11/29/2009
Welcome to Issue Twenty-Eight!
As the old decade wears down, it’s time for more of the reflection that makes us all stronger teachers. Just as we encourage students to deliberate about the way they approach their school lives, we teachers also should spend time thinking about what we’ve accomplished and what we still need to do. To make this reflection time as positive and productive as possible, use the list below to recall the good things that you do as an educator and perhaps be reminded of the aspects of your career and performance that you would like to improve.
Fifty of the Best-Kept Secrets in Teaching
Because becoming an accomplished educator requires passion, dedication, and deliberation, many of the most valuable lessons that any teacher can have must be learned the hard way: though experience. Sometimes, if we are lucky enough to learn from a positive experience, we will want to repeat it. And sometimes we gain valuable insights from an event so unfortunate that we vow to never repeat that experience—ever again.
In the list below, you will find just some of the many secrets to educational success that teachers have learned over the years. Some of these insights were gained from those pleasant, positive experiences and some were obviously not.
1. Never forget why you became a teacher.
2. If you don’t have a positive attitude, you should stay home and put us all out of your misery.
3. Keep small problems that way.
4. Praise good behavior and ignore as much of the bad as you can.
5. Want to avoid discipline problems? Make students feel worthy of your trust.
6. Smile at a student who is getting ready to misbehave.
7. Make sure to build motivation into every lesson. Motivation is the most important and the most undervalued part of any lesson plan.
8. Always have a backup plan for your backup plan.
9. Grouchy teachers have more problems than cheerful ones.
10. Enforce the school rules. If every teacher did this, life would be easier for us all.
11. Don’t waste time in debate when an infraction is clearly an infraction.
12. A messy desk is a sign of…limitless potential for trouble.
13. It’s not about you! Students should come first.
14. You are the adult. That’s the bad news. And that’s the good news.
15. Engaging lessons will prevent almost all of the discipline issues that loom ahead.
16. You can protect yourself with professional behavior. When faced with a dilemma, always ask yourself what the most competent professional educator you know would do in the same situation.
17. Resolve your problems. Don’t just react to them.
18. Become a fanatically goal-oriented individual. Remember: Teaching is a deliberate act.
19. Listen more than you speak—to everyone, most especially listen to your students.
20. Join forces with other teachers. The synergy in a unified faculty is an awesome force.
21. Prevention is always better than having to say, “Oh no! Now what am I going to do?”
22. Call home! First. Often. With good news. With bad news.
23. Never forget that your students have one job: to ruthlessly and relentlessly test every boundary you can conceive.
24. Your students should do more work than you do.
25. Your worst students deserve your best.
26. Never surprise a supervisor with bad news.
27. The staggering amount of paperwork is no joke. Figure out how to grade papers quickly, efficiently, and return them promptly.
28. It’s more than okay to have fun with your students.
29. Everything you say in class today will be repeated at dinner tables across the community tonight.
30. You have to adapt yourself to your school community. It will not adapt to you.
31. You do not have a “bad class.” You have a few students in that class who misbehave. Deal with them and the rest of the group will behave better, too.
32. If you borrow something, return it promptly and in good repair. And don’t hog the copier, either.
33. Keep your personal life a mystery.
34. Each class is different. Each student is different. This is the toughest challenge of our profession.
35. Use your strengths! Learn from your successes!
36. Don’t forget that you are an ordinary person who can do extraordinary things.
37. Change the pace. Try three new activities this week.
38. There is nothing wrong with being strict or in having high expectations.
39. After an incident has happened, examine your own actions. What did you do to cause the problem? What can you do better next time? How can you prevent this from happening again?
40. Students who work to achieve goals have a purpose for learning. Set long and short term goals for individuals and for the entire class.
41. Look at the problems you experience at school as challenges to be overcome. That way you are not a victim.
42. You have a sense of humor. Use it.
43. If you keep a list of the verbs associated with Bloom’s taxonomy handy, you will find it easier to design engaging lessons that appeal to a variety of learning styles.
44. Plan to ignore the small stuff.
45. Extrinsic motivation should be paired with intrinsic motivation for best results.
46. Small changes often create bigger patterns of success.
47. Make room for more emotional energy. Get help in solving a problem.
48. Take your successes home with you but leave your problems at school.
49. Be prepared for class. Sounds simple, but it is sometimes difficult. The effect of even one poorly prepared lesson is exponentially damaging.
50. “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” ~Winston Churchill
