But there was something going on that made me uncomfortable. Rather than listening and trying to learn from what was being said, people were quick to dispute one another. If I didn’t know any better, I would have to say they were actually trying to prove each other wrong. I understand that we all have our opinions, but I don’t think this is a debate where having your argument win is the point. If anything that just counters everything that we are trying to do.

Maybe if we listened, and really listened, we would realize that we’re all right. We all want to help our students, and if awareness is the first step towards change then what’s the point in having tunnel vision? If we keep that up then we all lose.

Good thing this was only our second class. Us newbies have got a lot to learn!

Teaching geometry a 2nd time around, you notice the difference. Your lessons slowly evolve. The lessons that turned awry the first time around are improved. The concepts you didn’t hit well become stronger. And those rare lessons that were gold are enhanced. I see it happening as I creep towards the midway point of my 2nd year, and I know that it has to only get better during year 3. A process of evolution.

The issue: This year I teach only 2 geometry classes. The other 3? Algebra.

Taking on a new prep feels like repeating the 1st year process all over again. And like I said before, Algebra is much more difficult to teach than Geometry, especially if it’s to a group whose propensity to the topic is virtually nonexistent.

I’m blindly moving forward, hoping some of this stuff will stick. Yet, looking back at these past 14 weeks, I can easily point to more than a handful of lessons that were downright horrible.

Introducing new material THE WRONG WAY is toxic. And you see it happening. You notice students chronically approach problems THE WRONG WAY as a consequence. You’re aware that some students can walk through the motions correctly but have NO CONCEPTUAL CLUE as to why they do what they do. You wish you could time travel back and change the way you did things the first time, but realize you’re weeks behind the curriculum pacing guide and… blindly… move… forward.

As a new teacher, I see no solution to this. Unless some vet walks me through each new topic daily, shedding light on every angle of every lesson, I’ll remain blind. It’s a process I must go through before becoming much improved during my second go round, a process every new teacher must face.

One contributor and I spoke excitedly a few months ago on the topic of our site’s recent success. And by success, I mean increased readership. I pin this on dy/dan, whose recent mention of ST brought some traffic flow. Thank you, sir. Sincerely. We jokingly proposed creating SupTeach t-shirts for all contributors once our subscriber count hit the 100-mark…

Is it possible that we’re paralyzed b/c of this larger reader base? Are we now self-conscious of what we have to say? Are we afraid of critique? Do we presume that our rookie words will be unworthy to vets?

SupTeach does not have a specific purpose. Check our “about”, check our sidebar and you get the sense that we’re here merely to share our experiences – even if only to our small blogosphere of friends.

I’m not sure what my specific goal was in beginning this post, but I would like to acknowledge that I hope to begin writing again (and more consistently) but without presumption that 100+ readers will come across my words. Not that an increased readership is a hindrance; it’s a blessing. And I love it. And I love feedback. But only because I know words will flow more freely from these weary teacher fingers of mine if I do so.

So to begin, one awesome quote from my 2nd period remedial algebra class:

Me: “Really, did you guys figure out 2n+2 all by yourselves?”

S1: “No, she did! Cus she’s a freak!”

She: “No, I’m not a freak. I’m just smarter than I thought I was.”

Indeed, she, indeed. Even if only a handful of revelations like this one occur yearly, you LOVE it when they do.

And to end:

SupTeach writers, WHERE THE EFF ARE YOU!? COME OUT OF YOUR EFFIN CAVES!!!!!!!!!!!

Prep in the morning is a blessing.  It allows me to get in my groove for the day.  Since I usually hide out in the 12th grade team office, I use my prep time to grade, plan, and relax to my Lauryn Hill Pandora station.

I’ve done what I feel like doing for today’s prep period, I’ve got a cool activity planned for class (which starts in 10 minutes), and thanks to Yom Kippur I don’t have school tomorrow.  Today will be a good day

Maybe I’m a bit burnt out. Maybe I’m still coming to terms with the fact that summer is beyond over. Maybe I need to work more efficiently. But, TGIF. I don’t know what I’d do w/out you, weekend.

…

Tell me why I’m already tired though. Dammit.

Monday: I had a good start to the week.

Tuesday: I approached break point #1.

I finished my last class of the day with a little bit of time to spare. So, I gave my students a break for 5 minutes while I slipped into my prep room to grab a demo. I tried to get back into my classroom only to find that someone blocked the door. Thankfully there are multiple points of entrance to the lab, so I got back in just fine. Upon my return instincts kept me from screaming at my class; instead I expressed my disappointment in their behavior. As I spoke to my students, my face grew hot and I could feel the tears forming. How I kept my composure while I spoke about being disrespected in my own classroom, I do not know. Surprisingly the student at fault confessed and we had a serious conversation after class. Hopefully we understand each other and that sort of behavior will not be repeated. [fingers crossed]

Wednesday: Nothing fabulous happened. Nothing terrible happened.

Thursday: I walked out of school with a huge smile.

Forty seniors went on a field trip for the entire day. What happened to the other roughly seventy upperclassmen? I don’t know, but I saw a total of twenty students that day… So, instead of administering my very first quiz I was forced to do some review.

While everyone was “diligently” working I took each student aside for a couple minutes to get to know him/her. Through those one-on-ones I learned a good deal about each of my student’s home life, interests, and thoughts on my class. My students have much more life experience at the tender ages of 16-18 than I have at 22. It is sobering to hear about their daily responsibilities, like caring for younger siblings and cooking dinner for the family. With each conversation I was reminded why I love to work with youth. They are so funny and they are capable of warming my heart with their comments.

Some notable quotes:
“I take care of my 3 little brothers. The youngest one thinks I’m his mom.”

“Miss, you live in Queens? You got a roommate?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Oh, good. Cause Queens is too far to be lonely.”

“I’m like ten times more comfortable coming to you because of this talk. You’re one of the first teachers to have a conversation like this with me.”

Friday: I approached break point #2.

My IB students are the “most motivated” members of the senior class. They also happen to be the only class that I feel least welcomed. I understand why these bright students are so skeptical of me; I am the fifth science teacher they have had since their freshman year. But, knowing why they are not warming up to me does not make it any easier to teach them.

During a transition from taking a quiz to working on practice problems, I could not get my students to settle down. My mentor teacher, the guidance counselors, and the dean all said that our students need to see the human side of their teachers. So, I stopped to express my feelings with them. Again, I do not know how I kept the tears of frustration from falling while I spoke to my class, but thank God I kept it together.

One of my IB students told me, “Give it another week, Miss. They’ll start to listen to you.”

Well…here I go again! We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Whenever I provide my own pointers in this blog, I don’t mean to be patronizing nor do I presume that I know it all. I’m just sharing what’s worked for me so far, and am putting it out there in hopes that somebody might get something out of it.

So, here goes, presenting my methods of coping:

(1) Wake early.
Late night work is filled with traps. Folks on gchat, television shows, the idea that you’ve got ‘all night’ to finish something up, etc. Rather than sleeping late to tweak a lesson plan, I’ll try and sleep early to wake early.

Workwise, I do this for two reasons: I’m FORCED to work uninterrupted and I’m FORCED to work within a time limit. It’s easier to get that work done when there’s absolutely nobody online to chat with save for a few crickets. For example, if I wake up at 5a. I know I MUST be done by 7a in order to get to work on time. 2 hours. Let’s get it done.

Healthwise, I do this for one HUGE reason: to make sure I get enough sleep.

(2) Allow yourself me time everyday.
It’s easy to forget about yourself in the whirlwind of thoughts, plans, and to-do lists. ‘Me time’ is crucial to maintain balance. Whatever it is you enjoy doing (even if it’s straight vegging), make sure you give yourself a bit of time everyday where you ALLOW yourself to do it. By allow, I mean don’t think about school or students or work AT ALL during that time.

(3) Let it go.
If a lesson doesn’t go well, if you feel like you’re not reaching a student, if you feel like you’re not planned enough, let it go. Time will always move forward, and dwelling on the downs of your day will eat you alive. Simple, but believe me when I say it’s so easy to hold onto something negative when you’re a teacher. You’ll definitely fail, you’ll definitely have days where you suck, and it’s all good cus that’s to be expected.

(4) Realize that good things happen everyday in your classroom.
It’s easy to focus on the negative. Student A and B are over there in the corner acting up. Students C and D are not getting ANYTHING. Your focus tends to shift on them, and you forget about students E through J that are there… doing work… focused… eager to learn. We forget about students E through J because we must tend to the needs of students A through D. But remember that they’re there. Remembering small victories makes petty little arguments and other ‘losses’ feel a lot smaller.

(5) Vent.
One thing I valued about being in OTF was meeting a group of teachers I was able to vent to on the nightly. They were wearing the exact same shoes as me, and to be able to share my frustrations with them was highly valuable.

(6) Mini-meditations.
I’ll usually do this during lunch or my prep period, when no students are around. From wherever I’m at (usually at my desk) I’ll close my eyes, and breathe deeply for a minute. Just a minute. Afterward, I’ll feel re-centered and re-energized even in the midst of the busiest/most stressful days… when students and the rest of the world seem to be conspire against you.

(7) Personal days & sick days.
Many teachers are like robots, never missing a day. In my district, we’re given 5 personal days and 10 sick days. However many you’ve got, put them to use. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking a ‘mental health day.‘ Sometimes you’ve just got to hit the pause button. (I’ve already taken one this year).

(8) Read teacher blogs.
This goes along the lines of #5. It’s comforting to know I’m not alone in this endeavor. Not only that, but you’ll stumble upon lesson ideas and other tips along the way. How do I find them? Either search edublogs, or click on comments on teacher blogs I already read. Here, maybe you can start at this spot: www.thefacultyroom.org

(9) Sit in on your colleagues’ classrooms.
Same idea as #5 and #8. Again, teaching is collaborative. Take advantage of that!

Wally once said lifehackers “just point out the obvious things” but I don’t care. These work for me, and I wanted to share.

Oh and this is beside the point, but eating in the teacher/staff room is so weird. I feel like I should be playing 4-square outside…

I’m lucky to be in a happier place now, but I realize these next few months will be tough. To help myself and other new teachers out there, here’s a few tidbits I picked up on ‘how to work’ as my first year progressed:

1. Work hard. But don’t work stupid.

You might find yourself working til the wee hours of the night perfecting and tweaking a lesson. Limit yourself to a certain time limit. Often those extra hours do not add anything significant to the overall scheme of things. Those extra few hours of relaxation will contribute more to your actual execution of the lesson than anything else. It’s all about balance.

2. Limit the Paperwork.

You can get buried alive in all the assignments you’ve got to grade. You can spend hours and hours grading and editing every tiny mistake, or you can choose your battles. In my experience last year, I focused my grading efforts on assessments. I felt that was the best way to guage a student’s overall progress. Homework assignments, classwork, and other gradeables, I simply glanced over and checked. There’s simply too much to go over.

Again, work hard but don’t work stupid. Work smart.

3. Maintain Balance.

I’m a huge fan of the book 4-hour work week. Though the book’s target audience are self-employed entrepeneurs, there are several methods applicable to teachers. In it, the author Tim Ferriss offers advice on how to maximize time and efficiency. In one exercise, he asks the reader: “if suddenly, due to a condition, you were told you could only work 2 hours a day for the next month, how would you work during those 2 hours?”

The purpose is to rethink the way you work. Focus not only on productivity, but also on efficiency. This is why I like to wake up early and this is why I like to stay in my classroom after school. Those early morning hours and those afterschool hours are the hours I’m most efficient with my work.

In a recent interview on men’s journal, Ferriss says: “I want to either be in a complete state of relaxation or productivity. When you end up in the middle, you’ve got neither.” The “work hard and play hard” MO is something us teachers GOT to adapt. In fact, I’d say it’s almost crucial if you’d like to keep your sanity.

4. Stay As Paperless As Possible.

You’ll want to keep EVERYTHING you create this year. I create homework worksheet assignments daily by copying, clipping, and pasting stuff from my textbook. Though it worked out well, those hardcopy sheets are ALL OVER THE PLACE. Create an organization system that’ll help you keep track of anything that’s hardcopy. It’s helpful to know exactly where everything is, everything you’ve ever created.

Everything I’ve created digitally (assignments, lesson plans, slide decks, and other handouts) are accessible right at my fingertips! A quick search on quicksilver and it pops up right there in front of me. Staying as paperless as possible not only limits the amount of paper clutter in your classroom, it helps you preserve all your creations so that you may easily access them in the future (and share with your colleagues).

5. Beg, Borrow, and Steal.

I’m sure you’ve heard it before, but this really works. Do not be shy to ask for help. If another teacher at your site teaches what you teach, ask them for their resources! If you catch a blogger online that posts up some sweet slides, send ‘em an email and see if they can burn you a copy. If you meet a teacher whose got anything, beg ‘em for it! The beauty of the teaching profession is that we are not in competition with one another. We’re all here for the same purpose, and we’re all willing to help each other out.

I hope this post can help you!