Tips for a First Year Teacher... from a survivor

I'm going to preface this with the stats of my first year teaching. 

Challenge: I opened a brand new school that we weren't allowed to move into until the Friday before school started on Monday. 

Challenge: I was on a 2 2/3 membered team. 

Team Member 1:  Taught six classes (like me) Pregnant and due in October

Team Member 2: Only taught two 8th Grade Classes and four 7th Grade classes 

but there was a 7th grade teacher who went on Maternity leave in November

Team Member 3: Had two classes of GT kids and was going through chemotherapy. 

Me: First Year Teacher with 173 students and a year of subbing under my belt.

Challenge: First year of the STAAR Test for 8th Grade US History which asks questions at a higher level than the AP test (No joke I had an AP US History teacher tell me that)

I was in survival mode from October on. I worked until seven MOST nights and felt like I was constantly treading water. However through that-- I think was some of the most career impacting work I've done.

1) I started YouTube Videos to help my kids outside of class.

2) I started a Mock UN Club at my school (Model UN but only for my District)

3) Created "Harry Potter" Review Day

4) Gained respect of my colleagues as a first year teacher who hung tough

5) Watched a class transform from nearly uncontrollable to the class I laughed so hard I cried almost every day

Being a first year teacher is HARD. I get it. 

That being said...

1. Dress sternly. 

This seems weird because most teachers gear towards brightly colored clothing. But this can make you look like an easy target. That first week or two, dress in clothes that make you look very "take charge" after that-- it's all the fun colored clothing you can handle!

2. Find your "Scary Teacher Voice".

I hate to say "Mean Teacher Voice" because I don't feel like my voice is really mean, but it does scare kids. I don't write kids up really and quite frankly I have a VERY long fuse but there are somethings you just don't do. I use it when I tell students about my desk. I speak VERY sternly and my face reflects the sound of my voice. 

3. Assert your boundaries. 

Don't let students go behind your desk. As a young teacher you want to be very laisse faire. You want to not care that they sit in your chair etc. but when you let them sit at your chair, you give them a sense of control over you in your classroom. 

My first year I wasn't very good about this and my kids ended up pulling graded papers off my desk, stealing candy from my cabinet, and taking writing utensils off my desk. 

This year: No such problems. I had a pretty crazy group. While my kids will come to my desk to talk to me and see no problem with that-- they recognize there are BOUNDARIES. 

Also, don't buy into the kids gossip. You are young and the will want to talk to you about things that go beyond your scope. Don't talk about your love life and don't fret over theirs.

4. If you feel overwhelmed ask for help.

My first year I wanted SO BADLY to prove myself. For more reasons than one I felt like I had something to prove. It wasn't until I was staying at school until seven every night and working at home until ten that I realized I couldn't do it all. I talked to my DI and asked if she could help. She called in a few favors and offered to cover a class for me so I could get caught up. Your administration is there to support you if you need it! Utilize them!

5. Don't worry if you don't "fit in" right away.

In a new situation you always want to feel like you fit in. For reasons I can't describe I felt SO AWKWARD my first year teaching. Lunch seemed weird and forced and things I said at lunch seemed to land flat. I say I'm weird but honestly I'm usually a social butterfly so this was REALLY hard for me. 

However, I made one REALLY good friend. She was a fourth year teacher and a ROCKSTAR. Her then fiance (now husband) told her while we were moving into the school that she should be friends with me after I made a quip about how he should definitely let her buy a Zebra Rug. She was all I needed and she inspired me to push myself harder.  

The next year things got a lot more comfortable. People got shuffled some but with those who remained there was a sense of camaraderie. We were survivors of opening our school. I made sure to welcome those who were new to our floor and team because I remembered what if felt like to be so uncomfortable.

Be kind. People respect kindness even if they feel it is unwarranted. Smile at people and be willing to share. 

6. Be the light.

When you get on a team it can be pretty clear what kind of team you are stepping into within those first moments of planning. The most dangerous trap to fall into is the negativity trap. If you hear/see this-- don't feed into it! Be the light! Be the light of positivity on everything. It makes negative people feel uncomfortable and they will stop complaining around you-- you don't need that.

7. Find a way to love every child.

There are going to be kids that are hard to love. Know those are the kids that need you to understand them the most. Try to expose the good in them whenever possible. 

I had a student this year whose favorite line at the beginning of the year was saying (in a joking way) "You just hate me". I called him up to talk to me. I told him I loved my job and I loved all my students and for him to claim that I could "hate" a student was hurtful to both me and my character. It ceased to be an issue. In fact he was a kid who put on the best show when I had observers come to the room. He shook their hand, would explain any rule I asked, and would evil-eye any student who made me look like a less than "perfect" teacher. He was protective of me and yet was still prone to outbursts of blatant disrespect. I continued to work with him all year and he has one of the greatest hearts in the world, but struggled dealing with the emotional ups and downs that come with being a teen. 

Find the good in your students and constantly seek to see it in them and remind them that it is there!

8. Find ways to enjoy your job and make lessons your own. 

I created Harry Potter day in a time that I was DESPERATE to do something fun and creative. I wanted something that would excite my kids about learning and it REALLY did. They LOVED it. It is now a staple of every semester in my classroom.

I wanted to have fun with my students so I founded our Mock UN club because it sounded interesting to me! It was the BEST thing I did with my first year teaching.

9. Don't let people belittle you because you are a first year teacher.

My first year it drove me NUTS that people would claim my energy and enthusiasm came from being a "first year teacher". They would say that was the reason I was doing all the things I did. "I wish I was a first year teacher and had that energy" or "It must be  nice to be a first year teacher". Little did they know that energy is something that pulses off of me in waves. 

On the flip side, I had teachers say my lack of experience meant I knew "nothing". 

You are a teacher. Everything outside of that will be reflected in the success of your students. 

10. Build relationships with these kids. They will FOREVER be in your memory as your first babies. 

My first group I will never forget. I will never forget those moments. The ones that pushed me and molded me as a teacher. They set me up for greatness and will forever hold a special place in my heart. 

I remember each class fondly for their own unique quirks. :-)

1st Period: Clever and Sneaky (They convinced a sub birds were flying at the window as a student from the middle of the classroom through erasers at the window-- the sub's note said the kids were helpful)

Advisory: HILARIOUS and LOUD. We played a lot of Phase 10-- I loved this group

3rd Period: HUGE class. Thirty Three kids by the end of the year. They were a quiet group that worked hard. One student would walk in after the weekend and shout "Did you watch Harry Potter Weekend?!?!?"

4th Period: Individuality ran rampant in this class. They wanted to be sure I knew their opinions.

5th Period: My students who LOVED books. I talked about books with them often and saw almost half the class at "The Hunger Games" midnight premiere when I went with my friends. 

6th Period: Laughed until I cried almost every day

7th Period: Off

8th Period: Supremely Awkward but hilarious class. They loved to make things uncomfortable. 

UPDATE: Last year I had two teachers go out on maternity leave (one in the Fall and one in the Spring). This year (knock on wood) will be the first year no one on my team goes on maternity leave! 

Any other suggestions or advice for first year teachers?

Origins: Blog Title

This blog title came from a blurb I wrote about my teaching philosophy for my district.  

My students helped me come up with the title :-)

“My house is me and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams.”—The Big Orange Splot. 

When you walk into my classroom, it is easy to see that it’s a little different: Harry Potter Legos line the book cases, stuffed tigers lounge about, there’s a book case of my favorite books, and daily themed music playing from my iPod.

In my classroom, I start the year off telling my students that I’m a “different” kind of teacher. They won’t necessarily “get” me at first, but I will grow on them. I feel it’s an important lesson—don’t write someone off just because you don’t understand them right away. Although students are wary at first, eventually my students embrace my quirks. They embrace my odd sense of humor, and even come to find me funny in a way that only people who know me can. 

More importantly though, my students then embrace the memory tricks, raps, and analogies to my favorite fandoms (Harry Potter, Star Wars, Hunger Games). Any time I bring up Harry Potter my kids start laughing at/with me.

I find my students start to embrace their own quirks. They wear them proudly. Our classroom becomes a place where it is okay to be different. In fact it’s always okay to be a little weird because there is no way you will be weirder than Ms. Puckett. One of my students who is generally wary of people who are different told me this year that I was “weird in a cool way.” Students recognize being different and owning it is a good thing. 

Middle school is a tough place to be different, but in our classroom we wear our differences proudly.

Happy Teaching!

YOU NEVER USE BLUE FOR LAND ON A MAP!

So I LOVE Social Studies and I always have. There are certain things that as a student of social studies.. you just NEVER do. I don't know what engrained this in me SO deeply but... sweet moses when a kid makes this mistake it's like Miley playing Mother Theresa in  BioPic... just WRONG. 

COLORING LAND ON A MAP WITH BLUE! 

Agh just writing it makes me cringe. Before we get out ANY map, my students and I discuss the expectations and they know to NEVER use blue on a map. Here is my spiel:

"YOU NEVER use BLUE for LAND on a MAP! What does Blue represent? (Class: Water!) Right! So if you use blue on a map you are telling me that land is water. IF you use blue for land on a map YOU WILL write me a four page paper about this post-apocolyptic America you live in where some sort of environmental tragedy has struck and part of America is under water and even more mysteriously how you are the only one that can see this!"

The kids laugh but take it seriously! They will call out their friends WHENEVER they use blue on a map! They quote it to people all the time! I also think it is HILARIOUS that whenever there is blue used for land on a map in a presentation they FLIP!  I even had one kid so excited with the prospect of this essay he wrote it without putting blue on a map :-)

This year I had ONE kid that used blue on a map. It was a day that I was out and after chatting with him about it and the quality of work that he turned in... I had him write this instead. Less fun but I don't know that he would have gotten as much out of the creative assignment. 

I hope this is helpful in your classroom!!!

Harry Potter Review Day!

To say I am a Harry Potter fan is a BIT of an understatement. My friends call me "fangirl", my students know me as a "superfan" but to me it's about keeping the excitement alive! 

Twice a year I host in my classroom something I call "Harry Potter Review Day!".  I have one  in the Fall and one in the Spring before our Mid-Term and our Final. There is a lot of prep work that goes into this so I'm going to talk about decoration first, then the organization, and finally the execution!

Decoration:

I divide my classroom into four long tables. And have table clothes on each table and then I hang it from the ceiling by tucking it into the ceiling tiles

I buy $2 table cloths from Party City.
I buy four different colors: Caribbean Blue, Festive Green,
Sunshine Yellow, and Red.  (2 OF EACH)

I put a slide on the screen stating the each house and corresponding color (Blue-Ravenclaw, Red-Gryffindor, Green-Slytherin, and Yellow-Hufflepuff).

I have a table at the front of the room with my iPod on it and it plays Music from the Sorcerer's Stone. This is USUALLY enough to create the environment. My students walk in feeling they've entered a magical world. 

Organization:

The night before (because thats the kind of planner I am) I go through my class rosters and "sort" the students. Now this you can do however you want. As teacher I like to be sure that EACH house has strong students, but as an HP fan, I KIND OF sort them. 

The "Slytherin" table is usually ALL boy. It's all my boys who tell me "Ms Puckett why can't we ever sit together?" I laugh and always tell them that its a lot easier for me to like them when they are separated. This is their chance though... needless to say by the end of the day Slytherin table cloth is the most picked at and has the fewest House Points. Disclaimer: I love the kids I put in Slytherin, its usually just the easiest group to put my boys at. 

I take out one copy of each test I've given so far (usually four or five) and each quiz (seven or eight). I will use these as a tool to ask the students questions. 

Each table has ONE white board and ONE Marker to answer questions with.

Dress:

I am a super nerd SO I have an authentic robe, tie and even scarf. I wear all of these with glasses, my hair in a bun, and a wand. However there are alternatives, white button down, black pants, charcoal/gray sweater, and a tie of one of the four houses colors.

Not mine - but you get the idea :-)

Execution:

1) As the students walk in I get their name and as I wave my wand at them I say/shout/cast their house at them (from the list I have previously made) Side Note: Hufflepuff is the funniest one to say-- the kids LOVE it!

2) I intro what the day will look like, it sounds something like this:

"Welcome, Welcome, to Professor Potter's History Review. Today you have been sorted into your houses. While you are here your house will be like your family, your triumphs will earn you points, any rule breaking, and you will lose points!" 

3) I ask questions in a FEW different formats

• Multiple Choice Questions
• Put in order
• List differences
• List the following characteristics
• Explain Why

Prior to asking the questions I tell them how I will select the winner and the number of points the question is worth.

• Fastest hands (first one to answer accurately wins)
• Best answer wins
• Correct Answer Wins 

4) I keep track of the House Points on my board for every class and have a winner for each class and then at the end of the day I have a house winner! The kids pop their heads in throughout the day to see how "their" house is doing. It's really cool :-)

5) I take away points when students are rude but ALWAYS give points for good sportsmanship. Note: I give points to the house that displayed good sportsmanship displayed first.

This day can be kind of emotionally exhausting because you have to be pretty much larger than life all day but it is SO much fun. At the end of the year when I poll my students they will usually count it as their FAVORITE moment of the year.

Rappin' through History!

Okay-- so my kids think I'm a "rapper". In reality I went to Texas A&M (Whoop!) and was a Fish Camp Counselor and became fairly good at coming up with "Yells". My "raps" are easy to remember because they rhyme. They aren't perfect but I thought I'd share a few of them. 

Principles of Government are always difficult. I encourage my students to learn the raps to help them find the key words

          Executive Vetoes,

          Judicial Overturns,

          Legislative Overrides,
       Checks and Balances Learned.

          (Executive Branch can veto a law, Judicial Branch can Overturn a law and declare it unconstitutional, and the Legislative Branch can override a President's Veto)

Question from STAAR 2013
Students from my school ranked at the top of our district with this question. 

      

Key to a SOLID "rap": 

• Figure out WHAT you want your students to know. 
• Don't be afraid to abbreviate, use slang, or use an acronym!
• Try to get the words you want them to remember to rhyme! 
• Keep it short! If it's too long it's too tricky!
• Be sure it works IN RHYTHM! 

Tell your kids WHY the "rap" is important! If they don't understand why the rap works then it is insignificant! 

Happy Teaching!

Find my raps at TeachersPayTeachers: Ms Puckett's Store

Things, as a Teacher, I never want to say.

I'm a person who talks a lot. I feel like if you have met me in person and read this you will laugh because-- it almost seems like a ridiculous understatement. It's like saying Lindsay Lohan had a "tiny" public image issue. 

That being said I work really hard at being positive. I'm fortunate to be a fairly positive person however it is something that I can easily get away from if I don't focus on it. 

My purpose in saying this is that I do a lot of listening to other teachers. In some conversations I get quiet I listen and try to breath encouraging words into the conversation. Which can make me seem like Susie Sunshine Rainbow and that may annoy some people but I would rather people be annoyed that I'm positive than be known for spreading negativity. 

I've compiled a list of phrases I try and stay away from. Not to say I've never said them... but I make a point to really try not to. 

1) Some form of: The kids just don't get this. I've taught it but it is just something they don't care about knowing. 

As a teacher I feel it is my job to make kids WANT to learn the information. If they aren't getting it I need to revamp how I teach it. If something isn't working don't just shrug your shoulders-- be proactive!  I'll usually say: "We need to change how we present this because the kids REALLY didn't understand it this year". If it doesn't work FIX IT!

2) Its not my job to be sure that they are taking notes and paying attention.

This one-- I know teachers who defend it and I understand the philosophy behind it... it just isn't one that I practice.  If it isn't my job to monitor them and be sure they are focusing than they might as well be listening to me on a podcast. It is my job to create an environment where my students feel safe to learn and WANT to learn and be successful. I MAKE my kids take notes. I don't care HOW they do it but I make sure that they are. 

After lunch my kids have a problem with wanting to have nap time. What started as me jokingly singing to them "Gotta keep your head up OOOOOO, Gotta keep your head up YEAAAAAH" (not the lyrics but almost), became something we did as a class whenever someones head was down we would sneak attack on them-- pretty funny stuff. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for your students learning-- you can't MAKE them learn it, but kids like to know you care about whether or not they "get it".

3) This class is just awful. (Other teacher offers advice or recommends something) No, I mean it's fine I don't need to change anything it's just the kids.

When I have a class that I don't enjoy... I seek out help. I don't want my day to be darkened by any class and I don't want another class to suffer because a class put me in a bad mood. If a class isn't working for you-- figure it out! Find a way to MAKE IT HAPPEN! I challenge you to find a way to make that class your FAVORITE. It will make your day so much better! Talk to other teachers-- ask what they do with their tough classes. 

4) During an inservice where new strategies for working with kids are taught-- shooting down everything with some form of "This would NOT work for my kids"-- cue negative tirade about how yours is the class no one can relate to or fix. 

Okay, don't get me wrong... last training I went to I played Harry Potter Hangman with my friend the whole time (I took this class last summer too). I am not the model student nor do I ever claim to be though I do try and participate when asked to. However when it comes to my classroom I have a "make it work" attitude. How could I "make this work" for my classroom. Instead of doing "X" I could do it with my own spin on it and have the kids do "Y" instead. It doesn't make you sound like a a better teacher to say that you have the impossible class-- it makes you sound arrogant and quite frankly like you hate your job. 

5) I will never have a sign in my classroom that says "Today became great when you arrived".

This one I know I'll get some flack for. I know WONDERFUL teachers who have this in their room and absolutely embody what it says and I LOVE that. However-- I've seen too many teachers who have that in their classroom and don't really feel that way. The sad thing is that the kids see it too. 

I start off every year telling my kids how I came into teaching. How I came into teaching middle school and how much I ADORE this age. I tell them how much I love my job and how glad I am that they are in my classroom. I greet them with a smile and usually dancing at the door. I want my kids to know that Ms Puckett loves her job and is glad to see me without there being a sign to affirm it. I don't judge you if you have it-- I just hope you are living up to it :-)

6) When they do something wrong-- complain about getting caught and how it isn't fair because other people do it all the time. 

This attitude of playing the victim... drives me BONKERS. I don't do everything right. In fact things slip my mind OFTEN. When they do though-- I take responsibility and do my best to remedy it next time. We expect MORE from our students and should therefore expect the same if not MORE from ourselves. 

7) I'm done! If you don't care why should I?

In fact I tell my kids that I'm never done with them. When the school year ends and they ago a little nuts I tell them how much I love teaching and when they don't let me teach it makes my job and our time together significantly less fun. When you tell kids you are done with them... why on EARTH should they care AT ALL if you don't?

Really in all of this-- stay away from negativity. It doesn't make you feel good. Find ONE teacher or good friend to vent to if you really need it. I have a teacher at my school that when I am struggling with being negative I go to her and she listens with a sympathetic ear and offers me ways to fix it or make it better. She doesn't ENABLE my negativity, she empowers me to see the good and find a better attitude. 

I'm sure there are more things I don't like when people say-- but quite frankly I tend to shut out negativity and turn a  blind ear. What are some things you wish teachers would stay away from saying??