Tips for Educators

Tips for New Teachers

 17 Documents to Keep in Your Professional Records File 

1. Your teaching certificate/license(s)
2. Transcripts of degrees and credits including attendance
3. Letters of hire
4. An individual employee contract if you signed one upon hire
5. Supplemental contracts for extra duty responsibilities
6. Your local Association’s negotiated contract
7. Yearly salary information and payroll notices
8. Records pertinent to your retirement
9. Records of leave accrual and use
10. Evaluation and growth plans
11. Commendations, awards, and honors
12. Teaching schedules
13. Records of incidents involving discipline or referral of students
14. Records of referrals of students with special needs
15. Copies of all correspondence from your employer
16. Proof of Association membership
17. The Association’s $1 million liability insurance brochure

Know Your School

Your classroom is part of a major enterprise—hundreds or even thousands of individuals engaged in teaching and learning in buildings scattered across a city, town, or region.  To be efficient, effective, and in control of a classroom, you must be able to navigate the system.  The place to start is tour school building.  Id possible, visit your building prior to “day one” and learn as much as possible about:

• The layout of the building
• Storage areas, work areas, exits, fire exits, teachers lounges; and
• The cafeteria, gymnasium, auditorium, restrooms, offices, phones, media center, computer’s facilities, guidance offices, and nurse’s office.

Introduce yourself to the office staff.  Learn their names and ask for the names of other key individuals in your school—administration, your department chair or team leader, and colleagues in adjacent rooms.  Jot them all down!  Say hello to the custodian and other support professionals.  Walk around, explore, get the “feel” of the building while it’s still quiet.

Many of your new colleagues will be there gathering the books, supplies and materials they will need, and setting up their rooms.  When the students arrive, the empty look of summer will be replaced with bulletin boards, displays, and the personal touches that make each classroom unique.  Introduce yourself and join the activity.  It won’t be this calm again until next summer.

New Teacher Tips

You already posed the skills to be a good teacher.  Here are some reminders of tested tips for getting off to a good start:

• Make a list of materials students are expected to bring daily.

• Distribute a syllabus.  It will keep you and your students on track. You can also share it with parents to help them follow their children’s progress.

• Explain the grading policy.  Note such things as the numerical values of letter grades (e.g., 85-90=B); how much the final grade depends on test, homework, etc.

• Start class periods with a quick review of what you did the last time in class.  Ask for questions to ensure clarity.

• Use visual display.  Hearing and seeing improve retention more than either one separately.  Emphasize color and graphics.

• Stay on task.  While a relaxed atmosphere is desirable, lengthy or irrelevant digressions are not. 

Student Assessment

All student assessment, formal and informal, serves at least three purposes:

• measures student progress;

• reinforces both content and skills; and

• shows how well you’ve communicated

• essential information and concepts.

Here are some suggestions for making assessment a positive experience for you and your students:

Create frequent, informal opportunities for evaluation and feedback that will not affect the students’ grades.

When correcting or commenting on students’ work, add positive, encouraging remarks whenever possible.

Prepare students for the test approach you will use, as well as the content that will be covered.

After testing, go over the results and make suggestions for improving on the next test.

Give partial credit when appropriate and reward genuine effort.  Have students practice self-assessment and peer review.

Compose your test before you cover the information in class.  By knowing exactly what you are testing, you can better cover the information and save time re-teaching.

Employ a variety of assessment techniques, writing, demonstration, performance, and port-folios-realizing that different students need different assessment approaches to succeed.

Be selective.   Every assessment need not assess everything; be clear what is being assessed and stick to it.  (This is not a license for students to ignore basic protocols-writing legible, employing standard grammar and correct spelling.)

Personal Files – Keep Everything 

Don’t throw anything away.

When a teacher is threatened with dismissal or has legitimate grievance, a crucial problem may arise if the teacher has thrown away many of the documents, notes, and other communications, which later prove to be of real value.

Of special importance are all of those notes from the principal.  They may be printed for general distribution or personal notes, however informal.  Some may be a simple “thank you” for some job you did.  You never know when you may have a conflict with the administration.

Old individual salary notices for both extracurricular and regular positions should be kept.

Appointment letters, notices of amount of sick leave, etc., may later turn out to be important.

Your personal records should also include copies of transcripts, teaching certificates, credentials, past evaluations, and all records pertaining to retirement.

In addition to keeping your personal records updated, you should also inform yourself of the content in your personal file.  The district maintains such a file for each teacher.  This is the only official depository for all written communications from the employer concerning your employment.  Exercise your right to access.  You also have the right to respond to adverse documents contained in your file.

Procrastination:  The Number One Enemy

Your worked load can be daunting.  However, procrastination only results in more work and more pressure.  When faced with unpleasant tasks, an overwhelming project, or simply too much to do:

• Set a deadline that is earlier than the absolute deadline.

• Break the project into manageable steps.

• Eliminate unnecessary steps and delegate those that are someone else’s job.

• Be positive; you will finish.

• Recall and use strategies that have worked for you in the past (frequent breaks, early mornings, etc.).

• Reward yourself for a job well done (a walk, a swim, a long hot bath….).

• Work with a colleague or mentor.  Support each other in managing time.  You don’t have to do this alone!

Enhancing Your Job Security

Things To Do

• Do a good job.  Be well prepared.  Meet your deadlines.

• Study your copy of the contract.  Keep it for reference.  Know your rights and responsibilities.  Ignorance of the contract, like ignorance of the law, is no excuse.

• Get to know your supervisor and try-with-in reasonable limits-to adapt your behavior to meet his or her expectations.

• Develop good rapport with your supervisor, your colleagues, other school employees, parents, and students.

• Maintain a good attendance record-avoid unnecessary absences or tardiness. Always give prompt notice of unavoidable absences or tardiness.

• Accept constructive criticisms gracefully, and try to heed them.

• Initiate regular communications with your supervisor.  Find out what is expected for you and how well you are meeting those expectations.

• Maintain a file of all job-related documents.  Save paycheck stubs, salary placement notices, notices of accumulated sick leave, observation reports evaluations, commendations or thank-yours from colleagues, letters from parents, etc.  If it’s in writing, and if it pertains to your job don’t throw it away.

• Ask for help if you need it.  Ask your supervisor about district policies and procedures.  Ask respected colleagues for hints on doing your job effectively, and on getting along with your supervisor.  Ask your association representative to explain your contract rights and responsibilities.

• Obey direct instructions from your supervisor.  If you believe that an order is unreasonable, unfair, or in violation of the contract, you can raise and objection, and indicate that you are complying under protest.  But always remember this principle:  Obey first, and then grieve.

• Become an active participant in association programs.  Association activities provide an opportunity for you to develop a district-wide network of supportive colleagues while you also develop and demonstrate your leadership skills.

Enhancing Your Job Security 

Things To Avoid

1.  Don’t shirk your responsibilities.  Make every effort to attend required meetings, meet required deadlines, and take your fair share of the load.

2.  Don’t become a “workaholic.”  The most productive persons are well-balanced employees, people who can manage their jobs and their lives.  Avoid burn-out.

3.  Don’t antagonize your supervisor unnecessarily.

4.  Don’t get mixed up in the intra-faculty rivalries, or intra-school politics, and don’t indulge in gossip on the job.

5.  Don’t be a chronic complainer.  If your contract rights are violated, grieve, but don’t  gripe.  Try to contribute to the solution rather than to the problem.

6.  Don’t confide details of personal problems to your supervisor or to colleagues you barely know.  The exceptions is when a personal emergency impinges on your job. Then explain the situation briefly and objectively.

7.  Don’t lose your composure on the job-with students, parents, colleagues, or your supervisor.  Tears and losing your temper will only work against you.

8.    Don’t let yourself be pushed around.  Whether you are a permanent, probationary, or temporary employee, you are a professional and are entitled to be treated as one

9.    Don’t lie or attempt to deceive your supervisor.  Occasional lapses in judgment may be tolerated, but deception seldom is.

10.    Don’t panic!  If you find yourself in a situation where you may be subject to disciplinary action or if you become the subject of administrative harassment, call   your association representative immediately.

Classroom Management 

Helping students to govern their own behavior in ways that help them learn is a goal of all teachers.  There are a number of ways you can promote good discipline in the classroom.  Most of them you’ll probably recognize (and probably have used), but a review can be valuable. 

• First and foremost, be the kind of person children respect and trust.  Be firm, fair, friendly, courteous, enthusiastic, and confident.  Above all, keep your sense of humor.

• Get to know your students.  This will help you anticipate problem situations.

• Don’t talk about the misdeeds of students, except to those who have a right to know.  Don’t openly compare one pupil to another.

• Admit you’ve made a mistake and apologize if you’ve treated a student unjustly.

• Make sure punishments are appropriate for the misbehavior and explain to the student why he or she is being punished.

• Don’t argue with students.  Discussions about class work are invaluable, but arguments are not.

• Show courtesy to every student and display trust and confidence in them all.

• Be consistent in application of discipline and be fair in your requirements and assignments.

• Allow a student to tell you his or her side of the situation.  Be wiling to consider mitigating circumstances.  Don’t use schoolwork as a punishment.

• Give clear directions; confusion leads to disorder.

• Make learning fun, interesting, and relevant to the students’ lives.

• Establish as few classroom rules as possible and keep them simple.

• Be fully prepared.

Hints For Substitute Survival    

Sometime you’re going to miss a day of school.  The ideal time to prepare for a substitute teacher to handle your class while you’re gone is…now.

1.  Label a file folder or notebook and keep it in a prominent place for “The Substitute.”   If you move around the building, jot a note in your plan book about the location of this file.

2.  Include in the file:

Schedule of classes
Odd schedules for special days
Students who get special attention such as medication, therapy, special programs        
Class lists and seating charts
Opening activities
Classroom rules and discipline procedures
Floor plan, emergency drill procedures

3.  Prepare your students for the eventuality of a substitute teacher.  Let them know  exactly what you expect of them when you are gone.  Assure young students that you will know about their behavior and progress during your absence.

Communicating with Parents

Working with parents is an important and positive part of teaching.  While it’s normal to feel a bit nervous when a parent asks to speak to you or to meet with you, there are some basic things you can do to make communication with parents enjoyable and productive.

The key is to establish a partnership with your student’s parents early in the year, and then to maintain it throughout the year.

Reach Out

Start by sending a note to students and parents, welcoming them to your class.  Or, have a letter ready to hand out the first day of school that introduces you to your class.  It might include your goals for the year, an outline o the curriculum and or our philosophy, a supply list, and some background information on you.  A few days or a week later, you might send home another letter, describing your behavior management and homework policies.  Be sure to have it returned, and signed by the parent and student.  Cautionary note: most building principals will appreciate seeing a copy of any parent letter going home with students before it goes out.

 Make Positive Calls

Too often, we call parents with a complaint about their child.  How about “just thought” you’d like to know how well so and so is doing” call?  It makes everyone-parents, students and teachers-feel great!

Provide Encouragement

Urge parents to provide their children with a quiet study area, a good breakfast, a time to read together, and guidance and supervision of TV reviewing.

Welcome parents into the classroom

Consider having parents come in as “special guests” or as speakers, or ask them to help with projects at home that require their assistance, while setting realistic limits at all times.

Take calls at school

You don’t have to give out your home number; it’s okay to “draw the line.”  You can return calls when mutually convenient, either right after school, or in the evening.

Letters

You’ll get complimentary letters from parents, but you may also get inquires that are based on misunderstandings, which can almost always be ironed out with a phone call.

Electronic Mail

If you’re on-line, and your students’ parents are too (just ask them), this can be an excellent way to stay in touch, answer questions, and communicate at everyone’ mutual convenience.

Parent Conference Tips

Contact parents early in the year.

Outline your curriculum and expectations and let parents know how they can reach you.

Invite both parents.  But, be sure to find out first if a student comes from a single-parent home and if both parents should be invited or if the appropriate guardian is someone other than a parent.

Prepare in advance to answer specific questions parents may have about their child’s ability, skill levels and achievement,

Get organized before the conference.

Assemble your grade book, test scores, student work samples and attendance records.

Greet parents at the door.  You’ll help parents feel welcome and relieve their anxiety if you greet them by name.  Check records in advance to make sure you have names of parents (or step-parents or guardians) correct.

Open on a positive note.  Begin conferences on a warm, positive not to relax everyone.  Start with a positive statement about the child’s abilities, schoolwork or interests.  Show some of the child’s work and familiarize parents with class expectations.

Allow enough time in the conference.  If you are scheduling back-to-back conferences, give yourself a short breather in between, if at all possible.

Avoid physical barriers.  Don’t sit behind your desk or ask parents to perch on uncomfortable chairs. 

Be specific in your comments and suggest course of action.

Forget the jargon.  Try not to use “educable” because it sounds like double-talk to most parents.

Ask for parents’ opinions.

Hear them out, even if the comments are hostile or negative.

Be clear if there are concrete steps for follow-up required hone contact or interim progress reports.

Your Right to be Represented

The association is the exclusive representative for the teachers in your district and therefore the only employee organization authorized to represent individual teachers in certain situations.

What are the situations in which you may want or need representation?

You have the right to be represented by the association when:

1.  An administrator calls a conference with you and you have reason to believe that you will be subjected to reprimand or disciplinary action. 

2.  You receive a “does not meet standards” overall evaluation rating.

3.  You have a grievance.  You are entitled to association representation at every step of  the grievance process, including the informal conference.  The earlier you get help the the more effective it may be.

4.  A meeting has been arranged to resolve a complaint about you-if the complainant is someone other than your designated evaluator, and an administrator is to be present.

IMPORTANT NOTE

An employee always has the right to halt any conference already in progress with any administrator, if the conference becomes disciplinary in nature, and may demand postponement for a reasonable amount of time to obtain representation.  If you need to be represented, contact your association grievance representative or call the association office. 

Surviving and Thriving

How to Avoid Stress and Stay Healthy

Within the first few weeks of school, there will be many new demands made of you: new texts, new techniques, new schedules, new students and a new way of life.  It’s an exciting as well as a stressful time for you.

All this excitement can lead to stress, and people who don’t deal positively with stress can become ill unless they have mastered some coping techniques. 

Experienced teachers have found some useful techniques and some preventative medicine to protect you against debilitating stress symptoms:

• Leave your teaching at school.  If you must lug home schoolwork, try to get it done early in the evening.  Better yet, do it at school and leave it there.  Those late afternoon hours after the students are dismissed are quiet, immediate, and focused.
• Recognize and accept your limits.   Most of use set unreasonable goals and perfectionist goals for ourselves.  But, we can never be perfect (or even come close), so we can often have a sense of failure or inadequacy no matter how well we perform.  Are your goals achievable? Or, do they reflect an effort to reach in a very imperfect world?  Is that what life is really all about?
• Find a friend. This probably is someone in your building who can be a trusted listener.  Talking a problem out won’t make it go away, but it can relieve tension.
• Exercise! After a day of teaching, you owe it to your body to shale off the “chalk dust.”  Exercise helps to rid the body of chemicals that are discharged as a result of stress.
• Be good to yourself.  What could do more for your self-esteem that to take yourself out to dinner or buy yourself a treat?
• Always have something to look forward to.  This will perk up your spirits.
• Don’t schedule all of your leisure hours.   You live by a schedule all day long.  Leave yourself some “open space.”
• Get plenty of sleep. Go to bed early is you are tired.  Don’t lie awake worrying about how you should have handled “Johnny” in class or at the worksite.
• Observe good eating habits. Watch your vitamin and mineral supplements.  You need to eat wholesome foods so that your body takes a sufficient amount of calcium, potassium, iron, vitamin B, vitamin C, and protein.
• Don’t procrastinate.  Do things you have to do.  Having something “hanging over your head” can cause more tension than the project is worth.
• Don’t feel you have to do everything. You can’t and you won’t.  So why worry about it?
• Keep a “things to do” list. Review it daily and do at least one or two things. When you cross something off the list, you will have a sense of accomplishment.
• Learn to tolerate and forgive. Intolerance and judging others often lead to frustration and anger.  Try to really understand the other person’s concerns and fears.  Try to see the pressures in them.  This will make you feel more accepting of them even d you do not agree with their behavior or opinions.
• Learn to plan.  Disorganization breeds stress.  Having too many projects going at the same time leads to confusion, forgetfulness, and a sense of uncompleted tasks hanging over your head.  Plan ahead.  Develop your own personal style of getting things done in a calm, orderly way.  Whenever possible, take on projects one at a time and work on them until completed.
• Learn to play. You need to escape from the pressures of life and have fun regularly.  Find pastimes or hobbies, which are absorbing and enjoyable regardless of your level of ability.
• Rid yourself of worry.  A study has shown that 40 percent of the items people worry about never happen; 35 percent can be changed; 15 percent turn out better than expected; 8 percent involve needless concern; and only 2 percent really deserve attention.

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