Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 162: What the University Didn’t Teach You: Let’s Get R.E.A.L.

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Ep 162: What the University Didn’t Teach You: Let’s Get R.E.A.L. · New Teacher Talk

Hello, and welcome to New Teacher Talk,
where we bring you essential conversations and tips to
support aspiring and early career teachers.
Whether you teach in a big city, a small town,
or anywhere in between,
we're here to help you succeed in your classroom.
Hello, my name is Benita Gordon,
founder of Global Education Concierge and the host of the
Education Concierge podcast.
I am an Education Concierge micro-school founder and
lifelong learner.
I used to be a traditional classroom teacher of over 26
years,
specifically in middle school, a dean, a parent-engagement coach, a team lead, department chair, and teacher leader
.
Today I'm going to talk about what they didn't teach you in
university coursework.
The tools that you need to thrive as a teacher: R-E-A-L.
Real.
What they didn't teach you in university coursework.
Let's start with R.
Relationships matter most.
University, they gave us the theory,
but life gives us people.
You cannot teach students you do not know.
I'm talking about more than just icebreakers at the first
week of school to build culture for students,
so they can feel seen.
I mean doing the extra.
The things that you can show up with to prove and to show
your students that this is a great classroom to be in,
and you belong.
For example, something I learned from others is,
especially in middle school, we did this Canva About Me.
We incorporated technology,
taught them something new using Canva,
and they were able to design a social media-like profile.
I asked questions like their favorite songs,
if they had a favorite anime character,
their favorite snacks, some of their dream careers.
Throughout the year,
I used this information to play their favorite song while
they work,
slip in their favorite anime hero into a reading passage,
and connect math problems to their favorite sports or
hobbies,
along with finding articles on things they wanted to read
about and they can relate to.
Relationships aren't extra.
They're things that you can incorporate into your
curriculum and your classroom culture.
So relationships matter most.
E, energy management, not burnout.
No one taught us that teaching requires energy work.
Every email, every transition,
every conversation takes something from you.
You can't run off fumes,
learn to flow with the current and not fight against it.
Here are some tools and practices.
Boundaries.
Don't take every committee and every commitment.
Don't answer every email at midnight.
Body check-ins.
Pause in the hallway, in your classroom,
before you open the door to greet the students.
Breathe.
Unclench your jaw as you're sitting in the faculty
meetings.
Those little resets, they matter.
And sometimes we just forget because in the process of the
day and we're moving and we're quickly adjusting and going.
But do a body check-in.
Sit down.
When you need to sit down, stand up and walk around.
When you need to walk around,
because we call those scheduled joy.
Walk, dance, or nap into your calendar.
The same way you added P.D.
or duty.
One of the things I learned quickly as a teacher is that
those small moments of lunch, duty-free,
or when they went to P.E., I would take a good 10 minutes,
sometimes cut the light out, close the door, and just sit.
Sometimes I would sit in a student's desk.
We had a reading lounge in my class.
Sometimes I would go sit in the lounge.
I didn't clean.
I didn't grade papers.
I didn't answer emails.
I didn't even check my phone for my personal texts to see
what's happening with my own family.
I took five to 10 minutes to just be present and to just
be.
So E, energy management, not burnout.
A, authentic classroom culture and structure.
Stop saying management.
Students aren't a spreadsheet to control.
They are human beings learning how to belong.
So shift your language, culture, and structure.
We build, we model, we structure, not manage.
Rituals.
Daily greeting at the door.
Have a class mantra.
Use music for transitions.
It gives kids rhythm, and they thrive on that.
Set norms.
So there are clear expectations co-created with students.
Ownership reduces power struggles.
A lot of times we don't do more than five norms.
The first two are the ones I give.
The last three are the ones we do as a class.
And even as a middle school teacher where I had sometimes
between five to seven different classes,
I did it in every class.
Now the norms,
we decided and then we voted as an entire group.
So sometimes all 160 plus,
because you want it to be on the same accord for all
classes, but you can still do it.
Visual tools.
I use Canva norms to make the posters.
I got them printed.
We've had them displayed in class.
We will recite them at times.
I might sometimes say,
don't forget number three of our norms.
And that would just bring our classroom back to understand
our class of culture and our classroom structure.
That's a authentic classroom culture instruction.
L, lifelong learning and unlearning.
University gave us methods,
but the classroom gives us reality.
Be ready to unlearn what doesn't serve you or your
students.
Growth comes from reflection, not perfection.
Here are some tools.
A monthly PD challenge for yourself.
Read one book,
follow one education podcast or an educators podcast.
Hey, this one you're listening to is a great one.
And the education concierge podcast is another one.
Or try one new tool each month.
That is something I still challenge myself.
This month,
I challenged myself to actually learn how to use Magic S
chool AI.
So I'm learning how to use that to incorporate it into my
either teaching or me helping become a better educator.
This is something I've done since day one.
My mom was a school teacher, and she said, Y
ou need to have a notebook in your desk or on your desk.
And it's your reflective journaling.
Now this is not like my personal journaling I have at home.
This is what worked this week?
What worked this period?
What worked this day?
What drained me?
What do I need to unlearn?
What do I need to never do again?
And I will put it in my journal as a reflection.
Today was also, today was great.
Remember to do this again.
Today was horrible.
I couldn't get it together.
I was off.
I need to make sure that I continue to work out in the
morning, and that I have my cup of coffee.
Like little things like that.
That is lifelong learning and unlearning.
Peer circles.
Find colleagues or mentors that you can process with.
This isn't meant to be done alone.
And I'm even gonna add this caveat.
Also have a group of friends that are not educators that
you could also talk with and hang out with and enjoy.
You need both and all in your circle.
Lifelong learning and unlearning.
In closing.
Remember to keep it real.
R-E-A-L.
Relationships, energy, authenticity and lifelong learning.
These are the lessons no textbook gave us.
No professor shared with us.
But every teacher needs to thrive.
You don't have to fight the current.
You can build culture,
protect your energy and lead from your authentic self.
Thank you for listening.
My name is Benita Gordon.
I'm the founder of The Global Education Concierge Podcast
and Global Education Concierge.
This has been New Teacher Talk.
Keep going, keep growing, and remember,
you are more than enough.
Until next time.
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Talk.
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