Excellent! Welcome to the team! Here are 10 pieces of advice that might have been skipped over by your Faculty of Ed….
Caffeinat-ing with some of my favorite scientists.
1) Keep a toy microphone on your desk. Just in case you need to drop it.
2) A wand is also ideal. Even the eye-rollers can’t resist the smile that goes along with magic.
3) Pinterest has all sorts of ideas on how to DIY a PHONE PRISON in your classroom. I vote you take the super realistic approach and have students rest their “babies” in the PHONE NURSERY.
4) But on that note, don’t let the phones sleep all class. It’s 2017, people! USE THEM! Implement them properly, and engagement will skyrocket.
5) Need to calm the class? Restore some Zen? COLOR! It only took me nine years to discover this trick.
I mean, the picture is even relaxing.
6) Stickers and stamps. Stamps and stickers. Yes, STILL.
7) Let your kids be human. Sometimes they’re late. Sometimes they forget what class to go to. Sometimes they use lunchtime to RUN rather than EAT, and end up begging you for a couple of minutes to snack at the start of class. IT HAPPENS.
8) Show your students that you’re human too. Sometimes you wear two different shoes to school because the light in your hallway is out. Sometimes you realize your retainer is still in on the drive to school. Sometimes, there’s toothpaste on your shirt because mornings are rushed and you’re doing your best to get out the door. IT HAPPENS.
9) Find a teacher buddy as passionate as you. They are usually easy to spot. Mine has been known to teach with a fake moustache. She often moustaches her students to do stuff.
10) Neverland is a real thing, if you ask me. Figure out how to get there and STAY A WHILE!
Now excuse me while I put the finishing touches on a fairy door. Rumor is there is an exam fairy and I want to make sure she has access to my classroom.
Mic drop!!!!!
Lindsay Parkinson is a Canadian mama of two, living abroad and blogging the ocean away. Post by post, she brings her family of four closer to home. Follow along at The Pearl Curriculum.