Things I wish I knew my first year teaching...

I would have titled this as "Things I wish someone had told me.." but I know for a fact I wouldn't have listened. Going in my first year, I thought I knew everything and I did not value or respect my teammates opinions. Looking back, life would have been a lot easier if I had....

1. Let's just get it out of the way. Something I still struggle with.... Don't reinvent the wheel. 
You know...my grad teacher actually wrote that on my paper one time. She said that I spent all this time writing the whole long lesson plan that I thought was creative and was going to revolutionize my classroom. She told me that not only was it not original, but she had seen that same lesson in several classrooms and online but knew I wrote it because it had my idiosyncrasies...whatever that means. This is still really hard for me. But when I figured that out, I suddenly had a lot more time to grade papers. 

2. Speak up but also be prepared to listen...
Besides the fact that my teammates have good ideas, if you listen to them then they in turn will be more likely to listen to you. Not only in collaborative team meetings, but with behavior struggles or just emotional support. There have been several times my first couple years that I was in tears and could not compose myself enough to get my students from their specials. My teammates were so good to me that they stepped up and allowed me as much time as I needed to pull myself together. This relationship with my co-teachers made even my worst days better. 

3. Find an organizational system that works for you.
I grew up with a German mother and a military father. Needless to say, my house (notice how I did not say my room) was always in spotless order. I did not manage to inherit those genes.... It has taken me 4 years to find an organizational system that works. My first year, you could not see my desk. It was covered miles high with stacks of papers. My second year, I got a little better, but often couldn't find things when I needed it. My third year, I went completely digital which was a whole new set of problems.  My fourth year, I discovered gold! MY AMAZING RULE? Tell everyone I work with and all children not to put ANYTHING on my desk. If it ends up on my desk and I do not know what it is, I trash it. Instead I have baskets. LOTS OF BASKETS! When I taught elementary I had baskets for each subject and then an administrative basket. The administrative basket was for all important papers that needed to be addressed immediately. I emptied this basket at the end of every day and either filed, filled out, or processed the papers in it. Now, I have a basket for each period that I teach. Everything that a student wants to give me goes into this basket. This helps me with those students that do not put their name, or do not put their FULL name (you would be surprised with how many Jennifers I have.)

4. Get in good with your office staff and administration. 
I was told my first year to bribe them with sugary items or anything that you know they might like. I even saw my mentor teacher give them Christmas gifts and just because gifts. Needless to say, I did not get it. Well, ladies and gentleman. I figured it out now. These are the front line people. They have to handle hostile parents, clueless parents, stressed out teachers, stressed out administration, and all last minute requests. They can either make your life amazing...or miserable. I will state this: I do not bribe them. I don't feel comfortable doing it. Now, I have brought in some homemade salsa because we talked about how I had too many tomatoes to count, but I have never gone out of my way to buy them gifts. Instead, I take a moment each week to talk to them about their life, my crazy students, anything that might be going on that week. This way they know my face and I can build a decent rapport with them. 

5. Breathe.
People think we do nothing all day. Or worse, that we sit behind our desks while our cherub students sit quietly filling out ditto worksheets....only in my dreams. You have breathe when talking to these people. But you also have to breathe throughout the day. Breathe before you address the INSANE behavior that Johnny is doing AGAIN. Breathe before you call a child's parent. Breathe before you go into the teacher's lounge and talk about today's events. JUST BREATHE. You are going to stress out. That is inevitable, but once spoken you cannot take it back. I still remember something my 4th grade teacher said to me 19 years ago...these kids might remember what I say too....

Although they always seem to forget their homework or that we had a test today...

Proportions with Barbie Dolls

My idea was not an original idea. In fact, I saw it in so many places that I am unsure whom to give credit to. Despite this, I would like to start by saying a BIG THANK YOU to my coworkers that allowed me to borrow their daughter's Barbie Dolls. I used an assortment of Barbies and Ken Dolls. I wanted to make sure my students saw a variety of faces, styles, and type.

Now onto the actual lesson...

As a end activity for our proportions unit, I posed the question: "If Barbie was as tall as you, what would she look like?" I wanted the students to get a couple things out of this activity. I wanted to have them problem solve, apply proportions, tie in art, and I wanted the students to realize that Barbie was an unrealistic expectation for anyone.

In order to have my students brain storm and I asked them to identify what information we would need to enlarge the proportions of barbie. After a couple of minutes and some guided questions, the students were able to determine that we needed Barbie's current measurements and then a measurement of what we wanted them to be. I had the students work in partners to complete the rest of the activity. They had to measure one of their heights (I told them to choose the shortest because they would later have to draw the barbies). From there the students measured all of the parts of Barbie (except for her chest.) The students then calculated proportions using their real height. This proved to be challenging but a really great teachable moment for my students. After they completed the proportion they wanted to check their answers by measuring themselves. We ended up taking a break and having a class discussion about why they were getting different answers through their proportions than what they are in real life. One of my students eventually shouted out that we are not proportionate to Barbie! You should have seen my grin.

After the students completed all of their proportions, I had them trace the person they measured and then draw barbie's picture using their proportion answers over top of them. This proved to be the longest portion of the activity and I think the hardest. In the future I would use this as an extension not a requirement. Some of my students were able to complete the whole activity in the time allotted, but most of them started it, and then grew frustrated because they were rushing and making several mistakes. Those students that were able to complete the picture had some great post activity discussion. I overheard several of my students saying, "That's not possible" or "Look how big her eyes are! No way!"

In the end, the students were able to complete the proportions in a real life way, which was the ultimate goal. :)

GT/AAP vs.Gen. Ed vs. Team-Taught

I don't know about you, but every February/March my school sends out an intention form. The premise of which is to find out who will be returning/leaving/wanting to change positions for the next school year. I have struggled with this for the past five years (typically because I am unhappy in my position) however this year was different. I am in love with my new school (yes...I am at my 3rd school...) and my new team (I now teach math full time in a middle school and I LOVE IT!). The struggle was what type of kids do I ask for? This was the first time that I received a question like this. Typically I get what I get, and that's it. Each "type" of students has its pros and cons. Now, I am generalizing here and I recognize that each group is unique in the challenges that they bring. But come on, lets not kid ourselves here teachers. When walking into a brand new classroom with no prior knowledge to what type of students are in there or what type of class it is, we can typically tell within 10 minutes.

So what do I want to teach?
With the exception of my first year, I have always taught the inclusion classroom. I like this group because I get to really see the most growth. I am able to establish really great relationships because the classroom is smaller, there are two teachers (whether or not I like who I work with is an entirely different post) so one of us can handle behavior while the other teaches, there are more ideas and more energy and you don't feel as alone. Moreover, while data should not be the end all be all, test scores are not that bad. They typically are not stellar, don't get me wrong I still cry in a corner after data dialogue days...but they aren't dismal. There are ALOT MORE behaviors in these classes than Gen. Ed classes. Let's face it, these students act out because they are bored, it is too hard, they are filled with adolescent and pubescent craziness...whatever you want to name it, I spend the majority of my time either teaching with 1 teacher out of the room or myself addressing the behavior while the other teaches.

But what about the GT kids? I taught 1 section of them last year and hold an after school math club which normally has these types of students in it. This group is pretty cool because you are able to have higher-level conversations. Not to mention to are able to do a lot of projects and in-depth research because the students typically make connections in content quicker. However, major drawback: the parents. Do you hear that? Oh yeah, here comes the helicopter or tiger moms or whatever the cliche term is nowadays. I do not like dealing with that. I am sorry, I became an educator because I wanted to work with students...not adults. When I taught that 1 section, I spent the majority of my time, answering parent questions and justifying why their child received a B on the last assignment (thank god for rubrics!) I also occasionally get the GT kid that thinks they know the answer to everything. I don't know why this bothers me so much. Maybe it is my own insecurities coming out to play, but when a kid challenges me on anything (history, science, math, etc.) my feathers automatically get ruffled (can you tell I am on a cliche kick today...or maybe year...). Now hear me out, I am not the type of person that cannot admit when they are wrong. I have proven wrong by many a student/parent/coworker. I just...can't handle the challenge of authority that I hear in those students voices. To me, there is a polite way to confront or to challenge...and I typically do not hear this from those students.

I don't know what I will get next year, I wrote it doesn't matter to me. That I am up for a challenge! But I have coworkers that demand one or the other. I know people put "I don't want to team teach," "I only want AAP students," "I really want to coteach with so and so..." on their intent forms. Does that make me weird? That I don't care what I teach as long as I am teaching math and that I have my own room (I hate sharing my room with traveling teachers).