The Starting Point
Coordinator's Corner
We are so excited to watch each of you grow this year as you build relationships with your students, hone your classroom skills, and master your content.
When I think about my first days as a new teacher, I remember the anticipation of making a difference. My favorite moments in those earlier years were not necessarily content-related but student-centered. I still remember connecting with a student who refused to write a research paper but would be more than happy to tell us the history of a hay baler. Or the student who was being treated so poorly by a few students who had never had anyone stick up for him. And the two 18 year old freshmen who were in English I for the third time but who were, for some reason, willing to complete the work this time because I made the effort to talk with them about Metallica.
The first month of school will go by in a blur of smiles and hugs and questions and tears. You'll meet your students, and you'll begin to create the connections that will shift some of your students' outlook on school. It sounds cliché, but I guarantee you that each little positive interaction will make a difference.
Keep growing,
~Lydia
Submit questions about teaching, work-life balance, discipline, and more. Examples:
- What do we do if there's a lockdown?
- One of my students told me he hated me. I can't get past it. Ideas?
- I don't know how to respond to an angry parent. How do I navigate this?
- Do you have any suggestions for making friends with teachers I don't know?