I was given a lot of advice when I was a new teacher. I look pretty young and was told by a professor that I should wear heavy makeup and dress like a grandma because my students would never respect me otherwise. This type of advice made me very nervous to start teaching. 

But when student teaching rolled around and I didn’t follow that professor’s advice, you know what happened? My students did not care one bit that I wore very little makeup and dressed like a 20-something professional. 

This type of thing has happened to me a lot over the past 10 years. A well-meaning person will tell me how I should behave, dress, teach, etc. Some of the advice was great, but some of it was outdated. I’ve learned that, ultimately, teaching is a lot of trial and error. You’ll figure it out as you go along. But, maybe you can learn a little from my own experience. 

My Top 10 Teacher Tips

Here are ten pieces of advice from my first ten years of teaching. 

1:Teach to your own personality

“Don’t smile until Thanksgiving!” Did you ever get this advice? I did. Over and over and over. 

But here’s the thing. I can’t NOT smile until November. I have a laid-back and silly personality. Not smiling would make me incredibly miserable and that, in turn, would make building relationships with my students impossible. I rely on those relationships for classroom management. 

Some Old School Advice

One teacher, a well-meaning, close to retirement, middle school math teacher, told me to keep a hard grip on my students (complete with a raised fist). He said I should slowly loosen my grip on the class after Thanksgiving, becoming more relaxed but as soon as one of my students slipped, I should squeeze tight again. 

No. No, thank you, sir. I can’t do that. I want to trust my students to do the right thing. “Squeezing” them feels a lot like not trusting them to make smart choices. But if we never give them the chance to make the smart choice, how will they learn to do it on their own?

You don’t have to take their advice to admire them

I did admire many of the veteran teachers I taught with my first few years. So yes, you can admire that teacher down the hall. Take ideas and advice from that teacher down the hall too. But you don’t have to BE that teacher down the hall. I will never be the same as that now-retired math teacher. His kids were great for him. And you know what, my kids are great for me. 

Our kids are going to be exposed to many different teaching styles just like they’re exposed to many different personalities in the people they meet. Remember, your students need YOU, in all of your glory. And THAT’S how you become your own version of the best teacher ever!

2: Have your students say their names before you even try

Worried about butchering names during roll call? I’ve done it. I felt bad. The student was embarrassed. And some of their classmates would call them the WRONG name. Oof.

Every student deserved to be called by their name, pronounced correctly. To avoid any mispronunciations, here’s what I do now on the first day of school:

1. make seating charts and print a copy that you will use to write nicknames and phonetics on later
2.  during class, have your students write their names on an index card and include some sort of phonetics under it (for example, my name is Ali (like an alley, not like Ali Babba and the 40 thieves… though my grandpa called me that)
3.  have them list out any other important information you’d like to reference throughout the year
4.  before you collect the notecards, have each student stand and say their name – that’s it. If you’re trying to fill time have everyone in the room repeat it. Record your own phonetics on your roster. You could play a name game with this, but I don’t. I just motor on with the rest of my first-day stuff, which usually includes some sort of STEM activity
5. collect the cards and compare your phonetics to what the kid wrote
6. BONUS: use the cards the next day to call roll, shuffle to call on students for answers, etc.

Your students will feel seen

This one little exercise goes a LONG way in building relationships with my students. They know, on day 1, that I’m here for them and see them as people first. I also tend to learn my students’ names very quickly!

If you work in a district that mostly matches your own upbringing, you might wonder why this is important. But trust me, no matter where you work, there are going to be kids that say their names differently than you’d expect.

3: Get involved in at least one extracurricular activity

After-school activities are a great way to get to know your students on another level. Unless you’re a first-year teacher. Then my advice is DO NOT say yes to sponsoring ANY after-school activities. You are going to be busy enough surviving your first year. For first years, I would recommend attending after-school events, but not planning them. 

My High School Experience

I was a super involved high schooler I used to joke that on yearbook photo day I wasn’t in class because I was in that many group pictures. So for me, extracurriculars are important as a former member of so many different groups. A way to give back to the communities that helped me grow.

We are more than our classroom avatars

If you weren’t involved in student groups and you don’t think they are important for you as a teacher I’d like you to reconsider. Seeing students outside of the classroom gives you a different perspective. You start to empathize with them more. You start to see your students as whole people.

Your students also get a different perspective of YOU. They start to empathize with you more. They see you as a whole person.

4: Set office hours and stick to them

Oh boy. This one is hard. Especially today when you can do so much from home online. But you do not owe your students, parents, or administration your family time. When you leave for the day, you are off duty. 

Before School

Here’s what I did my first year to set my own personal office hours. I can in 30 minutes before my contract time. This allowed me time alone in my classroom before students entered the building. I personally really love being able to ease into my day. This is almost impossible for me now with a preschooler (kindergartener in the fall) but starting out my teacher journey this way was indispensable. 

Lunch Time is My Time

I never work through lunch because I need adult time. I eat with a couple of like-minded teachers and we spend that 25 minutes being adults. It is a true sanity saver. If you are eating lunch with people that do not save your sanity… may find some new lunch buddies. Or say you are working through lunch, but then eat in your room while listening to an audiobook. Lunchtime should be a reset for your brain. Don’t give up this valuable break. 

After School

I have a set “go home” time. Now, that time is 3:40 pm because I have to pick up my son by 4 pm. In my first year teaching my “go home” time was 5:30 pm. No matter what, when my “go home” timer goes off I leave the school building. I do not bring anything home with me. 

This mentality makes me prioritize my tasks. Whatever is most important gets done first, because I only have so much time. 

Optional: Copy Night

During my first couple of years of teaching, I would stay late one night a week to make all of my copies for the upcoming week. My copy night was Thursdays and I would extend my “go home” time to 7 pm. I didn’t always stay that late but having the wiggle room helped me keep to my “don’t take stuff home” rule. My college mentor gave me this tip, but he went in on Sundays to prep for the week. No one was at school and he got to own the copier. I chose Thursdays so I wouldn’t have to give up part of my weekend. 

I don’t have copy night anymore. A coworker and I use all of the same materials and he makes all of our copies. Bless him. What a great work husband! He makes the copies because I generally make all of the notes. Works me!

5: Contact parents for good things too

In my 3rd year of teaching, the principal that hired me retired. The new guy changed up a lot of things and made a lot of us very frustrated with some of his new ideas. Like this thing he implemented – Ten Positive Contacts. We had to contact ten parents each quarter and tell them something great about their kids. And we couldn’t repeat kids because we had to turn in a contact log that the secretaries reviewed. 

You get an email! And you get an email!

So by the end of the year, I had contacted 40 parents. We were permitted to call or email. I’m a millennial… I mostly emailed them. I was frustrated with this idea. Just another thing to add to my plate. I’m busy, man.

But let me tell you, my students’ parents really appreciated this gesture. And by requiring us to contact new people every quarter, students that don’t normally get praised got recognition too. 

I no longer work at that school, but I still do positive contacts. I don’t always adhere strictly to ten per quarter. Sometimes it’s more, mostly it’s less. I contact parents if I see a marked improvement in grades. Usually, though, I contact parents to thank them for raising such a great kid.

What’s “good”?

When I notice a student being particularly kind, I email home. If a student always asked thoughtful questions, I email home. If I noticed an increased effort, I email home. 

In one case, I emailed a mom because I was in awe of what a great leader her son was. I told her I would be proud to be his mom and hoped that my son grew up to be half the leader he’s turning out to be. His mom’s response was not what I expected. She told me they moved into my district because he had been going down a dark path at his previous school. His mom was worried he would end up hurting himself or someone else. She was touched and thankful for my note because she wasn’t sure she had made the right decision. Her son graduated and will be attending college in the fall, working towards a communications degree. 

How many “bad” emails had she gotten from his previous teachers? She had no idea her son was a leader. That other students followed him, trusted him, and believed in him. Contacting her reinforced the idea that emailing home for good things is important. It helps parents know their child on a different level. And it helps build parent-teacher relationships. 

For my elementary teacher friends, check out my friend Ben’s blog post, Making Positive Phone Calls Home – It Has Amazing Benefits.

6: Build a culture of “failure”

Are your students afraid to be wrong? Mine always are at the beginning of the school year. Years and years of high-stakes testing have really done a number on them. They don’t want to speak up because they’re afraid of saying the wrong thing. To a high schooler, saying the wrong thing is embarrassing, and avoiding embarrassment is priority #1 for most high school students. 

Community Takes Time

It takes me a couple of months to convince my students that being wrong is ok. That’s how we learn. When a student gives me a wrong answer I always reframe it for them. Many students would probably have given me that same wrong answer. So then I say something like “let’s think about why this answer is so appealing?” I try to suss out what led them to that answer. Could there be some piece of that answer that’s right?

Eventually, my students figure out that failing doesn’t upset me. It’s part of the scientific process; we learn more when we fail. Helping them realize that failure is an opportunity to reassess our understanding of something is one of the great joys of my job. 

7: Learn to say “No”

Teachers are helpers. We are programmed to help and almost incapable of saying no. But you can’t be everything to everyone and you can’t everywhere at once. Take some time to figure out your hard no’s. What is something that you will absolutely not do?

My Hard No’s

1. I will not attend events that happened during my son’s bedtime. He has never been a good sleeper and anything that disrupts his bedtime routine is a disaster at our house. My son’s routine supersedes anything I might be asked to do at school.
2. I do not accept piles of late work. I’m a little flexible on one assignment here or there, but if you (the student) have chosen to wait until the day before your final exam to turn in a stack of papers… Nope. Not doing it. A math teacher where I student taught accepted late work like this and was always drowning in paperwork at the end of the quarter. Hard pass.
3. Teaching more than one class in the same period. I’ve done it and I don’t like it. Now I no it’s a no-go for me. 
4. Teaching more than 4 different courses. At my old school I taught 3 courses regularly (chemistry, AP chemistry, and 8th-grade science) and that number increased depending on the needs of the school year. I left when I was casually told I would be teaching 8 courses. What were they, you ask? Chemistry, physics, physical science, biology, 7th-grade study skills, and a mixed class period of chemistry 2, AP chemistry, AP physics). No one should have a load like that. But I’d like to mention that I had a one-year-old at home. I applied for a new job immediately.  

8: Surround yourself with people that feed your energy

There is nothing worse than having to deal with coworkers that just drain your energy. I’m a pretty optimistic person. That doesn’t mean that I can’t spend time with pessimists (my husband is one…) but I do need to spend time with people that don’t mock my optimism. 

You’d think finding optimistic teachers would be easy. And I have been able to find like-minded teachers. But I’ve also found people that make me feel awful. They dislike everything and never have a nice thing to say. They don’t “buy-in”. 

Avoid Energy Vampires

I’m not afraid to speak up when I don’t agree with something. And everyone needs to vent now and then. But I don’t want to hear someone complain like a broken record either. People like this are what I call energy vampires. Avoid energy vampires like the plague. They will drag you down and make you hate your job. We don’t need any more reasons to want to stay in bed in the morning.

When you find your people, you’ll know. Speaking to them will inspire you to excel in your job. Venting to them will fill you with relief. Helping them through their struggles won’t feel like a drag. When someone matches your energy it can feel invigorating and keep you sane. Find your people. And when you realize you’ve chosen poorly, slowly extract yourself and look for new people. If you feel alone at your school, search for your people in online spaces. I promise you, there is someone out there for you!

9: You are not a high schooler, don’t act like one

We are around children all day. If you are a high school teacher like me, some of those children don’t look like children. They are asking you for advice on adult things- buying a car, finding a job, applying for college, and more. 

You are the adult. Period.

Give them advice. But don’t get involved in their personal lives. You don’t need to know who they are dating. You don’t need to gossip about your students or other teachers with your students. You are the adult. You set the tone.

If a student tells you something that you are legally obligated to report, report it. Even if that means you are going to lose that student’s trust. Report it. I don’t care if the student says point blank “don’t tell anyone”. Report it. That student’s safety is more important than your relationship.

No, you cannot date a student

Do you remember a teacher that was inappropriate with students when you were in school? I do. A first-year teacher was fired at my high school for having an inappropriate relationship with a couple of his athletes. He was barred from ever teaching again. I’ll let you fill in the gaps. 

You might be thinking, duh. But you’ve seen the headlines. And it’s not always young, naive teachers. If you truly feel like you and this child have a connection, wait. WAIT. This relationship is not worth ruining both of your lives. 

Save personal social media for after graduation

I taught at a rural school. I’ve seen many of my former students get married and have kids (and every time it makes me feel old). I’m friends with them now because they are adults. I was not their friend when they were my students. There is a big difference between friendly and friends. 

I’ve kept up with some of my favorite students on Facebook and Instagram. I love getting to see their transition from students to adults. A couple that met in my classroom is now married with a two-year-old. That’s pretty darn cool. But when they were in school I did not need to know the ins and outs of their social lives.  

Professional socials are OK but check your school’s policy

There are some teachers that have found success with setting up teacher accounts on social media. They use them to post assignments and reminders. They also can help teachers connect with students where they are. I think that’s totally fine, but you should not be following your students back. Again, you don’t need to know what they are up to. Keep it professional. 

Before you get excited and set up a teacher TikTok for your students to follow, check your school’s policy. My school’s policy allows all social media. It even allows us to mention where we teach and to post student pictures. BUT, if we ever leave the school district, anything referencing our school must be removed. 

10: Admin is probably gaslighting you

Administrators are former teachers. Most of them were teachers a very long time ago and have no idea what it’s like to be a teacher today. They are out of touch with the classroom. Instead, they are in touch with a ton of things that you probably wouldn’t want to worry about. 

I absolutely do not want to be an administrator. No ma’am. That life is not for me. I have a ton of empathy for admin. That being said, they do not have the right to make me feel guilty for simply being a human being.

Substitute shortages are not your problem

If you are sick, take a day off. If you need a mental health day, take a day off. If it’s your grandma’s 105th birthday, take the day off. I don’t care what it is, according to your teacher contract you have a certain amount of days that you can take off. 

Yes, there is a substitute shortage. That is not your problem. That is a problem for admin and politicians to figure out because they got the schools into this mess. 

They will try to talk you out of it. We got regular emails reminding us of the sub shortage and to please not take off unless it’s an emergency. I get it. We need to make sure there are enough adults in the building so the school can stay open. But the way this is addressed to teachers- like we’re lushes. Like we’re taking days off willy-nilly. That we need to be better team players, et cetera, et cetera is infuriating to me.

I just can’t abide administrators making their problems teachers’ problems. We have enough problems.

Your prep period is YOUR time

Sure, I’ve helped out and covered a class during my prep. But if my admin asked me to do that every day in order to “help out the team…” No. You should not have to give up your prep period because your admin can’t seem to find teachers or subs. You already have a job. 

If your admin consistently requires you to cover classes during your prep I would set up a meeting to inquire about compensation. You have a contract. Working outside of contract hours requires compensation. They might say that your prep is part of contract hours. And while that’s true, that time is meant for you. It is not “on call time”. Your contract also guarantees you the right to a prep period to prepare for your own classes. How are they going to make up for that lost time? 

If your school doesn’t have a way to deal with this, here’s a suggestion: 8th-period prep. Your contract is extended by an extra period in which you get paid to prep after school. I’ve seen it work. And while no, I don’t relish the idea of you staying late everyday because your school can’t get their act together- I do want you to be compensated for your time.

You are worthy

List to me: YOU ARE WORTHY. You are worthy of compensation. You are worthy of time off. You are worthy of a healthy work-life balance. Admins that treat you like you aren’t worthy are really giving you their own advice: find a job at a different school. There’s a teacher shortage remember? You’ll find a school that values you in no time.

And that’s my list. What do you think? Is there anything that surprised you? Any advice you’d like to share? Sound off in the comments!

More Advice:

The Best Advice for New Teachers, in 5 Words or Less, Education Week

What I Wish I Had Known, NEA

No One Starts Out Awesome: Advice For New Teachers, edutopia

Everything You Need to Know About Teaching High School Chemistry, The Chemistry Particle

Addressing Cell Phones in the Classroom, Active History Teacher

Integrating Tech Really Does Pay Off, Take 5 for Tech