Roxanna Elden's Blog, page 12

Six Common Reasons Lessons Don’t Go As Planned

We all know it’s important to come to school with our lesson plans prepared—especially for a beginning teacher. But lessons that look great on paper can still play out horribly in the classroom. Here are some of the more common reasons good lessons go bad: 1. Kids don’t have the background knowledge you thought they did. You... Read more »

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How to Plan for a Substitute Teacher

If no one has told you how to plan for a substitute, the day after your first absence can be an unpleasant wake-up call. Here are four things to keep in mind, plus a short list of the paperwork that goes into a basic sub plan. 1. No one will teach your students, your way, in your... Read more »

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Five Unexpected Places You Can Learn To Be a Better Teacher

Professional development isn’t the only place where you can develop professionally. If you’re paying attention, the elements of good instruction can be found in many contexts, including experiences that are already a part of your life. The real-life situations below don’t involve a single PowerPoint slide, and they might improve your teaching more than an... Read more »

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Two Secrets to Holding Teachers’ Attention During Professional Development

To improve any professional development activity, it helps to keep two things in mind: In many ways, teachers are exactly like students Teachers do a lot of irritating things during professional development sessions. We talk. We play with our phones. We sit waaay in the back and do work for our other classes. Then, when... Read more »

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Five Unwritten Rules of Teaching

Here are some rules of teaching you won’t find in any manual – but probably should. Beg, borrow, steal… then adapt. Undoubtedly you’ve heard the classic teacher advice, “Beg, borrow, and steal.” A better phrase would be, “Beg, borrow, steal…and then adapt.” This is especially true with classroom procedures. Other teachers can share the basic... Read more »

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The Mentor Teacher’s Guide to the Disillusionment Phase

If you mentor beginning teachers – you already know what season it is. The Disillusionment Phase, which falls roughly between Halloween and Thanksgiving, is the time frame during which new teachers are most likely to burst into tears in public, type up resignation letters “just in case,” or fantasize about driving off a bridge on the... Read more »

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Five Habits that Hurt Teacher Motivation

We know motivating students and engaging families is part of being a teacher. Sometimes, however, just keeping ourselves motivated can feel like a full-time job. But wait, you’re thinking, isn’t the look of delight and the love of learning on my students’ faces enough motivation? No. Not always. (And you weren’t even really thinking that. You thought that in... Read more »

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What Questions Should New Teachers Ask Their Mentors?

So you’ve got a mentor teacher, and he or she is ready to answer your questions! Unfortunately, you’re not quite sure what those questions are yet. Here’s a list of no-shame-in-asking questions to help start the conversation.   Before we start, here are three good ways to use this list. 1. If you’re working with one specific... Read more »

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Building Your Board of (Teaching) Advisors

You’ve probably heard about how important it is for teachers to have a high quality mentors… and it is. But even the best mentors can be busy or not the right person to turn to in a given situation. As a teacher, you don’t just need one mentor. You need a whole board of advisors. Here’s who should be... Read more »

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First Day Memories from Experienced Teachers

If your first day of teaching doesn’t go as planned, at least you’re not alone.

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