[NAEP] Collective wisdom

[Dawn Wiseman]

Good morning all:

Last evening there was quite a lively discussion on one of the 
listservs I subscribe to about the top ten bits of advice every 
beginning teacher should receive. Below I've just compiled the 
collective wisdom that was shared (there may be a few repeats). It's 
pretty good advice for any of us, no matter who or what we are 
teaching.

If you've got anything to add, feel free.

Dawn



1. Be interested in your subject matter and willing to learn about it 
with your students.
2. Manage your time wisely!
3. Respect the students
4. Be organized
5. Be ready to teach at the beginning of the period.
6. Be flexible
7. Enjoy your subject, enjoy your job.
8. Be positive
9. Be honest with the students.
10. Be a teacher first, then a friend.
11. Don't kill yourself. Be kind to yourself.
12. Remember kids are kids. That's why they hire an adult to be in the room.
13. Sense of humor...you gotta have it
14. Spend half as much time planning and twice as much time grading.
15. The ability to maintain a loving relationship with another human 
being for at least 6 months at
        a time!
16.  Always remember the 5P's: Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance
17.  Expect the unexpected.
18. Don't reinvent the wheel, but also don't spend more time looking 
for the wheel than it would
        take to invent it!
19. Don't take it personally.  Your job is to teach and draw the 
line:  their job is to learn and try to
        cross the line.  they want you to check them.    Be 
consistent!  most important: teaching is not a
       9 to 5 job!
20. Love the students and respect them for where they are right now. 
Relate to them where they     
        are, but don' t allow yourself to think they'll stay there. 
Challenge them to always move 
        forward. Explain to your students what you want, and various 
ways to get there allow them
        different ways to get where you want them to go,
21. Be consistent and fair
22. Don't give up your principles, but always re-examine them
23. Know your stuff. Remember every year 'your stuff' changes so, 
don't stop learning
24. Always work with teachers better than yourself
25. Go to professional conference-keep learning new things
26. Learn what they have found works
27. Try something new all the time if it doesn't work, try something else
28. Teach a new class every time-never let it get old
29. Join your professional organization-it is a great learning tool and network
30. Always love your job.
31. Be authentic (true to yourself)--students will see right through 
you and you won't sustain
        yourself if you're not.
32. Never assign more homework that you are willing to grade
33. Know thy students
34. As a teacher, you may never know what impact you may have on a 
student, yet you can be
        certain that you ARE having an impact.    You need to teach 
every day, the best you can,
        knowing that the rewards of teaching are in the future and may 
not be visible to you.
35. Have compassion.
36. Remember your students reflect you.
37. Remember Bloom.
38. Use the Learning Cycle (Engage - Explore - Explain - Elaborate - Evaluate)
39. Always aim to keep the students engaged.
40.  Remember less is more.
41. Use a variety of teaching techniques.
42.  If you say it, enforce it!
43. Be sure to use correct grammar and punctuation in your writing.
44.  Research, review, and fully understand the content that you are teaching.

And a suggested web site.

Good teaching: The top 10 requirements
<http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/topten.htm>http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/topten.htm