add that as a student, it is also important to sense that your teacher/professor is approachable. Too often, the relationship between teacher and student is founded on superiority complex, where the student might react obediently out of fear/respect or in the alternative, rebel in an effort to regain dominance. I also enjoyed your candidness concerning the costs of classroom supplies. I had overheard this topic being discussed by teachers, but I didn't realize it was applicable to many teachers.

This stuff just glosses the surface. For some real talk from real teachers, go to http://teacherrevised.org/. I've co-written a book for new teachers called Teacher, Revised: A Renegade's Guide to the World's Most Important Section. Check the 'book excerpts' link if you want to read a few sample chapters.

I have been teaching at a private school and although a lot of the situations are the same as public schools (students vomiting on you, hard to get along parents, and all those unexpected situations, I am not very knowledgeable about the as rfrisch put it, “politics” of teaching. To quote Robin, “I wish someone had really taken the time to explain the "politics" of teaching...such as contracts, unions, teacher rights, etc.” So I say…hey Robin, what don’t you share the wealth and write an article about what you learned on these matters so all of us “clueless” can benefit from your knowledge. It will be greatly appreciated. I also like to thank the apple for providing this venue for sharing and learning. I do not know what I would have done without the Internet and computers when I started my teaching career.

I wish someone had really taken the time to explain the "politics" of teaching...such as contracts, unions, teacher rights, etc. In my first year of teaching I was at a charter school, where I was not part of a union. Also, the school board consisted of a majority of teachers...which is NOT the case in public (non-charter) schools. In my 2nd year, I moved to a non-charter public school. The district's union members were upset about not having health insurance as part of their benefit package. They were talking about striking, and I was nervous. I had no idea how powerful the union could be! Our state union (Education Minnesota) is really helpful when you have a problem such as this. No professor in college ever talked to us about this subject. I think it would be a good idea to invite union representatives in to college courses to explain their job and teachers' rights. Also, invite principals or superintendents in to explain teachin contracts, pay scales, benefits, and the interview/hiring process. There is more help in that information than the assignment" Write me a detailed lesson plan for how you might teach a group of 5th grade students with 5 ELL's, 4 gifted and 3 EBD students." Come on...when I have a class like that, I hope that I will know them well enough to adapt my lessons to their needs. I need to know the SURVIVAL skills...contracts, unions, etc.