For more years than I can possibly
remember, I have written an annual column to new teachers. It’s hard to believe I have now been retired
for five years. Nevertheless, I remain in close enough contact with active
teachers and students that I still feel comfortable giving you advice.
·
Don’t
let anyone tell you not to teach. The
fact that you are teaching right now tells me you have already followed your
own path rather than allowing other people to convince you to follow theirs. Teaching
IS difficult. The work of teachers often
isn’t valued the way it once was. But if
your heart tells you to teach, by all means, teach!
·
You
have an enormous responsibility. Every
day, your students deserve your best when they walk into your classroom. They deserve your undivided attention, your
knowledge, your passion for your subject area and for teaching, and your
ability to make what they are learning relevant.
·
Get
to know your students, and let them get to know you. Go to their extracurricular activities when
you can. Sing happy birthday on each
student’s special day. Post news
articles or other announcements that highlight their accomplishments. Call home to check on them when they are
absent more than one day. Talk to them
if you notice a change in personality or mood.
Invite them to community events that are important to you. Let them see your true personality.
·
Classroom
management plays a significant role in learning. Expect, and give, respect in your
classroom. Teach, and use, good
manners. Please, thank you, yes (instead
of yeah), and excuse me go a long way, not only in the classroom but in
life. Avoid using curse words in front
of your students and expect the same from them.
If you spend your time writing referrals, students learn quickly you are
not in control of your classroom. When
you don’t have a well-managed classroom, it affects your students’ ability to
learn. My first two years of retirement,
I worked for an alternative certification company. As part of their course on
Classroom Management, they used the book The
First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Harry and Rosemary
Wong. Oh how I wish this book had been
available when I started teaching. If
you master the techniques taught in this book, your classroom-management game
should be on point.
·
There
IS a line between you and your students.
Stay on your side. My last few
years of teaching, I was shocked to hear of teachers I knew losing their jobs
because they crossed the line on social media or by texting their
students. First, always make sure you
are following your district’s policy as it relates to communication with
students. If your district does not have
a policy, act as if it does. To give you
an idea how serious this is, read School
District Employees and Electronic Media put out by the Texas Association
of School Boards in November of 2017.
Please trust me when I tell you that you do not want to risk your
teacher certification and your reputation by crossing the line.
·
Live
by the words of Pastor Tony Evans. Years
ago, I heard Pastor Tony Evans on the radio.
“We should not lower our standards for our children. Instead, we should raise our children to meet
the high standards we have set for them.”
As I was driving, I gave an AMEN! Do you know about the Texas Truth-in-Grading Law
and how it has withstood
court challenges by districts determined to lower standards for their
students? My advice is to ask yourself
every day, what should your standards be if you truly want to prepare your
students for college and the workforce?
·
Call
your students’ parents. At the beginning
of the school year, I made a list of all of my students’ parents’ phone numbers
I would have them readily available. I developed
the habit of calling them not only when I needed their assistance with
behavioral issues or to get their children to tutoring but also to share good
news about their children. As I look
back on my teaching career, I wish I had done this even more. It’s amazing what it meant to the parents and
to my students.
·
Ask
questions. A lot of them. As I said at the beginning of this blog post,
teaching is difficult. Don’t try to do
it alone. Ask your colleagues,
administrators, school secretaries, counselors, librarians, and anyone else on
your campus for help and guidance. One
day, a new teacher will be asking you.
·
Get
to know your colleagues on campus. You
will find out quickly that your custodians, your school secretaries, the school
nurse, the librarian, your cafeteria workers, and every other member of your
staff plays a critical role in your success and your students’ success. Drop them a note to say thank you, bake for
them, say “Good morning,” and do whatever else you can to let them know you
appreciate them.
·
JOIN
A TEACHERS’ ASSOCIATION/UNION! I would
not teach today without belonging to one.
Though you may think you will never be one who is targeted by an administrator,
a parent, or a student, belonging to an association/union is like having car
insurance. Hopefully, you will never
have a wreck, but if you do, you will be protected. You will also learn through the group you
join about things like the Texas law on planning
periods and on lesson
plans (commonly referred to as the Paperwork Reduction Act). Belonging to an association/union will also
(hopefully) motivate you to get engaged, politically. Current and retired public-education
employees need to be aware of how this November’s election and the 2019 Legislative
Session will affect our healthcare and our pensions. I cannot tell you enough how important it is
for you to get engaged NOW!
·
Invest
in a 401K. Retirement may be a long way
off for you, but don’t be stuck depending only on your TRS pension. While having a pension (IF you still have
one---again, you better get involved in the legislative process NOW!) is nice,
it is best to have supplemental income, as well. Find a local financial advisor who is well-versed
on TRS to help you begin investing in a 401K now. Carlos Cantu, the migrant counselor at Brown
Junior High (now Brown Middle School) in McAllen, where I started my teaching
career, began hounding me to invest that first year, stressing that if I put it
off, I would regret it. I finally
listened to him about three years later.
I should have started that first year because I would have that much
more invested, but now that I am retired, I am sincerely grateful to him for continuing
to hound me. What a difference those
investments will make for me in the not-to-distant future!
CONGRATULATIONS on choosing to
teach! Regardless of the negativity
often surrounding the profession today, it remains an honorable, rewarding
job. Imagine what a difference you can
make in the lives of your students. Have a great year!
Chris Ardis retired in May of 2013 following a 29-year
teaching career. She now helps companies with business communications and
social media and works as a sales coordinator for Tony Roma's and Macaroni
Grill. Chris can be reached at cardis1022@aol.com.
(Photo by Linda Blackwell, McAllen)
