advice for new teachers...

Today's topic is advice for new teachers.... which... I feel like a pretty new teacher myself... but here goes. (FYI-- for those who have hopped over, I do first grade autistic support in a cotaught classroom)

1. Make friends with your speech therapist, OT and PT. They are a wealth of information and are usually happy to share ideas and resources. I am amazed when I am totally frustrated with a situation and I bounce it off of one of them, how they might see the situation from a totally different point of view than I do.

2. When writing IEP goals, try to align them with data you are already collecting anyways. We do tons with DIBELS data, so I have started including that as reading goals. Why do double work?

3. It's okay to shut the door and cry during your prep period once in a while. It happens to everyone. Heck, I cried on my way home from school pretty much every night in August, September and October of my first year. But it got easier.

4. Don't be afraid to ask questions or ask for help. Everything will be so overwhelming at first and you won't be able to figure it all out on your own.

5. Have a plan B (and a plan C). And it's okay if, once in a while, your plan C is playdough. I've had all kinds of kids since I started teaching and playdough is a universal pleaser.

6. Don't be tempted to go crazy in the teacher store. Sure at the beginning it's fun to splurge, but so many things can be made, or picked up at yard sales, or inherited from other teachers who no longer need them, or discovered in the closet of that empty classroom... Ask around first before you shell out cash.

7. Listen to little Johnny's long rambling story. You might be the only person who gives him some undivided attention that day.

8. Let people push you a little when it comes to letting your IEP kids bloom. This can be a hard one. I looped with my students with autism for three years and found myself making snap judgement on what I felt they could and couldn't do. It came from a place of good intentions: the mama bear in me wanting to protect them and shield them from "failing". There were definitely times when a colleague or supervisor pushed me to have a child participate in something and I would be surprised at how well they would exceed everyone's expectations.