Gina, What GREAT advice! I wish someone had said this to me when I started!
Janice On Jul 10, 2008, at 1:19 PM, gina nunley wrote: > Hi Renee, Congratulations! To be direct, yes this first year is > going to be immensely challenging, but worth every lesson > learned. Sharing in the educational lives of children adds a > richness to your life that you will only cherish more with each > year. So go into the year knowing the rigor it will ask of you, > but be VERY loving and patient with yourself. You have plenty of > time to grow into the teacher you want to be. It can not happen in > one year. You'll look around and wish you were doing what the > veteran teacher down the hallway is doing, but you have to know she > "became" that after years of teaching. Be VERY VERY nice and > forgiving of yourself this year. It must be your mantra. > > With that said LESS truly is more. And I am writing, not so much > with professional advice, as much as survival advice. Pick a > curriculum focus for yourself and hone that skill, with plans to > add the next activity, idea, or routine the following year. For > example it took me 4 years to have Writer's Workshop where I wanted > it, and I am still tweaking. And some of those years I used a > vocabulary program that I knew wasn't the best, but it did the job, > until I had the focus and energy to give to developing > that....another year. > > It sounds like your first focus is going to be reading. The good > and the bad of teaching these days is that you have a plethora of > ideas and experts to choose from. This site is a solid jumping off > place. First, I would decide the structure of my day (honestly > good ole Harry Wong and his new teacher routines are a great > idea). And then if someone in the group gives you ideas or a > resource, give that a solid chance before you begin you pick and > add from too many other resources. > > Design a clear daily structure, pick a model for your reading day, > and then give it your focus before you try to go off in other > directions. More than any model you choose, I believe your > students will have a successful year if their teacher is feeling > sane, more than like the perfect teacher. Make the choices that > give you a chance to be happy this first year. > > And we're all here ready and willing to support and help. Happy > Teaching, Gina > _________________________________________________________________ > Use video conversation to talk face-to-face with Windows Live > Messenger. > http://www.windowslive.com/messenger/connect_your_way.html? > ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_Refresh_messenger_video_072008 > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
