Advice to new graduates that will be entering the teaching profession - Guest Post

Advice to new graduates that will be entering the teaching profession - Guest Post



I believe this advice to be very useful. Most of the advice, the blogger gives is advice we've heard before (making connections in the building with other faculty and personnel, looking for opportunities to get things for free rather than paying for them) unless they are things that are pretty obvious anyhow.

The article tells us to make connections with people in the building, but also, less obviously to make and use whatever connections we can outside the building as well. I thought this a very good bit of advice. In the beginning of my student-teaching experience, I was invited the first week to the "international/multicultural language night" hosted by the Foreign Language Department. Because of my connections, I was able to ask my friend (who owns an Italian restaurant) to donate food for the event. When I showed up to the event with four trays of pasta and sauces and garlic bread, the department was impressed that I was able to get such a donation (needless to mention the "brownie points" the gesture earned me). The food cost me nothing, and was donated simply as a favor by a friend.
Another tidbit in the article that I found to be something useful that I have put into practice is networking within a professional society. As a member of NYSABE (New York State Association of Bilingual Educators) as well as having friends in the field as well is a great resource for creative lesson ideas, pedagogical suggestions, even a sounding board for concerns.
The article also tells us to have back-up plans for all lessons; especially lo-tech back-up plans in case of technological failures. During my student-teaching experience, there was an electrical black-out one day, and when the computers and lights cut off, I panicked...until I realized that everything on my USB drive was backed up onto an extra SD card I keep in my bag. I was able to access my lesson plans (which I have saved on my USB drive) on the SD card using my smartphone, and was able to continue the lessons on the whiteboard. As a person who is not overly impressed with SmartBoard technology, none of my lessons rely on it. Additionally, when writing my lessons, I always keep in mind that day of the blackout, to remind me that my lesson must allow for a contingency plan.
I would add that as a new teacher, we should always remain flexible in terms of our timetable for lessons, as well as the actual lessons themselves. I taught a lesson once this semester on the past tenses in Spanish. One of my lessons was centered around a song that uses both the imperfect (past progressive) and preterite (proximal past) tenses. I was excited to teach the lesson because the song was one of my personal favorites, but when I began the lesson, I saw immediately that not only did no one like the song, but hardly anyone understood the lyrics, and few students had not understood the use of the two tenses. Instead of go ahead and teach the lesson anyway, I had to abandon that lesson; though, in my mind while writing up the lesson, I thought it would've been my best lesson. The lesson I took from the experience is that what we want, and our goals, expectations, sometimes a few of our plans will have to go out the window if they do not best serve the students.

Lemonade!!

Susie

I saw this commercial, and immediately thought of the immense capabilities of adolescents that go unacknowledged. These days even preteens have access to, and the ability to use some of the most highly technological gizmos and whats-its. This isn't so far removed from reality. Many of the newest trendsetters, tycoons, even titans of industry are much younger than middle-aged.

hola padre

Mi primer post.

Poco a poco me uno del mundo.
Tengo un website y ahora tengo un blog. 






Manana regresamos a la escuela tras una semana de vacaciones.