Latest / New Teacher Talk / Ep 224: A Veteran and a First-Year Teacher on Managing the Classroom

Transcript

Ep 224: A Veteran and a First-Year Teacher on Managing the Classroom · New Teacher Talk

Welcome back to New Teacher Talk,
the podcast where we help new educators navigate the real
challenges of the classroom, one conversation at a time.
I'm Beth Wilkins.
And I'm Anna Quinzio Zafran.
Today, we're doing something a little different,
and honestly,
something we've been wanting to do for a while.
That's right, Anna.
We have not one but two guests today,
and they happen to be related to each other.
Todd Leban is a veteran educator with years of experience
building strong classroom cultures,
and joining him is his niece, Abbey Leban,
who's just a few years into her own teaching career.
What makes this conversation special is the perspective
split.
Todd's going to bring you the wisdom that comes from years
in the classroom,
the kind of instincts you only build over time,
and Abbey's going to bring you what it actually feels like
to be figuring classroom management out in real time,
right now, as a newer teacher.
So if you've ever wondered whether classroom management
gets easier with experience or what it looks like to build
your own approach from scratch, you're in for a treat.
Todd, Abbey, thank you both so much for being here.
Let's get into it.
What if the mindset of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it,"
is the very thing breaking our classrooms?
My name is Todd Leban,
and I am a middle level educator in Oak Park, Illinois,
District 97.
Today, I'm going to talk about classroom management.
I'll share some thoughts from the 23 years I've survived
thus far, and I'll be joined by my niece,
who will give you a fresh perspective on her first year in
teaching.
If there's one thing I've learned about classroom
management over the years, is that if you stick,
you're stuck.
Throughout the time I've been teaching,
there's a noticeable shift in how students treat and
respond to your environment, your preparation,
and your routines.
What works one year may not work the next,
or even the next trimester or semester.
How you present content and materials and the vision you
have for how they are to be interpreted can be drastically
shifted by the learners in front of you.
It's important to be observant and adjust.
But as a new teacher,
you may not be aware of different strategies.
Lean on your colleagues, pay attention to student voice,
and most of all, try to keep your wits about you.
The first year will teach you a lot.
To give you more than one perspective,
I am joined by my niece,
who has completed her first year as a special education
teacher.
Can you please introduce yourself,
share the district and school you work in,
and the grade level you teach?
My name is Abbey Leban.
I am a kindergarten through fifth grade special ed teacher
in Naperville District 204 at Kendall Elementary School.
Yes.
Welcome, Abbey.
I'm so glad to have you share your perspective here today.
There's a lot going on for new teachers at the beginning of
the year.
You're adjusting to a new space.
You have new colleagues.
And like you just shared earlier,
you've got some construction happening that can cause some
nerves on getting into your room.
Overall, at the beginning of your first year,
what filled your brain space before and on your first day
with students?
I think the biggest thing for me, like,
when jumping into it, so, like,
we have a great program with, like,
you have all that new orientation.
You have time to work and go into your buildings before the
first day.
But, like, I feel like no one talks about, like,
I was more worried about, like, figuring out, like,
the little things, like the logistics.
"Oh, does this look good in my room?
Does this look good on this wall?" Like,
I was so focused on making sure I had, like,
the welcoming environment for my kids.
And then in my specific position, I make my own schedule.
So looking at, like, that first,
I'd even say week of school, not even just that first day,
I didn't have a set schedule going in because I build my
schedule around the classroom teachers.
Ah, okay.
Once I finally figure out those classroom teachers'
schedules,
that's when I can kind of start piecing my schedule
together with the specific minutes of the students and the
specific time of the day.
So I think that was another big thing where, like,
I don't really know what I'm doing and where I'm going,
but I'll just go visit everybody for a couple, like,
I'd say, like, 30 minutes.
Yeah.
And then I'll figure out my schedule.
So it was ...
That was one of the biggest things going in.
I was like, "Uh, kind of don't have a schedule to go on,
but..."
That, that would give me a little bit of anxiety as well,
too, because you've got this constant unknown.
I remember the,
the only thing I can sympathize close to when I first
started was my first year,
I didn't get my student lists until the day I started.
Oh, wow.
So I had no idea how many kids I was going to have,
and that was back when it was, like, not digital,
so it was just like, "Here's the packet of, like,
your kids and stuff, too." So, ooh, yeah.
The stuff we deal with in the, in year one, right?
Oh, yeah.
All right.
So my topic here mainly today is on classroom management,
so I want to focus a few questions in on that.
What were some things you thought were important at the
beginning in terms of classroom management, like,
within the first month or so,
or even getting things set up?
I feel like for me, like,
looking at classroom management overall,
I probably would say I didn't have my strategies figured
out within the first month.
Because I don't work with a whole big class of, like, 20.
I work with between, sometimes it could be one on one,
sometimes it could be two.
I'd work with as many as five, so, like,
I can't have a strategy that may work for everybody.
So, like, with some of the kids, it would be, oh,
this specifically works for one kid,
or this specifically works for another one.
So it would be sometimes managing two different strategies
at once.
Yeah.
So I would have, okay, I'm working with this kid.
I'd have to, like, flip my brain back,
back and forth with each kid.
But then when I worked with, like, my groups,
I had some systems.
Like, for instance,
we had a star system in one of my reading groups that
worked for the entire group.
Some of those weren't necessarily built at the beginning,
but as you go, you kind of figure out what works best for,
in my case, some specific kids or some specific groups.
Yeah.
That's why I'm glad to be talking to you,
'cause your perspective is so much different than I think a
lot of new teachers kinda handle.
Piggybacking off of that,
sound like you totally had to adjust a lot throughout the
year to kind of figure out what works,
and you've got different things to react to,
differentiating all over the place.
What were any things classroom management-wise that you
discovered after that time that became important,
but initially kind of weren't focused on as much?
I feel like at the beginning I set, like,
my clear expectations of what things needed to look like or
what I envisioned things looking like.
Yeah.
But especially with certain students,
or I should say a majority of the students I do work with,
setting those specific routines was the biggest important
thing for most of my kids.
Because once they know, okay, once we get into this room,
this is the expectation and this is what we're going to
do.
So for, I'd say about four of my groups more specifically,
knowing exactly what to expect or this is exactly what's
happening kind of helped them transition into the room,
and just knowing, okay, this is what's happening.
I feel like setting those clear expectations,
routines was probably one of the biggest things for me.
That's great, and that resonates too when I think back,
that consistency, especially at that grade level and at,
at the, my middle level.
It's so important for them to know when I walk into this
particular room, what is expected of me.
So I think that's a really great one to throw in there.
Finally,
what do you wish you knew more about at the beginning now
that your first year is complete?
AKA,
what advice would you give to a teacher that is just starting
out in their first year?
I think for my specific role,
and something that one of the other teachers had told me at
the beginning of the year that I was like, "Oh, that's not,
like, that big of a deal," like, "That's not gonna happen,"
was we have different situations where there may be a
crisis or a support call where I have to attend to that,
or a specific student,
or maybe I have to go watch another classroom,
or a TA is out.
Yeah.
Just because I have a specific set schedule doesn't
necessarily mean I'm going to be following that every
single day, because things pop up here or there or,
not that I really ran into this a whole lot,
but having a TA out when you have specific students that
may have a one-to-one TA all day or they can only work with
specific people.
I may have to go and cover that kid-
Yeah
...
and I may have to switch around my schedule to work with
that student or adjust because I have to meet the needs of
my students.
And I feel like just knowing that my whole team had my back
and knowing that, okay,
if I have to do this or I have to go and I'm in a meeting
and my schedule's not the same, like,
giving my students that ahead of time warning, too, like,
"Hey, I know you're expecting me here,
but this is what's happening and this is why I won't be
here." Or even if there's not that time to talk to them
ahead of time,
talking to them afterwards and just being like, "Hey,
this is why I wasn't here." So they feel like they know,
'cause the relationships that I built with my kids,
it was like that was the foundation,
and just really building those relationships and that
communication with them then helped them understand and
made them more willing to learn because we had such a good
relationship.
Yeah.
And I'm gonna lean on that word communication, too,
'cause I feel like that is incredibly important.
And if I could sort of sum up what you were putting
together there, it's that communication is important,
flexibility is important.
Absolutely.
That flexibility really feeds into helping your mental
health as well as the, you know,
the health and wellbeing and comfort of your students being
in your classroom.
Absolutely.
And, like, going back to, like, that mental health aspect,
like,
I personally tried not to take as much work home as possible.
I would leave everything at school.
Obviously, I would have my computer at home and whatnot,
but just making sure that you also leave time for yourself.
Because if you're going into the building every single day
and your mental health is suffering,
then it's hard to show up and be there when there may be a
crisis or even just teaching.
So really making sure that you're taking care of yourself
as well.
Absolutely.
New teachers, you heard it here.
Be careful on how much work you take home.
It is way too easy at the beginning of the year to want to
overdo it and to want to over-impress people and stuff like
that, too.
But pace yourselves.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
Awesome.
Abby, thank you so much for joining me here.
I am so proud of you,
and I'm glad you had such a good first year,
and I wish you all the best luck going into the new year
coming up.
Thank you so much.
Be sure to follow New Teacher Talk on Apple Podcasts,
Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Also find and follow us on Instagram and BlueSky at New
Teacher Talk.
As you go into the year ahead,
keep perspective on what is probable.
In the words of Salvador Dali, "Have no fear of perfection,
you'll never reach it." I wish you all the best moving
forward,
and appreciate your dedication to one of the hardest
professions.
Cheers.
That wraps up today's episode.
If it gave you something useful,
the best way to support this show is through a five-star
rating wherever you listen.
It only takes a second,
and it helps more new teachers find us.
We're so glad you spent this time with us.
Until next time, take care.