Rookie Teaching for Dummies
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Summary
The aim of this paper is to share
the ideas of the book “Rookie Teaching for Dummies” by W. Michael Kelley, so
that other teacher candidates can use it as a resource if they run into
problems while teaching. It can also prepare new teachers beforehand, since the
book talks about unexpected duties and problems you could run into. In order to share the best ideas given in
this book I will outline some of Kelley’s chapters that stuck out to me under
the heading “resources”. The “10 tips” sections will be shortened to 5 tips,
even though it was hard to cut out the rest. This section of the book is great
because it gives you 10 of the most valuable ideas that Kelley picked out
during the start of his teaching career. The tips are short and explained
briefly, while still giving the reader insight on Kelleys personal struggles
and discoveries that he wants us to learn from.
Resources
What They Didn’t Teach You in
College
Kelley
makes some interesting compare and contrast notes on the school world you will
be in compared to the real world. The similarities include:
-
“Your performance will be evaluated based
largely on numbers”
-
“You will get both praise and blame that you
don’t deserve”
-
“Most people don’t want to hear about what you
do at work”
(Kelley, 2003, p. 12)
The differences include:
-
“You don’t get to eat or go to the bathroom when
you want”
-
“You’ll be expected to do a lot that has nothing
to do with your training”
-
“Your free time is going to take a huge hit”
(Kelley, 2003, p. 13)
The author also touches on other things you may not have expected.
For example; paying for supplies, creating rules, the responsibility, lesson
planning, and dealing with criticism about teaching.
Delivering Instruction
Kelley
hates lesson planning, and makes a comparison to an actor learning the lines of
a play before a performance. No one will appreciate or know how much time the
actor put into learning these lines. He also admits that his first year of
lessons were terrible and he did not reuse them like he thought he would.
Kelley says that you should keep improving your lessons so that students will
learn from them. Here are some points he has for delivering instruction:
1.
“Don’t be tempted to skip planning, even when
you’re tired” (p. 141)
2.
“Assume that your students don’t know anything”
(p. 141)
3.
“Put sufficient details into your plans” (p.
143)
4.
“Consider the special needs of your students”
(p. 144)
(Kelley, 2003)
The Supporting Cast
·
The
Observers: Try not to worry too much about being observed. The observations
will go on your record but they will likely never stop a teacher from getting
tenure. He says that the observers are not here to ruin your life.
·
Your
students: Come early to school to prepare so that when your students walk
into class you can interact with them. You should also involve students in your
lessons so that they do not get distracted.
·
Co
Workers: Do not criticize veteran teachers when you are still a rookie
because this will not be appreciated. Kelley also makes note of some teacher personalities
that every school will have, such as the “Coach”, “the Grouch”, and “The Golden
Boy”. He gives insight on how to deal with each. Do not assume that coaches do
less work than others, do not let a grouchy teacher get you down, and don’t be
discouraged that you may not be the favorite teacher.
·
Parents: Kelley
believes that the teacher/parent relationship is tricky because if there is a
problem child, who is to blame? Is it the parents fault for raising the child
wrong or is it the teachers fault for lacking control over their own class. If
you do have to phone home it, it’s important to let the parent know that this
is not normal behavior for the student. Parents need to know whether it is an
isolated case or not because the student may be acting out due to other
stresses in their life.
(Kelley, 2003, p. 185-237)
Duties Other Than Teaching
1.
Watching kids in the cafeteria and making sure
no one cuts in the lunch line. Kelley says that rock concerts are quieter than
the cafeteria at times.
2.
Hallway, parking lots, and recess duty are
important to make sure no one comes to school or leaves school without the
proper permission.
3.
Assembly duty requires the organization of
students. It is good to group your students together
4.
After school activities and duties include
coaching, grading, making parent phone class, making lessons, and tutoring.
Some teachers do not offer after school help because tutors should actually get
paid.
5.
After school events gives you the chance to see
kids outside of the classroom and bond with them in a different and more
relaxed way.
(Kelley, 2003, p. 251-287)
The Ten Things That Always
Happen to Rookie Teachers
1.
“Becoming Too Friendly Too Early”: Kelley states
that being strict at the beginning and then loosening up is a better idea than
the other way around. Your students will soon forget about your strict
beginnings and they will know you are the one in charge.
2.
“Teaching for the Wrong Reasons”: Teaching may
look easy because of the short hours, but really it requires more energy
because the work is highly condensed. The love for teaching students should get
you through it if you are cut out for teaching.
3.
“Coming to School Unprepared”: You can never be
prepared for the many things that can pop up during ur day, therefore having a
full lesson planned every day is important. Grading papers and having a social
life should wait until the weekend.
4.
“Refusing to Back Down When You’re Wrong”: Kelley
would overreact when his students talked back to him, but he would then
apologize in front of the class. He says that admitting your wrong is just as
important as standing up for yourself. You need to have a balance so that kids
do not just walk all over you. Pretending you are perfect will not get you
respect either.
5.
“Disassociating from your Colleagues”: When
Kelley often heard from other student teachers that the staff room was a bad
place to hang out because you will become jaded. He thinks that spending time
in the teachers lounge is actually a good thing because you should respect
other teacher’s work. However, he encourages you to stay away talking
negatively or gossiping.
(Kelley, 2003, p. 301-305)
Ten Ways to Use Technology In
Your Classroom
1.
“Figure out the Basics of Web Design”: Kelley
recommends programs such as Macromedia, Dreamwearver, and Netscape Composer to
create Web Pages because they are cheap and easy to use
2.
“Post Information for Students and Parents”: Keep
information such as the syllabus, class rules, a calendar, major tests and
assignment dates on this website
3.
“Display Pictures of Class Activities”: Show
pictures of interesting activities that your class has done so parents can see
4.
“Teach Using WebQuests”: Use the internet to
create hunts for information that is online. He uses the example of having
students pretend they are a zoo keeper and have to research information in
order to create a zoo exhibit for this animal.
5.
“Give Online Assignments”: Kelley created a page
with weekly calculus quizzes
(Kelley,
2003, p. 309-313)
Critique
I enjoyed this book because of
Kelley’s use of humor and touch of negativity. For example, he admits that
“this book would receive an R rating if I were completely honest and explicit
about how much I dislike lesson planning” (Kelley, 2003, p. 139). There is
definitely a personality and voice behind this book, and that is what makes it
relatable. His pessimism is always followed by optimistic advice on how to
tackle problems that he has come across. Sometimes his advice is that there
isn’t anything you can do about a certain situation, and not to let it get you
down because every rookie teacher will have dealt with the same thing. This
book is reassuring because almost any fear you can have as a beginner teacher is
put in the book and explained from a personal and experienced point of view.
However, this personal point of view can also be seen as a downside. The book
is very subjective, and not everyone will agree with some ideas, comments, and
observations that Kelley makes. Perhaps not everyone will run into the same
kind of issues as him because every school and principal is different. For example, I do not agree with his "becoming too friendly too early" theory. As a practicum teacher I do not think it is a good idea to take over your CT's classroom and start making rules just so students will respect you later on. Also, as a student I never responded well to professors who began their semester by intimidating students with extremely high expectations and demands of being called "Doctor" as a sign of respect. This
being said, Kelleys message to the reader seams to be not to stress too much but
still to try as hard as you can as a teacher. As a teacher candidate I can appreciate this
advice and take a few pointers from this book.
Reference
Kelley, M. (2003). Rookie
teaching for dummies. Wiley Publishing Inc: Indianapolis,
Indiana. Print.
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