I will be graduating to be an elementary educator in the Fall of 2008; can any experienced teachers provide me with some tips for first year teachers?:)

Duck and weave.

Remember why you became a teacher. So that when the going gets tough you remain strong.

I like the above answer.

Since you don't even have your foot in the door of a school yet, my first tip would be to make sure that you are well prepared for an interview.

The interviewer may not even be the principal. It could be just another teacher who also happens to be one of the administrators. Or, it could be a bunch of teachers and the administration sitting in a circle around you and asking you questions. I know where this happened to someone else..

One interview that I had, there were at least three teachers from the school, the superintendent of the school system, the principal of the school where I would be teaching and a principal from another school.

I'm not trying to frighten you. But, please be prepared for the interviews like any of the above ones that I have described.

It could be that you land a school job right away. Or, it could be that you apply to many, have some interviews, get letters from some thanking you for applying, but... Also, some schools/systems not even acknowledging that you have applied.

So, be mentally prepared for rejection.

On the other hand, I knew of a middle school teacher who landed his job by bringing his cover letter, resume, transcripts and other credentials right into the principal's office personally. The principal was impressed and recommended that he be hired at his school. The usual procedure in that large school system was to send all of your stuff into the Administration Building for review and possible interview.

If you have any friends who are already teachers, I would suggest asking them to give you a mock interview so that you can practice.

If you would like ideas of possible interview questions that might be asked, you might like to check out what is on the following link.

https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/teachi...mfl-87643.html

Always go into an interview prepared to teach a lesson!!

Good idea also above! If who you interview with does not ask you to teach a lesson to them, then you might want to bring a video of you doing some teaching. You could offer this to them just in case they might be interested. It could be part of your portfolio. "Oh, by the way, I thought that you might be interested in seeing..."

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Originally Posted by rankrank55

I will be graduating to be an elementary educator in the Fall of 2008; can any experienced teachers provide me with some tips for first year teachers?:)

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Give up any outside job be it volunteering or for pay and put your heart and sole into it. Done it for years and things you need are: small sewing kit for tears from the file cabinet or button that falls off on parent teacher day, safety pins, small tool kid to keep in your room for minor repairs, hand sanitizer, fragrence free froom freshner, lost of post note pad, your own box of anitviral tissue (never share it) bandaids, clear nail polis to dab on lose eye glass screws, Call all the parents the firs two weeks of school to intro yourself and say positve things about their son or daughter, make sure you know the policeis to report accidents, suspected abuse, never expect all kids to have all the supplies if your school has a shopping list go buy extra items on it as not to cause problems for the forgetful kids, poor kids, or kids with parents who just refuse to get the supplies, remember you are a teacher not a friend to the kids, their parents, their families... being too friendly takes aways from the respect you have earned with your degree and should receive as a teacher.

Just curious how everything turned out. As an experienced teacher myself, I'd love to hear. I had many ups and downs my first 3 years and would very much like to hear about your ups and downs. The most important part is the children. Depending on where you teach, you will be mired down with nitpicky administrative stuff, annoying parents or absent parents. It's the toughest job you'll ever love (except maybe the army!)... I hope things went well for you!