What New Teachers Need to Know

How would you finish this sentence? "When I was a new teacher, I wish someone had told me..."

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It is very important to take a deep breath before each day, and you cannot solve all the classroom problems in one day.

Never assume anything about students, parents, or other educators.
If you want to cover the textbook, sit on it!
Enjoy the journey and not worry so much about the end result of each day, each grading period, or each year. Teach the best you can and love each child the best you can.
Be sure and concentrate on managing behavior before trying to teach lessons!
There is a lot more to teaching than just giving kids information. There is a whole other side to teaching, which involves juggling five different "hats" so that you can provide the best education to all of your students — not just those who are in the middle stream of the classroom.
Be firm, firm, firm!
Relax. Your class doesn't know your plans or the expectations of your daily lesson plans. If you don't cover everything you will have time. Review what you did that day and, if needed, continue what you did not finish. Enjoy your students and let their creativity, as well as yours, flow.
How much work was going to go into it!
There are other options for students who insist on making learning difficult for other kids. I learned that teachers have rights when it comes to sending children out of their classrooms when their behavior becomes intolerable.
Your tone of voice makes a world of a difference.

To take time for myself, read a good book, talk to my friends, exercise, and do something outside rather than worrying about all the work before me. Try to enjoy small moments of success in the classroom. Our minds and bodies need to be nurtured and tended to in order to be effective at long-term teaching and to stay healthy.

Not to sweat the small stuff. I was not going to change the world in a day.

Five Persistent Behavior Problems and How to Handle Them (Grades 6–8)
Maintain better control and establish a calmer, more productive atmosphere for your students. Bill Rogers, author of Behavior Management, identifies five classroom behavior problems and offers strategies for handling them.

Time Management Tip: How to Say "No" Sometimes
Are you one of the many new teachers who sometimes has trouble saying "no" to coworkers, friends, or family members? Take a look at these four ways to decline without feeling guilty.