1. Do not bring live things to live in the classroom. I bought a beta fish at Walmart last year and thought it would be a great thing to have on my desk at school. The kids went crazy over it. They named it "Bob."
One day I had a sub. Someone put alka-seltzer in the Bob's water. Somehow he survived. I took Bob home to live on my kitchen window sill. He survived into the summer. He's dead now. But I think he was living on borrowed time. I'm sure it's very traumatic to find your world filling up with bubbles.
I'd really like to bring some plants to live in my classroom. But the students seem to think everything is community property.
2. Do not keep candy as rewards. Eventually, students stop working until they are bribed. I think the whole "What's in it for me?" attitude is not appropriate for schools. Plus candy's expensive and I don't get paid that much.
3. Do not gossip. Do not talk about fellow teachers, students, or co - workers.
4. Do not piss off the maintenance staff, school secretary, tech people, or attendance lady. They have the power to make your life hell.
5. If someone puts stuff in your room (boxes, dictionaries, etc) it is your responsibility to get rid of it. After a school assessment test, somehow all the dictionaries distributed to the students for the test ended up in my room. Now, it was my problem to get rid of... Note to self: Lock room if I am not there.
6. Bulletin boards are more work than they look.
7. Back up all files on your laptop computer. Mine fried this summer.
Everything I did last year is lost.
8. Trust my intuition. I am pretty good at this job and I make very good choices about classroom management, instruction, and life. I had one student I "thought" might have been drunk. I even asked the counselor to look at him. Two months later, he's suspended for distributing alcohol. I am not happy I was right.
9. Teaching is a great job. Yeah, you work non-stop during the year, but this having summers off is great!
10. It's ok to make mistakes. People understand. Not everything is going to perfect.
One more: Not all students are horrible monsters. In fact, only a small percentage (maybe one every class) are. I have the right to do my job without them ruining learning for the rest of us.
One One more: A sense of humor is a must. If only everyone understood all my jokes. ;)