Janette Reimer: The Everything New Teacher Book

The Everything New Teacher Book

                                                                                2^nd Edition

By Melissa Kelly

Introduction

            This book is a guide to teaching and how schools/classrooms function for new teachers. Some of the topics that are in this book include organizing a classroom, creating lesson plans, behaviour management, working with colleagues and how to deal with prejudice, controversy and violence.  It also includes terminology relating to school and education, as well as online resources and further readings.

Helpful Resources

            There were numerous words of advice throughout the book, including a lot of helpful information regarding substitutes, the school calendar, lesson planning, and there is even a section advising new teachers to avoid taking on too many extra-duty situations, such as coaching. Some of the segments where I found additional useful advice are listed below.

Attitude and Demeanor:

The way to act around your students when you first enter a classroom can be a hard situation to maneuver. As a new teacher, students wait and see how you act so it is crucial to begin the year acting much stricter than you normally would, because it is easier to relax rules than to create rules as the year goes along. The book says that if you do not enforce rules then it will be impossible to control your classroom which is definitely helpful advice for a new teacher.

Your Role as a Teacher:

            This section of the book discusses the many different roles that a teacher takes on, including many that are not specifically related to education and the teaching of knowledge. These include coaches, technology experts, social workers and surrogate parents. The one that I believe is important for us as teachers to remember, in particular those teaching in the younger grades, is surrogate parents. Parents send their children to school and expect them to safe, treated nicely, and well taken care of and it is our job to ensure that these things happen.

Shedding Your Biases:

            In education it is important to face your biases and determine whether they are valid or should be discarded. A couple of these biases include that that some students just cannot (or will not) learn, and that gifted students do not need extra help. It is essential for all teachers, but especially new ones, to walk into the classroom with an open mind and not disregard certain students or stereotype them.

Methods of Communication:

            This books lists multiple different methods to let your students know your expectations. Some of the ideas that I particularly liked were:

-promote mastery learning by allowing students to revise assignments that received low grades

-make your standards for assignments absolutely clear by letting your students know exactly what you expect from them.

-remain in charge of your students as your teacher and do not fall into the trap of trying to be their friend

-periodically allow students to express in writing how they think they are doing in the course and what suggestions they have to make the class better

            -give students enough time to find the answers on their own

            -trying to get to know your students and allow them to see you as a real person will motivate some of your students to work harder in order to please you                                                                                     

Freedom of Speech:

            Perhaps the most useful thing that I learned while reading this book involves freedom of speech. The older your students are, the more likely they will argue with you concerning their right to voice their opinions. Students may bring up freedom of speech and try to convince you that they can say whatever they would like. However, according to the law, school is a special place and speech that “materially and substantially” disrupts class is not allowed. I thought that this was a very valuable piece of information and I am glad I became aware of this.

Dealing with Bullying:

            This section of the book gives teachers ways to deal with a problem that every school will face at one time or another; bullying. Some of the suggestions include:

            -include information about bullying in the curriculum

            -work on increasing community awareness

            -have guidance counsellors and others make themselves available to talk about bullying

            -increase supervision

 

Critique

            I definitely found that this book had some great advice and was a very educational read. It brought up numerous interesting topics about being a teacher that I had not yet thought about or even considered. One thing I really liked about this book is that it discusses the importance of being a positive role model for your students. Kelly talks about how it is imperative that teachers value learning in their own lives and are lifelong learners themselves, not just in the classroom, but at home as well. The book stresses that even though there may be hard times or rough patches, teaching is a very rewarding and worthwhile career. The author really gets the reader excited about teaching which is crucial in a book directed towards first time teachers.

            The one negative I found about the book for me personally, is that it is clearly American and geared towards the American school system. Things are done a little bit differently in Canada so some of the information was not relevant. Overall though this book was very helpful and I enjoyed reading through it.