New and Future Educators' Blog

Sharing aspirations, tips and insights

• New and veteran educators share questions, advice on starting the school year

  8/31/2010 8:44:00 AM

  By WEAC Staff

   

  Teachers who are about to join a district for the first time shared questions with veteran educators this summer in preparing for the new school year. Here are some the responses:

   

   

  “How do I setup my classroom?”

  Iris Leske

  Madison Metropolitan School District (bilingual teacher, Leopold Elementary)

  Edgewood College

   

  “Debbie Diller’s “Spaces and Places” has good ideas for designing classroom layouts for those teaching PreK-5th. In addition, she has step by step hints for organizing materials for whole group instruction, small group instruction, classroom libraries, and literacy work stations. The book is sprinkled with lots of photos (some before/after).”

  Lori Cherf

  Hillsboro Elementary School

   

  “The children will create an atmosphere that you will need to adapt to. Depending on your needs and use of electrical outlets, pods and pairs usually are nice to start, unless you have tables. No. 1, make sure ...

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• Talking with parents who are upset

  8/24/2010 11:36:23 AM

  By Lisa Neubert

  My next tip for beginning teachers has to do with something they do not always prepare you for in college … talking with parents who are upset. No beginning teacher, or veteran teacher for that matter, wants to end a long day of teaching with a heated call from an upset parent, but unfortunately the call may come and it is best to be ready for it.
  
  My first such parent call came after I assigned and graded a project. The classes, made up mostly of freshman, were doing their first scientific research of their high school career and most were very unsure how to tackle the new task. We spent a week going through the project step by step and not a day went by that I didn’t mention something about plagiarism. When I began grading the projects I found two students who had decided wikipedi.com ...

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• Tips for the first day of school

  8/16/2010 1:37:57 PM

  By Lisa Neubert

   

  The first day of school can be a nerve-racking experience for beginning teachers. Last year was my first year teaching and I have three things that I learned will make the first day/week go smoother. The first is to be prepared or even OVER-prepared! Printing syllabi, creating seating charts, and having some lesson plans ready to go are great ways to lessen the stress of teaching the first day of school. Also, the copy machine is a great place to meet/talk to other teachers before school starts! J

   

  The second is to memorize names as fast as possible. I know the task of memorizing 25 names seems daunting, but playing name games is great for students at any age. High school students may groan, but if you are into the game and have a great attitude it will rub off on them. Once you have ...

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• Don't be afraid to ask for help!

  6/14/2010 2:42:56 PM

  By Lisa Neubert

  After completing my first year of teaching, I am now reflecting upon the things I wish I would have known before stepping into the classroom. I just finished my first year as a science teacher at rural high school, just east of Madison, and I hope that I can share some of the ups and downs of first-year teaching to begin a constructive conversation that will help new and future educators.

  Although I had student-taught as a biology teacher just months before, when I got hired to teach my own class of biology I did not feel like I had enough lesson plans prepared to begin the year. I am a huge over-planner, and as the school year started to approach I did not feel ready. I was feeling overwhelmed and didn’t really know where to begin. Luckily, there are two life-science teachers at my school, me ...

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• Make connections with your students and the rest will fall into place

  6/8/2010 10:08:31 AM

  By Kelly Knudsen

  I recently finished my first year of teaching English to mostly sophomores at a large high school in central Wisconsin. One important and valuable lesson I’ve learned is that connecting with the students is key.

  My classes were small (I only taught part-time) and it was easy to get to know each of the students, asking them about their families, their favorites (music, movies, websites, etc.), their beliefs and their dreams. It was from their writing and blogging about their lives that we formed a sort of family, respecting each other’s differences and savoring our similarities. (Of course, there is a line that has to be drawn between too much information and appropriate teacher–student relations, but that is a whole different subject that will be covered in a later blog.)

  During my second semester, I had students from my previous classes telling me that they missed my ...

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• Preparation is key to successful Parent Teacher Conferences

  11/19/2009 3:24:49 PM

  By Lisa Dennis

  Parent Teacher Conferences can be an intimidating experience for many new and future teachers as concerned parents who, with their son's or daughter’s best interest at heart, can sometimes put teachers on the defensive.
  
  In some of the best case scenarios, parents come to hear you heap praise on their offspring, smiling and nodding as you relate anecdotes to affirm their student’s brilliance. Other conferences involve willing parents who seek guidance on how to better help you help their children. But other meetings and circumstances can be downright intimidating.
  
  A few weeks ago, I experienced a conference night like never before. With three honors classes, one college preparatory class, and my first Advanced Placement class, I had a line of parents for three solid hours! While each conference was productive, the evening’s toll on my voice was certainly less than ideal for class the next day.
  
  No matter ...

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• Do your students think Google has always been a verb?

  11/9/2009 3:37:08 PM

  By Lisa Dennis

  A few years ago, one of my graduate school professors shared an interesting list with my Curriculum Development Class. The Mindset List, created annually by Wisconsin’s own Beloit College, provides readers with a list of truths. Truths that can be used by college and K-12 educators alike to better understand the students entering our classrooms.
  
  For example, the college graduates of 2003, which included yours truly, grew up in a world where John Lennon had always been dead and more than half of our lives had been spent with the Simpsons on television.
  
  College graduates this past spring grew up in a world where photographs have always been processed in an hour or less and the Energizer bunny has forever been going… and going, and going.
  
  And some of the students that I have had the pleasure of teaching, students who will graduate college in 2013, ...

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• A classroom battle ... with germs

  10/7/2009 1:23:47 PM

  I fought a hard battle this week. A hard, exhausting, slightly disgusting battle. A battle that proves that the smallest visitors to our classrooms don’t care that you have a college degree. I fought germs this week, and I lost.
  
  With the advent of the H1N1 virus in schools across the state, many of us can relate to a surge in both district-issued hand sanitizer and instructional videos demonstrating how to cough into the bent of our elbow. Students are encouraged to immediately tell a staff member if symptoms such as fever or sore throat crop up.
  
  So imagine my delight last Friday night as I gargled salt water and took my temperature every 20 minutes. No fever, but a fantastically stuffed up nose and sinus pressure to boot. Thankfully, no flu here. Instead, the first cold of the school year had arrived. Lovely.
  
  It stands to reason that with careful ...

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• The importance of knowing your students' names

  9/22/2009 4:44:53 PM

  By Lisa Dennis

  The start of a new school year whispers promises of growth, achievement, and understanding. The time of year when new and veteran teachers alike wave goodbye to summer and embrace the opportunity to help our children learn lessons that will carry them beyond our classroom walls and into the world.
  
  It is also the time of year when these possibilities can seem overwhelming – especially to the rookies in our midst. My advice? Short-term goals.
  
  Take for example, my own latest anxiety: Names.
  
  Four days in and I am barely remembering to take attendance, much less identify my students by name. As a special bonus we encounter challenges like six kids in one class with the same name or a shy non-English speaker with a name no American born tongue can pronounce.
  
  In the business world, forgotten names can equate to missed opportunity. In the world of ...

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