Top Ten Things Every New Teacher Should Know (pg. xii)
- Always have high (but not impossible) expectations for yourself and your students.
- Effective classroom management starts on the first day.
- Humor can help diffuse a tense classroom situation.
- Consistency and fairness go hand in hand and should be practiced every day.
- Be flexible, but don't become a doormat.
- Smile at your students.
- Avoid confrontations in front of other students.
- Be friendly, but avoid becoming friends with your students.
- Get to know the people around you, and choose your friends and battles wisely.
- Never advertise your inexperience.
Book Review:
I found this book informative but somewhat against the philosophies of our courses. The author seems to believe that the students are not equals to the teacher in a learning environment, but are to behave and listen. Quite a bit of the information did not apply to us because this book is intended for American teachers. Some of the policies are not the same in Canadian schools, and most of the book does not follow my pedagogy. While there is some good advice within the pages of this book I found most advice to be common sense or not not applicable. The black line masters on the CD of this book are not useful to me, but could be adapted to be useful.
Chapter Reviews:
This book is written by a Master of Education teacher that shares both her and her husbands classroom experience. This book contains twenty-five chapters that cover just about any question a first year teacher would have. The book is based on American school systems and some of the information within I found did not apply to our curriculum or to the policies of a Canadian school system. The first chapter, entitled Welcome to Teaching, Kelly explains the role of a teacher, what to expect in a day including interruptions, what students expect from you, and what you should expect from your students. The second chapter includes advice on how your attitude effects the classroom and your students. Kelly also includes information on dealing fairly with students, learning to be flexible, and dealing with mistakes. This chapter also includes role-play situations that you can answer and see how you would react in these situations. The correct answer follows the scenario with an explanation for the answer. I found these to be quite interesting, as some I could answer one or more options.
Chapter three discusses your expectations, attitude, and demeanor all in separate sections. This chapter related to our course by explaining about student differences in learning styles and how to set students up for success not failure. There is a list of nine methods near the end of the chapter that a new teacher can use to communicate your expectations to your students. Chapter four discusses setting ground rules and classroom expectations. I found this chapter useful in the advice, having suggestions for parent cooperation, missing school supplies, and arguments with students. Kelly also writes about dealing with late students but many of the suggestions would not work with elementary students like tardy cards or detention. Kelly does have a small paragraph about elementary students. The tardy section goes on to suggest a classroom policy for late assignments and make-up work which seemed reasonable. This chapter also included how to deal with hall passes and restroom use.
Chapter five discusses behavior management, discipline plans, and parental communications. This chapter almost seemed a little too strict in the treatment of students compared to what we are learning in classes. Kelly seems to be of the mindset that the teacher is in charge at the front of the class and the students should be subordinates in their desks. Kelly does suggest using humor to diffuse a situation before the situation gets out of hand, but points out that each student is different and not all will respond to humor the same. Kelly writes about the importance of active listening as a teacher and positive (good job) reinforcements for the students, but to keep in mind that the reinforcements should be intermittent and equal for all students. The chapter ends with discipline suggestions which include behavior contracts, contacting parents, discipline referrals, and parent conferences.
Chapter six deals with prejudice, controversy, and violence in the classroom. This chapter discusses religious beliefs, holiday celebrations, political issues, bullying, and how to solve these problems. Kelly advises to talk to your administrator to deal with most of these issues, but also to be aware of your students beliefs and needs in order to have an inclusional classroom. Chapter seven discusses how to set up your classroom by giving seating suggestions, decorating ideas, organizational ideas including placement of supplies, textbooks and library usage, how to file, and organizing students with agendas for homework.
Chapter eight discussed lesson planning, but I found this to be one section that was not very relateable. Kelly discusses the common core standards here including national standards and state standards. Kelly does give suggestions for sources of ideas in online resources, books, other teachers, students, and the world around you. Most of what Kelly writes is common sense but there are some good ideas for using a calendar and planning book, how much information to include in a lesson, and how much homework to assign. The rest of the chapter deals with homework issues such as how much is too much and parent concerns. Chapter nine discusses the importance of journaling for you as a teacher, and how to use your class time most effectively for instruction. Kelly gives suggestions on attendance taking, collection of homework, and daily task list or agendas for students.
Chapter 10 is a good chapter to read because this chapter deals with learning styles and class instruction. Kelly writes about class discussions, guided discussions, learning centers, and cooperative learning which are all topics we have heard about and discussed in many of our classes. Chapter eleven was not such a useful chapter because Kelly writes about technology in the classroom only in terms of what not to do or how to restrict technology. Chapter twelve is about assessments and grading, which is different in American schools. The ideas behind the assessments is the same, along with the suggestions of using rubrics. Chapter thirteen deals with high stakes testing, which is very important to students. This chapter is more for higher grade levels and American school systems, but there are some arguments for and against standardized testing.
Chapter fourteen discusses field trip planning and collection of money. There are some useful suggestions within this chapter. Chapter fifteen gives advice for avoiding stress and illness which is worth the read. Chapter sixteen discusses how to prepare your class for a substitute and what you need to have ready in your absence. Chapter seventeen is another good chapter that discusses meeting diverse needs. There is a list of acronyms that are important for teachers to know, as well as full explanations of what each acronym means to you as a teacher.
Chapter eighteen and nineteen discuss how to get along with co-workers and how to keep your work ethic professional. These chapters also discuss how to correct any situations that you may feel uncomfortable about. Chapter twenty does not pertain to Canadian schools as this chapter discusses reforms in the school system for American schools. Chapter twenty-one discusses what we are learning about with inclusive classrooms, new technologies, interactive and adaptive programming, a different approach to the curriculum. In chapter twenty-two, Kelly writes about online teaching which is not something I believe we would have an option for. Kelly writes about the benefits of staying home and teaching online courses. Chapter twenty-three discusses unexpected issues that may arise in classrooms. Some of the issues addressed are lack of text sets, technological difficulties, discipline issues, over crowded classrooms, lack of supplies, and emergencies within the schools. For anyone who has no school experience, this is a good chapter to read but is mostly common sense to teachers that have spent any time at all in a school setting.
Chapter twenty-four is focused on the first day and week of school. This chapter is a review of the first few chapters, but does give you advice on how to deal with nerves. This chapter has the most resources on the accompanying CD with checklists for you to use. The last chapter deals with how you look at yourself as a teacher. Kelly gives advice on how to feel confident in the classroom and with parents. This chapter explains the importance of organization, following rules, setting goals and dealing with your administration.
Extra Book Resources:
This book is part of the EVERYTHING series of books which have four types of useful boxes found within the pages. As a read you can choose to read the entire book, or go directly to the boxes which include: e questions, e fact, e alert, and e essential. This book also comes with a CD that includes black line masters that a new teacher can print off and use. The CD table of contents is listed below.
This book is based on the American school system so many of these pages do not apply to Canadian teachers, but may be adjusted to work for your classrooms. This book does not include any charts or pictures within the pages, but the information within the useful boxes is worth the read.
The end of this book has a glossary of terms for you to review as well as a page of online resources and organizations for you to use.
The Everything® New Teacher Book, 2nd Edition with CD CD Table of Contents:
Beginning of the Year Checklist (2 pages) End of the Year Checklist (2 pages)
Seating Chart Examples (4) Student Information Sheet
Classroom Check In/Check Out Sheet Substitute Information Form (3 pages)
Sample Substitute Lesson Plan Blank Substitute Lesson Plan
Sample Emergency Lesson Plan Blank Emergency Lesson Plan
Parent Contact Log (2 pages) Parent Conference Form (2 pages)
Blank Weekly Lesson Plan Form Blank Daily Lesson Plan Form
Sample Unit Plan Blank Unit Plan Form
Blank Monthly Calendar Blank Weekly Calendar
Sample Middle Grades Welcome Letter (2 pages) Sample High School Syllabus (2 pages)
Sample Elementary Classroom Rules Teacher Celebrations List
Graphic Organizers Sample Double Venn Diagram
Blank Double Venn Diagram Sample Triple Venn Diagram
Blank Triple Venn Diagram Sample Series of Events Chain Diagram
Blank Series of Events Chain Diagram Sample Problem/Solution Outline
Blank Problem/Solution Outline Sample Semantic Map
Blank Semantic Map
No comments:
Post a Comment