My Advice To You Linky Party

I'm linking up with Ms. Fultz Corner

Gosh...there's so much advice I try to tell our new teachers (my stepson too, he just finished student-teaching)

Tip #1 - Wait Time - This took me a good 3 years to really get (embarrassing, I know).  I would stand up there and continue to teach while my students were not engaged.  They might be talking or daydreaming.  I finally realized that as much pressure as I put on myself to get through my lesson since the test is coming, does not amount to a hill of beans in the students' minds.  It finally clicked one day - IF THEY AREN'T LISTENING, THEY AREN'T LEARNING!  You are thinking DUH!  But I wasn't a complete natural at teaching, I really thought everyone LOVED math and it came easy for all my students

Tip #2 - Leave at 4:30 - no IFs, ANDs, or BUTs....this took me a long time to get to.  Ok...I still struggle with this EVERYDAY, but we have to remember we don't live to work, we work to live!

Tip # 3 - No Field Trips for Papers to Grade - this may sound silly, but don't take papers home to grade all the time.  My papers usually just went for a ride in my car, or a field trip!  By the time I got home, I was too exhausted to grade papers.  I graded on my conference.  To be completely honest, my students graded their papers, when it wasn't an assessment.  This way they were getting immediate feedback.  I taught upper elementary and middle school.   I even let them occasionally vote to whether we took it for a grade or not.  Of course, I still had the ultimate decision, but it is a great way to let kids have input in their grades.

Tip # 4 - Laugh with your students - I cannot emphasize this one enough.  We spend hours a day with our students, try to enjoy them and the funny things that happen daily.  That's what your students remember the most.