11 Things I’ve Learned in My 11 Years of Teaching: 

  1. Relationships are so important. 
  2. “Be firm, but fair.”- My Grandpa and retired Band Director 
  3. Don’t be afraid to be yourself.  Teach things that you are passionate about and relate what you are teaching to things that you genuinely love.  I love afternoon tea, brunch, royalty, love, the finer things in life, fashion, and art.  Throughout the year we talk about these things.  I had so many classes where I listened to sports metaphors for things and I don’t think it’s bad for women to show what they are passionate about. I liked when my teachers were passionate about their subject and their passion made me more excited about what we were learning. I hope that I can emulate that with my students. 
  4. “I think you are a good teacher, but I think you could be an even greater teacher if you incorporate grammar lessons into your curriculum.” – My mother in law and former English teacher 
  5. Not everything needs to be graded.  But also if you stay on top of grading then grading doesn’t become as big of a chore.  I try to have everything graded by the time I leave on Friday afternoon.  
  6. You are in charge of your classroom.  If something isn’t working you can change things at any time.  Even in the middle of a unit.  
  7. Make sure to plan things that bring you JOY.  What did you want teaching to be like when you envisioned being a teacher?  Make sure to plan lessons like that regularly.
  8. Keep notes from your students. Read them when you are having a bad day. Read them when you are having a good day. Read them when you are procrastinating grading during your prep period.  
  9. Time goes by so quickly.  It’s crazy how fast 10 months goes by.  Every year I start off worried if my students will like me (I’m such an enneagram 2) AND if I will like them.  Then it turns out that I L O V E them.  Then the end of May comes too soon and I’m saying goodbye to some of my favorite people and crying.  I try to remember this even on days when they are really bugging me, that at the end of the year I’m going to miss them and to give them grace.  
  10. P O W E R  S T A N D A R D S: Figure out what yours are, and make sure that you are covering them every quarter.  They will make your teaching more cohesive and just better.  I would say to have about 10 standards that you are going to teach throughout the year every quarter.  
  11. It’s okay to do repetitive tasks.  I thought when I started teaching that every day while we were reading a book we needed a new activity.  This did a few things: 1, it was hard to plan a novel unit, 2. I don’t think any of my students fully mastered any of the skills I was teaching them, 3. D I S J O I N T E D lessons.  Now when I’m teaching a novel I pick a few skills/concepts I really want to focus on, and plan how we are going to practice those things every day.  It’s normally in some sort of packet.  Then after I have done that, then I go and plan other supplemental fun activities.

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