Teacher's Field Guide: 7 Truths About Teaching to Help You Start off Strong, Avoid Burnout, and Stay in Love with Teaching

by Kerry Hemms

Fifty percent of new teachers leave the profession within the first five years. Of those who stay, most go through periods of burnout. Teachers everywhere start with high hopes of making a difference, but quickly get consumed with all of the unexpected demands, leaving them exhausted and wondering if this whole teaching thing was a good idea. While there are many books focused on curriculum and teaching techniques, Teacher’s Field Guide takes a unique approach by addressing the real-life needs of the teacher who is often left behind and rarely discussed by other books in the marketplace. Teacher’s Field Guide is all about that “other stuff”. It offers tips, tools, and strategies to lessen the stress, and increase the joy in teaching. It supports each teacher in seven important areas of their personal and professional
Teachers will discover answers to questions such
Teachers matter, and teachers deserve to be supported and encouraged while they lead our future generations. Teacher’s Field Guide is the personal support teachers everywhere have needed, and guarantees to help reverse the trend that 50% of new teachers quit within their first five years.

Genres: Teaching, Education, Nonfiction

162 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2017

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hemms' field guide focuses in more on how to keep yourself in top shape to succeed without taking on more than you can handle than teaching pedagogy you can use in your classroom, although Hemms certainly addresses a little of that as it applies to keeping yourself in check. This is definitely a book I will be coming back to when I feel worn out.

[Ichii · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book saved me during my student teaching experience. What keeps it from being 5 stars for me it that it's very elementary focused. As a secondary teacher I would have loved more specific sections about managing teaching the older students.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review for Teacher’s Field Guide by Kerry Hemms
Stephen Moses

Overall Opinion

I received my degree in Elementary Education. I just graduated and bought this book with the hopes of getting started on the right foot. I loved it and highly recommend it to anyone who plans on teaching as a profession or is currently a teacher.

My rating: 5/5 stars
(Explanation of my rating system. 1 star = I really didn’t like it. 2 stars = Meh. 3 stars = It was a good book. I liked it well enough. 4 stars = I really liked this book and would recommend reading it. 5 stars = I absolutely loved this book and you need to read it right now.)

The Cons

I understand when people say, “You just need to find your own way/style/method.” I get it. There is rarely a “one-size-fits-all” solution, especially in teaching. However, there were a few times that Hemms used this phrase and I found myself ever so slightly irked by it. As a new teacher, I guess I would have appreciated even a few concrete examples. Just show me what some of the possibilities are that I can choose from. That said, this only happened a few times and as I mentioned, I understand the situation Hemms is in. As you go along in teaching, you will find your own way and I don’t think this phrase dragged the book down hardly at all.

The Pros

There isn’t a lot of fluff in this book. The chapters are relatively short and succinct, jam-packed with exactly the content the chapter title says you will be getting. I, for one, really appreciated that. It made the book easy to read as well as easy to re-read. As a reader, there are few things more frustrating than to remember that there was a stellar piece of advice or a killer quote, only to struggle to find it because the chapters are so long. This is definitely a book I will be going back to and highly recommend.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the number one thing I appreciate about this book is that it’s so short. Teachers are busy, they don’t need to read 300 pages for a message that they’ve probably read before, and could be said in 50 pages. So I appreciate the length here. I don’t think anything in here was new, and especially wouldn’t be for a veteran teacher, but it’s a good refresher. I would recommend this book to any teacher who is feeling burned out and wants to be reminded that:
1. Self care is essential and isn’t selfish
2. You need to set boundaries, because never saying no and working yourself into the ground makes you a crappier teacher, not a better one.
3. You got into this career for a reason, and likely it was a very good reason. Don’t let the little stuff tear you down.

[Jessie]

I really liked the voice of the author, she was real but also encouraging. This book is mainly about how to take care of yourself so you don't quit teaching too early. Teaching is a difficult profession where you need to prioritize making sure you are strong so that you can teach your students confidently. Hemms provides the steps to burnout and how to prevent and a lot of tips and tricks. I would like to buy this one!

[Mariah Belber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a great reminder of why I decided to be a teacher!

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for new teachers. Lots of positive encouragement and practical tips to implement right away in the classroom.

[Julie Coffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book has some really good practical advice for first year teachers. Because it’s shorter in length, I may reread before every school year.