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...