Friday 14 March 2014

Alexis Cherniak - Everything a New Elementary School Teacher REALLY Needs to Know



I chose the book Everything a New Elementary School Teacher Really Needs to Know (but Didn’t Learn in College), by Otis Kriegle. I chose this book because it seemed like something that applies to all of us as early year’s teachers, and something that everyone would be able to take something away from. I found the book easy and entertaining to read, as most of it was written from personal experience. Kriegle provides his own insight as well as others through stories, and boxes within chapters called BTW, where he provides tips for new teachers.

Summary

BEFORE THE SCHOOL YEAR
The book was separated into four different sections, for easy navigation. The first one was called BEFORE THE SCHOOL YEAR. I think this is the one that I took the most away from because I have no idea what goes into preparation for a new school year. I also believe this is what we have been talking about a lot in class. We have worked on our ‘dream classrooms’ which involved setting up an optimal learning environment. As a brand new teacher I believe that it would take an even longer amount of time to prepare your classroom for the year as you probably do not have all the necessary resources.

Throughout this section, Kriegle also provides hints and tips including Making Your Classroom Work for You, where he provides his insight in room design, the classroom meeting area, classroom materials, and decorating. Within this section, he also includes Learning Your Schools Culture, this is a particularly large chapter that includes topics that will help you learn how things run at your new school, including how to talk to your principle (very important), calling in sick, student assessment, and Getting to know the parents. The last chapter within this section was called Setting up for a Terrific Year, which includes all the things that you might not think about until you are actually teaching, but will thank yourself later if you think about it now. These topics range from homework collection, lesson plans, and interactive whiteboards.


One of the chapters within this section that I took a lot away from was the chapter called STAY COMFORTABLE: CLOTHES AND SHOES. I had never realized how good of an idea this was until I had read the chapter where it suggests always having an extra pair of clothes and shoes handy. In my practicum school there are a lot of arts and crafts going on all the time, and the opportunity for a mess, is very present. Having an extra pair of clothes within the school eliminates any potential embarrassment or discomfort due to messes of any kind.

DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR
The second section of the book was called DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR. This chapter includes day to day dilemmas that you might encounter as a first year teacher, or even an experienced teacher. This chapter was interesting to me because it would be chapter that I would flip open to a specific page if I was experiencing a particular difficulty such as getting the student’s attention.

Kriegle separated this section into two chapters: Working with Students and Working with your Principal. The first chapter provides insight into how to manage your classroom behaviour; he includes points about seat assignments, hand raising, field trips and consequences for misbehaviour. Although most of these topics could be read before the school year starts, it also provides a great reference for teachers to flip to, in time of need.  The second chapter provides Kriegle’s insight into working with your principle. I believe this is an important chapter for everyone to read, as everyone should learn how to work well with their principal.  The point within this chapter that I found the most interesting was to try and solve the problem on your own. I think it might be everyones first instinct to run to the principal to let them know what is going on, but using other resources to solve the problem might be faster, and not waste the time of the busy principal.

YOUR STUDENTS’ FAMILIES
The third section of this book is called YOUR STUDENTS’ FAMILIES. This chapter was a very important one for me. I believe establishing a good relationship with both the child and the child’s family is crucial to the learning environment. It includes almost all the aspects of being a teacher that scare me a bit, such as angry parent visits and sharing bad news within the class.

This chapter was separated into three different sections. The first one, The Parent Teacher Relationship, talks about what you might want from parents or what they might want from you. It also talks about different methods of communication, and whether you should communicate by phone, e-mail, or face-to-face meeting. This is important to know, as technology evolves, it is important to evolve with it, and keep up to date with methods of communication. The second chapter: Communicating with Families,  gives suggestions to send home a note on the first day of school providing all the information that parents might be interested in hearing, such as information about yourself, methods of communication, attendance policies, future field trips, etc…This chapter really emphasizes having a good communication system with the families of the children. The last chapter of this section is called When Families Come Into the Classroom. It provides helpful tips about impromptu visits, and also planned parent-teacher nights. This is something that every teacher should become acquainted with because at one point or another, they will be meeting with parents to discuss the child.

YOUR LIFE AS A TEACHER
The last section of this book is called YOUR LIFE AS A TEACHER. This chapter is specifically odd hints and tips that will help any teacher when they may become overworked or overburdened. It also provides insight into looking into what is your job and what isn’t, and perhaps you should exhaust yourself with things you needn’t be doing.

This chapter was separated into two different sections:  Managing the Workload and Balancing Your Responsibilities. The first chapter focuses on odd tips and tricks that Kriegle has provided, such as leaving your work at school, delegating your workload, and planning your lessons one week ahead of time.  All of these things will help you reduce the headache that they could provide if not done. The second chapter talks about staying focused on what the ideal teacher is. It talks about important it is to not be counted on as a parent, social worker, or therapist, by your students, because this could add some unnecessary strain to your already busy workload. I think this is easier said than done for most teachers, so this could be a good read for them.


Critique

I found this book very resourceful and full of insight into things that I had never even thought of posing a problem. I really enjoyed the author’s real-life stories that were often very humorous, and being able to learn from them is a huge asset. Having the tips, stories and advice will be very helpful for any future teacher, and even for an experienced teacher who might be having difficulty within their classroom.

There were many connections made between the book and our class. The first one that I notices, as mentioned earlier, was the classroom design. This book and the activity in class really make you think about how you should set up your classroom. It also emphasizes community building, which is something that we have mentioned in class. Building a strong classroom community is a huge contributor to academic performance, but I believe that it takes skill to achieve this.

Overall I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is becoming an early year’s teacher. It covers a wide range of topics of all kinds, and teachers can be sure to use it at least once or twice in their classrooms.

Resources
             Kriegel, Otis. Everything a New Elementary School Teacher Really Needs to Know: (but Didn't Learn in College). Minneapolis: Free Spirit, 2013. Print.

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