Markus Goertzen - Everything I Need to Know About Teaching ... They Forgot To Tell Me!

Summary

Everything I Need to Know About Teaching ... They Forgot to Tell Me is an attempt at providing future teachers with tips and advice as they enter the workplace in order to curb the high rate of teachers leaving the profession.  The author, Stacey Jarvis, suggests that there are five factors that contribute toward teachers leaving: workload/time management/fatigue, content/curriculum knowledge, relationships with students/staff/parents, evaluation/grading, and autonomy/control. (p. vii)  The book winds through ten chapters of tips and hints before providing an appendix, or as Jarvis calls it, a “survival guide.”

Helpful hints/tips

The College Years (pp. 1-5)

• -          Keep track of your networking and keep a professional library (p. 2)
• -          Know your educational philosophy (p. 4)

Finally Teaching? Not Yet! (pp. 6-8)

• -          Budget your personal money (p. 6)
• -          Join a professional organization (p. 7)

The Days Before the First Day of School (pp. 9-10)

• -          Get to know other teachers (p. 9)
• -          Use school money (rather than your own) whenever possible, get to work early (p. 10)

The First Day of School (pp. 11-15)

• -          Cherish the first day of school, remember that the students are more nervous than you are, tell the students who you are and what you stand for (p. 11)
• -          Don’t tell the class you’re inexperienced (p. 12)
• -          Establish, post, be firm with, and reteach classroom rules and procedures (p. 13)
• -          Get to know your students, teach discipline early (p. 14)

One Lesson After Another (pp. 16-31)

• -          Keep a journal of your own self-reflection (p. 16)
• -          Use videos sparingly and always preview them, know in advance where to start and end them (p. 17)
• -          Always test equipment and prepare for accidents, be flexible (p. 18)
• -          Have time wasters (trivia games, etc.) prepared in case you need them (p. 19)
• -          Don’t reveal too much about your personal life, look like a teacher (a professional) in and out of the classroom, keep a clean, inviting classroom (p. 20)
• -          Trust your students, allow them to earn back trust if they lose it, ask the students for their opinions on things, learn how to improvise (p. 22)
• -          Make copies ahead of time, learn the system (forms, procedures, etc.) (p. 23)
• -          Given conflict, address it one-on-one, be in charge, calmly ask to speak with the student in the hall, don’t punish the whole class for one student, follow through on what you say (p. 25)
• -          Be compassionate and understanding, don’t get into a power struggle (if you do, you MUST win!), pick your battles (p. 26)
• -          Don’t rely on textbooks, create folders and save everything, show interest in students’ pictures and stories (p. 28)
• -          Teach responsibility, mention improvements/declines in behaviours/habits to parents/students, not just grades (p. 29)
• -          Be involved in the school but know when to say “no” to volunteering (p. 30)
• -          Have good emergency plans for subs, assume subs don’t understand how school works (p. 31)

Student-Teacher Relationships (pp. 32-34)

• -          Don’t be students’ friend, define that line, have high expectations (p. 32)
• -          Allow false choice, give students options from which to choose (p. 33)
• -          Use physical gestures, wait time to control the class, give feedback (p. 34)

Parents (pp. 35-38)

• -          Know that parents are (often) trying their best; don’t insult parenting, begin discussions with parents with positive comments, document all parent contact (p. 36)
• -          Try to make as many positive comments as negative in discussions with parents (p. 37)
• -          Support all families as they support their children, give homework that can strengthen families (projects that include consulting parents, etc.) (p. 38)

Special Education (pp. 39-44)

• -          Memorize labels and acronyms, work well with your school’s special ed. program (p. 41)
• -          Plan for deferential seating for the benefit of special ed. students (p. 42)
• -          Know about possible modifications (shorter assignments, more time given, copies of notes, study guides for students, etc.) (p. 43)

The “Teacher” Part (pp. 45-52)

• -          Use a “hook,” plan lessons with diversity in mind (p. 45)
• -          Use cooperative learning, seminars, debates (p. 46)
• -          Try experiential exercises (for imagination), and alternatives to lectures (a/v, etc.) (p. 47)
• -          Use graphic organizers, games, timelines, plays, mini-biographies, brochures, cartoons, commercials, interviews, etc. (pp. 47-51)

Do’s and Don’ts (pp. 53-54): These are based in a summary of the earlier part of the book

Appendices (pp. 55-82)

• -          Includes sample rubrics, graphic organizers, forms for getting to know students, etc.

Text Criticism

This book was a brief guide.  A lot of its content I already knew going in, or it seemed too obvious to be helpful (e.g., Proofread all handouts, etc.).  Other times there were some fantastic tips and pointers.  The book offers a very American perspective, which does not necessarily align with teaching in Canada.

One of the author’s main points was that as a teacher you must separate yourself from your job.  I disagree vehemently with this philosophy.  I think that by separating yourself from your occupation as is suggested, you act untrue to your own values and you play the role of an actor more than of a mentor.

The author is a social studies teacher, and that comes into play quite a bit.  It might be more difficult for teachers of other subjects to deal with students as Jarvis does.  Jarvis’s middle years experience also shows in the book, which might make it more difficult for high school teachers to relate to what she has to say.

            The book assumes traditional education methods, which collide a bit with some of the strategies we covered in class.  The layout of the book is conducive to a quick, easy read, but there is very little in the way of strong themes that run throughout the book.  This piecemeal writing style makes it difficult to relate the deeper ideas we discussed in class to Everything I Need to Know About Teaching ... They Forgot to Tell Me.

Reference

Jarvis, S. & Algozzine, B. (2006). Everything I need to know about teaching ... they forgot to tell me! Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.