What is one thing your professors want to remind you during your first year of teaching? Drs. Martinie, Vontz, Sherbert, and Payne offer words of advice:
Dr. Sherri Martinie (Secondary Math) – Never say anything a kid can say!
Dr. Tom Vontz (Elementary Social Studies) –
- Take your job seriously, but do not take yourself too seriously.
(Translation: Laugh at your mistakes.) - Find the good in every student.
- Celebrate small victories.
- Try to make what is common and familiar interesting and extraordinary.
- Grit is more important than intelligence.
- Become a geek about students and learning.
Dr. Vicki Sherbert (Secondary English/Language Arts, Speech/Theatre, Journalism) – Remember, we have to be what we want them to be. If we want them to be readers and writers, then we must be readers and writers and we need to share our reading and writing lives with them.
Dr. Phillip Payne (Music Education) – Be visible all of the time during the school day. Let the students see that you care and have a vested interest in their success in your classroom as well as school.