The One With Teacher Talk

I'm linking up again today with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week. Today we are sharing advice for the new teachers out there. I'm not a new teacher, but even I have read some great new advice today. I think others have shared the advice that I have, but I'll go ahead and throw it out there anyway.

Organization...It's key! And in my opinion, it is a hard one. Check out this post about how I keep up with conversations/contact I have with my parents throughout the year.


One of the things I have found that help me keep up with student papers is to keep folders. I have two folders for every class. One folder is marked To Be Graded and the other folder is marked Graded. It helps me keep papers separate and makes returning papers much easier.

Make Friends... Make friends with your coworkers. Adult interaction is needed throughout the day. Everyone knows liking your coworkers makes any job better. Besides, you never know when you might need a favor.

Communication...Don't work in secrecy. Let people know what you are doing. This especially applies to parents. I have found that sending out weekly emails is a great way to do this. It doesn't take me five minutes to sit down on Monday and let parents know what we have going that week. Sure I have to stay ahead with lesson plans, but we should be doing that anyway.

Family First...There will be days when your to do list is a mile long. Sometimes you have to put it to the side and just enjoy life. Don't neglect your family so that you can grade papers. Those papers can wait. It's okay if you don't make it through your to do list. Some days you don't. Most days I don't. It will still be there tomorrow.