Secrets for Secondary School Teachers (8 page)

Women will be comfortable wearing suits, dresses, skirts with sweaters, skirts and blouses, and dress pants with suit jackets, blouses, or sweaters. Men will feel comfortable wearing suits, slacks and sports coat, and dress pants with collared shirt or button-down shirt with sweaters if it is cold. Clothing should be clean and neat.

One of my (Ellen’s) favorite stories is of a principal who walked into a secondary classroom and could not find the teacher she was seeking because the teacher looked like one of the students, wearing jeans and a T-shirt—an awkward moment for both principal and teacher. It’s important for an administrator to be able to quickly locate the teacher in the classroom. Dressing more formally rather than informally will help avoid such situations.

Remember the age of your audience. Students develop crushes very easily on their teachers. I (Ellen) remember one boy who was cutting out paper dolls at the back of the room. I asked him what he was doing. He told me, with more explanation than I wanted to hear: “I’m cutting out paper dolls to dance all over your body.” Hopefully, your students will concentrate on your words, not on your appearance. We suggest that you not wear clothing that is too tight or too revealing.

Certain disciplines will have alternate dress codes. For example, P.E. teachers usually wear shorts and collared shirts, often with the school emblem. But this type of dress may be restricted to the gyms and the fields. An interesting case in point is a social studies teacher and after-school coach who
was informed he had to wear pants, rather than shorts, during the school day and would have to change after school to his alternate attire. This type of policy is, of course, up to the school or district to dictate. Teachers who have laboratory situations, such as biology, chemistry, art, and consumer and family sciences, may choose to wear lab coats to cover their street clothes while in their classrooms.

S
PIRIT
D
AYS

Many schools have “spirit days” on which school colors are worn. Some schools have collared shirts or T-shirts with the school logo printed on them. Since people in general tend to wear T-shirts with jeans, figuring out what to wear on spirit days can be a problem. The challenge is to dress “casual” and show school spirit, but still appear “professional” and command respect.

On spirit days, female teachers might decide to wear the T-shirt with a jean skirt rather than jean pants. For either male or female teachers, black denim (if denim is allowed) or khaki-colored pants, rather than blue jeans, could also be considered. If you do decide to wear jeans, make sure that they are clean and in good condition. You never know when the yearbook staff will be around to take your picture!

I
MAGE

Whatever you do, you don’t want your clothes to be distracting. Students will talk about what you are wearing rather than what you are saying. If you dress like an older brother or sister, you may be treated like one. If your dress is too formal, the students will comment on it. Clothing is a visual cue for middle school and high school students; it signals where they are and what purpose is at hand. It tells them what behavior is expected. Be aware that this is part of what your attire will convey.

It’s important to look nice and take pride in how you look.

I (Cary) remember a teacher I had who constantly wore the same two dresses. It seemed like she just switched off every other day. This did not speak well of her personal hygiene. I’m not saying you need a different outfit for each day of the month, but it is good to make sure you avoid wearing the same thing all of the time.

Another teacher I had was extremely outrageous in her appearance, even distracting. She was weird. It was hard to listen to her because of the outfits she would wear. One day, she came to school with a red dot on her forehead like that of an Indian woman. We thought she was making fun of Indian people. We all wondered why she did that, but she never explained herself. Sometimes, she came to school with so much makeup on her face that she looked like a clown. Another time, she wore a red jacket with the Playboy bunny emblem on it. You can tell that we all spent a lot of time talking about stuff she was wearing.

I would advise teachers to definitely have your own style, but to make sure your appearance isn’t going to detract from the task at hand. Because, believe me, it’s a long year, and we students will be studying every part of you.

C
LOTHING AS AN
I
NSTRUCTIONAL
T
OOL

Clothing can also be used to emphasize points you wish to make in teaching. A Spanish teacher may wear a Cinco de Mayo shirt when he introduces Mexican holidays. A humanities or art teacher may like to wear a shirt with an impressionist painting on the front. A geometry teacher could wear a shirt with an Escher design. Even more inventive, an English or history teacher may dress up in period costume to attract student interest in a subject. A geography teacher may wear the dress of a particular culture being studied.

The clothing you wear becomes an extension of your whole classroom environment, as well as an expression of
your personality. Give serious consideration to the kind of impression you wish to convey, and make thoughtful decisions about your wardrobe.

As we have mentioned, teaching could quite easily be included in a drama department as well as in education. Unless you are able to capture student interest, beguile your audience, entertain and delight them, pique their curiosity, and stimulate all of their senses, they are going to be paying far more attention to their friends and inner needs than anything you want to present them. Just as performers spend a lot of time thinking about their lines, their props, and their wardrobe, so too should you select clothes that reflect the kind of professional but accessible image you wish to communicate.

  5  

Beginning and Ending Your Class on the First Day

Y
our room is ready. You are sporting your single best outfit, the one that positively glows with confidence that you really know what you are doing (even though you are terrified). You’ve practiced your welcoming smile over and over, although if truth be told, you wonder how much of your apprehension and uncertainty shows.

You’ve written your name, room number, and bell schedule on the board (to avoid embarrassment for the student who has mistakenly entered the wrong room at the wrong time). You stand at the front of an empty room. The bell rings or chimes or buzzes or belches. You move to the doorway. In they come: students who check you out as they walk by, sizing you up and making their predictions about whether you are boring or fun, mean or nice, an easy mark or streetwise to their favorite games.

F
IRST
C
ONTACT

No, this isn’t first contact with aliens, but it might feel that way initially. This is the point where you begin, showing confidence and poise, pretending like you know what you’re doing.

“Welcome, everyone!” You smile warmly. “I’m glad to be here, my first day in your school . . .”

The specifics of what you say are less important than the main objective of revealing yourself to the students as someone who does know what you’re doing (most of the time), who is warm and caring, but also unwilling to tolerate disrespect. If you have a sense of humor, show it. But whatever you do, set the tone for what will follow throughout the year.

Make sure you have their attention when you speak. Project your voice so everyone can hear you. Remind students to check their schedules to make sure they are in the right place at the right time. State your name clearly so students will be able to pronounce it.

Give them some background on who you are, but rather than reciting your credentials, tell them a brief story about how you ended up where you are. If you have the technological support, use a PowerPoint presentation to capture students’ attention. Let them know you
chose
to work at their school. You are promoting yourself in order to reduce your own anxiety level as much as those of the students, who are also wondering about what miseries you will subject them to.

Describe your vision of the class—what the content will be, how the time in class will be spent, what the students will accomplish. Be enthusiastic! Let them know you remember what it was like to be a student, that you know it’s important that things be fun and exciting. You intend to accommodate them as best you can. Stress what they will be able to do at the end of the class that they can’t do now! Let your optimism shine! Your interest and enthusiasm will be contagious.

Move to specifics. Tell them about the various activities they will engage in. If you have samples of the types of projects they might do, you could show them at this time. Let
them see an example of the textbook, primary documents, and other resources they will use. Explain your role as a teacher, and your expectations of them as students.

Spend a minute or two on what supplies, if any, they will need—pen or pencil, paper, folder or binder, or any other subject-related equipment. Discuss any lab fees that might have to be paid and how to pay them (for example, go to the school banker). Realize the students may need a couple of days before they can get to the store to purchase what you have asked for or to get the money for the fees. Not all teachers give the school supplies list on the first day. Not all parents are able to take their children to the store the first night. Be patient. Be prepared in the meantime for students to come to class empty-handed for the first few days.

Also be prepared to be tested by someone early in your introduction, some student who is looking for attention, who likes to challenge authority, or perhaps someone who is just playful. Don’t overreact. Just remain calm, poised, and firm. As we said before, show that you have a sense of humor, but don’t tolerate disrespect.

M
OVEMENT

You have by now probably reached the limits of how long students can sit quietly without doing something. One of the functions, actually, of the student who acts out is to serve as an alarm clock to let you know that it is time to change the movement, flow, and energy of the class.

Remember, this is the first day of school after vacation. Students have gotten used to their freedom. Most of them resent being back, stuck inside when the weather is still so nice, and there are so many things they would rather be doing. They’ve also got a lot on their minds that have little to do with your agenda: which boys or girls they might like, pressures at home, work and other responsibilities, parties coming up. Also, they are just plain tired, not used to getting up so early.

There are a variety of things you can do at this point. You can ask them to fill out information cards, as mentioned in a previous chapter. You could also get them involved in some type of introductory activity with partners or in small groups. You can have them interview each other, with or without guided questions that you have prepared.

Students can be given a list of questions such as the following to ask a partner:

•   Where were you born?

•   What is your favorite activity outside of school?

•   What is your favorite school subject?

•   What is your favorite food?

•   What kind of music do you like?

•   What is your favorite television program?

•   What did you do over summer vacation?

•   If you could meet anyone in history, who would you choose?

•   What do you think is the most difficult job?

•   Do you have a nickname you prefer to be called?

•   What would you like other people to know about you?

•   If you could live anywhere, where would you go?

Another option is to have students participate in a group consensus activity, such as the following:

In groups of four to six people, find examples of the following items that
every
person in the group likes:

•   An item of food

•   Television program

•   Song or musical artist

•   Movie

•   Personal characteristic in a friend

Still another variation is to organize a scavenger-hunt type of questionnaire that requires students to interact with others in their search for answers. Or you can simply put them in a
circle to get them talking. Whatever you do, however, turn the focus on them in such a way that each person gets the chance to speak.

Of the countless techniques teachers have used to encourage students to get to know each other, there is only one that sticks out in my mind. I had a teacher that made up sheets that had about 20 categories. Each category was something like “Find someone in the room that has the same favorite sports team as you” or “Find someone who was born in the same city as you.” So each student fills in the worksheet by adding a different student to each category. You can never use the same student twice. There can be rewards for the person that finishes first. This instantly makes the students start talking to one another, and as a result, each person learns something about a fellow classmate.

S
ETTING THE
R
ULES

Toward the end of the period, draw the students’ attention to the topic of class rules. To achieve the goals for the class, some accommodations will have to be made to ensure that the class runs smoothly. Now is the time to review the school rules if you are in a situation where rules for the entire school have been predetermined. If not, you can present the rules you feel are most important. Or, if you choose to be democratic, you can begin discussion with the class and have them give their input on rules. Identify three to five important rules for classroom behavior to simplify your classroom management. Presenting or creating a few specific rules will give you a manageable reference list that can easily be posted for all to see.