In my 31st year of teaching and you nailed it on this one! These are many of the things that I try to impart on new teachers that I mentor. It really is all about balance: at school, at home, in life. Have to have enough to pour into all areas of your life, not just work. ❤
Michelle, I'm a college student beginning my teacher education classes and the main stressor I feel thus far about teaching is the standards and how to make sense of them. You are so right about colleges not going into depth with the content we are suppose to teach. I would love some videos of how you dealt with this as a teacher.
The curriculum dips into all the standards naturally. Even veteran teachers don’t look at the standards word for word. The curriculum should have little notes as to what standard is being targeted. It’s only when you create your own lesson from the top of your head where you have to think what it’s hitting.
Like Jaydel said, the curriculum helps A LOT and most school have a curriculum as well as a scope and sequence. That scope and sequence will help you SO MUCH! It essentially shows you the order you will teach the standards in throughout the year or 6 weeks or whatever time frame your district follows. Knowing what standard is coming next can help you determine what you really need the kids to grasp. Example: in second grade, first we teach place value and regrouping ones to tens and tens to hundreds. The next unit we teach is adding and then adding with regrouping. So I have to make sure the students have a SOLID grasp of regrouping in place value in order to understand regrouping in adding. Hope this helps! 😊
Thank you for being so forthcoming in your “mistakes” as a teacher. I LOVED the tip about doing what is best for your students!! I teach special education and struggle with not “keeping up” with my Gen Ed cohorts. But then I realized that’s not what it’s about!! And it’s hilarious that I watch your videos at 7:00 am on a Sunday while grading papers! 🤣
Our admin and district needs to understand the concept of consistency. Many times they are so excited about a new discipline program, SEL program, textbook, and then they abandon it a year or two later. There wasn't enough time to determine that. It gets frustrating because it makes me not want to "buy in" because they will just change it anyway 🙃
It also depends on what state you attended college and what state you end up teaching in, common core or not. There is also some administration responsibility here for teachers and buildings to communicate with each other well.
Being a first year teacher, a huge mistake I made was creating unrealistic expectations for myself as a teacher. I feel like being hired as a teacher you feel expected to become teacher of the year with amazing lessons and no issues with students every single day. That is simply not the case with any educator. So setting more realistic expectations for myself and giving myself a break from work relieved so much stress. (Thank you therapy 😊)
“Not artsy”? Then what did I just watch? YOU are a consummate artist when it comes to teaching and presenting information in relatable, digestible, and rememberable ways. This is your art skill. Thanks, neighbor. 👩🏻🎓
My biggest mistake was tying my students' success or failure to my own self worth. Some students may not pass. They may not turn in their work. They may skip class. Every F or 0 made me think I must be a terrible teacher. I must not have tried hard enough to reach them. I understand the line and boundary now, but I still hate seeing students fail.
I felt this too!! It was not until a veteran teacher said to me, "You can't want it more than they do," that I felt the guilt lift. Do I still hate putting in zeros? Yes. But do I think of myself as a failure? No!
So much truth in this video! I was nodding my head for all ten mistakes. Thank you for such an honest and helpful rundown of errors that many of us make. I like how you also explained how you flipped the mistake into a more productive strategy. We are always growing and improving!
I really appreciated this video. As a second year teacher during these crazy times it always feels like you’re not doing enough and you feel guilty when you finally try and get some rest. I appreciated all of this! Thank You!
As a veteran teacher…. Can say you NAILED IT with this list! Thank you for sharing. It helps me reflect on my journey. My son and his girlfriend are both elementary Ed be majors in college. Definitely passing this in and saving it for future review… because it is a journey ☺️.
I have always felt really insecure about my teaching ability because of my lack of confidence and knowledge regarding subject content. So to hear that you also went through the same thing has given me a sense of peace because I'm not alone. Thank you so much! God bless
Thanks, Michelle.👍 I struggled with every mistake up to the end of my teaching career. Teaching is a calling that makes teachers feel they must jump in with both feet and keep on paddling!
These are all such good points and so honest! I'm working on admitting when I need help (huge perfectionist) and not care about "not knowing something " . It benefits everyone if I actually work on myself, ask for help, and view learning as a process and less as a product. It's just hard to be ok with telling your administration you have areas to work on still when you've taught for 18 yrs. I feel like I should be better teacher at this point. Instead I have embraced the idea that I'm also a learner and there is no shame in that😉
You learn something new every day is what the adage says, yes? I have some comments that I keep handy such as, "Hmmm let me think about that and get back to you." Or, if someone (student, teacher, parent) shares something new that they have learned with me, I ask for a reference (to learn and to check accuracy) like a book title or website. ;)
Yes, pacing guides need to be thrown out the window for now. Some administrators forget that even teachers have experienced loss due to the pandemic. Thank you for your video presentation. Take care.
Awesome video! As a veteran elementary music teacher, I see the same mistakes in my past teaching. Regardless of the discipline, we can all spend too much time on work. For classroom teachers, it's planning and grading. For music teachers, it's planning and performance prep. I had to learn to leave my work at work.
Not me crying during this video. Like you, I had always wanted to be a teacher and it’s so disheartening when I have days that I don’t feel like I was successful. My mind goes to, “You can never fail! You can’t be anything else but a teacher.” I have to understand that I am a teacher BUT I’m also many other things. Thank you!
Thank you for saying to do what is best for my kids. I have so felt that this year. I teach 1st grade, and my kids came in not even knowing letters and sounds. They couldn’t even write their name, and had no number sense. We were hearing “teach the standards and fill in the gaps.” I struggled with that, because the majority of my class was at a PreK level (0.0 on Star Early Literacy testing.). I finally just decided I was going to start out teaching letters and sounds, writing names and letters, and number sense. I decided if anyone said anything, I would tell them that I was giving my kids what they needed. I couldn’t teach them to read if they didn’t know letters and sounds. I couldn’t teach them to write if they didn’t even know how to write their name. I couldn’t teach them to add and subtract if they had no number sense. I am seeing my kids making strides, but I know it is because I wasn’t caring about teaching the standards, but was giving my kids what they needed. Most of the other teachers went on with teaching the standards, but I felt like I was doing my kids a disservice if I did that.
Thank you Michelle, this made my day. I’m going into teaching and working with special education students. This advice will totally help me in the first five years of my teaching career.
The “leader not facilitator” one is so true of most early teachers. For me, I was worried if I let my students take the lead that I wouldn’t be “doing a good job” or that I wouldn’t be doing enough.
I find it interesting whenever I discuss planning that teachers respond as if they don’t understand me. However I always work from a backwards design method, exactly as you explained. I don’t understand the disconnect but I’m glad someone else gets it!
"Creator" is a hat you wear well, and I think is a modern take on artist/musician/etc. Using technology to help others by creating content and materials to help other in various ways is a very appreciated skill and I wanted to make sure that you notice that hat as well.
Omg. I have been watching your videos for years. As a teacher myself, I remember thinking ‘’ poor Michelle, I hope she stops working too much one day.’’ I’m so glad you understood! That makes you an even better teacher and role model for your students.
Michelle, thank you for the way you consistently present. It’s so easy to follow and absorb. I am in college to become a teacher, I am subbing, and have been a para for 9 years. I’m also in my 40’s. Teaching has NOT always been what I’ve dreamed about. In fact, I had dropped out of high school and hated school with a passion all growing up. I somehow ended up in the para field out of my desire to be there for those misunderstood and traumatized by teachers. My point is, I know how hard it is teaching, especially now, and I’ve never had the desire to be “like them”, nor have I ever felt like I had what it takes. I’ve really had to talk myself into doing this when there are so many reasons that scream “don’t do it” now. It gives me so much hope to see the vulnerability and realness that you share. I’ve been pouring over your podcast and videos for the past year and would love to implement all your ideas and tips. Thanks for keeping it real and reminding us that we don’t need to lose ourselves into teaching or be perfect in order to be a teacher, nor should we. With the tides changing on what the expectations of a teacher should look like, maybe it’s actually a great time for me to be on this track.
I would love to see some content about how you as a teacher would prefer feedback from unhappy parents. I am really struggling with my sons teacher this year. I actually think academically she is amazing, it’s more the social emotional side of things. And I love teachers. I think teachers are absolutely the super hero’s of life so it’s bugging me a lot that I am not thrilled with her. I know these last several years have really taken it out of teachers and I want to be very aware of that as well.
Harley, your teacher has many children to teach. Since you know your child best you can guide your son’s social and emotional learning. As your child is learning the academic content, you have the free time to teach these skills.
I love this! i'm a first-year school librarian and seeing a parent wanting to approach teachers with respect and kindness is so heartwarming. it's totally okay to not get "vibe" with your child's teacher - sometimes you won't! advocating for your child in a respectful, kind way is a great first step :)
Harly, honestly, just ask questions. Share what makes your son "your son." And if you are not thrilled, think of a kind way to bring up or say what you think. Teachers, myself included, would rather know what you are thinking than being upset or maybe even misunderstanding (?) something. Text, email, phone call, parent conference . . . are all appropriate. Hope it works out!
This post is so vague. What does does that even mean, the SEL side of things? Like the son doesn’t feel supported, son getting bullied, son doesn’t know how to socialize with other students, son fears the teacher? Just depends.
"Mistake" 6.... thank you! I have been feeling like a failure my whole career because of this. Breathe of fresh air hearing this out loud from a teacher that I admire. Thank you for being real!
Excellent “top 10” list. My favorites from which I benefited were 1, 7, 8, 9, 10. You have also created great “chapter titles” for your book, “Reflective Guide to Teaching, Learning, and Living Well.”
Thank you for being a mirror to reflect at. I've been an EFL teacher for 5 years and made the same mistakes, but I know that being harsh to myself is not the answer. Looking forward to be a better teacher one step at a time 🙌✨
Such a useful video, thank you. Fascinating, I’m training at the moment and I keep being told to explicitly instruct my students, and yes a lot of them are demotivated, I need to find a way to give them more control…
Thank you for sharing this. Teachers on the Internet can seem like they’ve got it all together, so this was so helpful and enlightening. I know that might have been tough to do. It is SO hard as a teacher to admit you’ve been doing something wrong & to learn from mistakes. I changed a lot about the way I teach (foreign language teacher) & it was so hard but the best thing I’ve ever done. And that only happened bc I was super honest about what wasn’t working.
I truly identified with most if not all of your comments regarding the mistakes you've made. Thanks for being honest and giving us your advice. Much appreciated. I will put your suggestions and advice into practice.
Definitely the identity comment. I notice a LOT of teachers and influencer teachers all identify as teachers, but not much else… I did the same thing trying to do well in my career, and my husband kept telling me that I’m more than that and that I needed to do other things as well, to not let my JOB define me. Definitely a BIG problem. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for your honesty here. I love your ideas of how to engage your students by encouraging them to take ownership in the learning: make an anchor chart, have student explain how they solved a problem....all of this is specific and so helpful. The last mistake is one I have made too, and maybe many here as well. We all appreciate your transparency here so much. Thank you, Michelle.
Let's talk about Backwards Planning! That is a video I'm still looking for because administrators are always talking about it but no training on how to do it. A video about that would be great. Also, I'm lateral entry and I saw teachers that had teaching degrees were in the same boat as me. I felt so much better.
Thanks for the PD! I’m documenting this on my new teacher PD hour sheet. Lol Absolutely love you and have learned so much from you as a relatively new teacher (year 3 ish).
This video meant so much to me! As a first year teacher, I felt as if I was doing everything wrong. I connected with each of these mistakes, and currently have made each one in just three months! Thank you for this ❤️
Me too! I'm a first year teacher and I relate to all of these mistakes. I love watching this video and learning how I can change what I am doing to be a more effective teacher!
I agree with all of these thoughts! Thank you for sharing. I knew there would be several things you would mention that I am currently doing, but you gave me some ideas on how to fix them as well. Thank you, thank you!
Thank you so much Michelle. Your videos are always so timely. It's great to know that your are never alone and we all have similar experiences and stories...
Michelle, I have been watching your videos since I was in high school before I even knew for sure that I wanted to be a teacher too. Now that I'm student teaching, your videos have been even more helpful, especially this one. I really appreciate you sharing these experiences with us because WOW have I been going through so much of what you've talked about. Knowing that someone that you have looked up to for so long has had the same struggles and feelings that I am having makes what I'm feeling much more normal. Thank you so much again for sharing!!
Michelle, I have been teaching 34 years now and it is still my calling and passion. I am so proud of you that you learned all these "lessons" at such a young age . . . I can attest to the fact of going through these same mistakes and finding out it is way more fun, as well as healthful mentally, to make some tweeks. I remember my first "a-ha" moment was I didn't have to change my bulletin boards every month (sounds silly but true)-the bulletin board police were *not* headed my way. I've taught 3rd grade (in Maryland) and special education K-12 currently back in Ohio. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
I only recently started giving specific feedback! It has made a huge difference. I do the same when I'm tuning instruments (I'm an orchestra teacher). I say something like "wow, the way your hand looks so relaxed when holding your bow, is awesome! Look how soft and curved your fingers are" Where before I would say "nice bowhold". Hopefully, they would understand why I liked it.
Your last statement: making teaching your identity….this happens in other careers too. As a nurse, I had to step back and realize it was just part of me
You are so right! I have taught since 1979 and have seen so many changes! I see wonderful teachers come and go so quickly, because they haven't learned to have a home life. There are no boundaries and they burn out. I've stayed at work until very late also and I had wonderful classrooms, but I missed so much with my family. Now, I still have the love of teaching and will be back in a couple of weeks, but I know that I have to leave what happens and what I need to do, at school. Yet, here I sit at 11:40 on a Saturday night, watching youtubes about school! LOL I do get excited about school this time of year and want to keep up with new ideas.
Hi, I know I'm watching this video 7 months after you posted it Michelle, but I wanted to highlight how great you are for not only talking about the "mistakes" you made but ALSO telling us HOW you "fixed" them. It shows that you actually care about your audience. Thank you darling for all you do, please keep on doing it :)
Hey hun, I been watch over some of your videos to get my shit together . little insight doing my last year of school and teacher full time . thank you for being so clear your tips are so helpfully.
Interesting what you say about deep understanding of the content. I recognised this concerning teaching grammer because i noticed it was even hard for me to explain and motivate why it's so important to learn grammar. Now i find out that there s a big gap between teaching practice / schoolbooks and the latest insights concerning grammar at universities. It should be rewarding to share these new insights with other teachers.
This was extremely helpful. I'm in the last leg of my teaching program right now so I'm finishing up with student teaching. Your point of teacher prep programs not preparing TCs about standards and how things build upon each other is SPOT ON. Yes, we take a "math for educators" class or an "Literacy for educators" and so on but it's not the same thing. That stood out to me early on and as I try to prepare everything I need for my edTPA, it's even more glaringly obvious. I also really liked what you had to say about student-directed learning and moving away from a lecture-based model. You hit on so many good points. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.
Hey Michelle. I like this video. I am in my first year and I have also noticed that what I taught didn’t meet the standard by the end of the lesson I was wondering if possible, can you make a video on backwards planning and how it should be done? I have looked on RU-vid and can’t find a video that really helps me understand how it needs to be done or provides a good example. I would really appreciate a video like this! Thank you.
This was SO HELPFUL!! I am in school for music education right now and have been taking a class where I am creating elementary music lesson plans. It’s a really fun class, but I find myself falling into a lot of the same traps as you did. My lessons aren’t planned backwards to forwards and are usually more teacher-focused instead of student-centered. Also, if I do end up teaching elementary music, I will need to study the content a lot more/scope and sequence. Because I’ve been doing music for so long, I don’t really remember not knowing how to do most of these things. It’s been a really fun class and it helped me realize I would like elementary, but I know there’s so much more I need to learn.
I love how your “mistakes” really were just learning opportunities! May we all have the courage to fail forward and make every mistake count. Thanks for sharing.
One thing that has helped me decide if I need to hold the class back and keep working on a topic is if it is an essential learning outcome. If it’s just good to know, but not essential then I move on so I can use class time on the most important concepts.
These are awesome insights and just plain good ways of approaching how we do things as educators. Loved all of your ideas. Your insight on understanding content was great and totally a trend among teachers these days. Great video, Michelle.
Thank you so much, Michelle! I could totally relate to everything you shared. This is definitely one of my favorite videos that you’ve created. Thank you for reminding us of what is most important!
Michelle thank you for being so honest with this! I feel your mistakes apply not only to teachers but also in so many professions as well! I have spent so much time working even in my job in medical (very late and some sleepless nights). I at times have been forced to take on the do it all myself mentality because I am the flexible one (my team has been incredible and I would not trade them for anything)! I am so against pacing guides🤬 (coming from a teachers kid, I don’t think instruction should be paced by instruction guides but by the teacher)! The 10th mistake resonates with me especially because I have lost myself multiple times because of my job (I am an assistant, tutor, volunteer, runner)
I think the planning routine is the one that has been hard for me to accomplish.. not only as a teacher but in my life in general. Excellent video. Thank you.
Girl, the first video of yours I ever watched was the year you planned a Christmas Around the World party the night before. 😅 You've grown SO MUCH. Even since this video!
Loved your honesty. I think every point you made is something that I’ve gone through and I am a 27 year veteran teacher. I know this will help so many teachers!
Wow Michelle! This is true for so many teachers! I've been teaching since 1985 off and on as a Music Specialist, and this gave me some clarity and encouragement. Thanks for your honesty and transparency!
Thank you so much for mentioning the issues with content! I'm in my third year of teaching and this has been an issue for me too. You're so right right about us knowing how to do the skill, but not knowing the way the progress or build for the students.
This will be an impactful video for so many, including me. Thank you, Michelle. Your channel has been an inspiration for me and has really helped me grow. I really admire how you are honest about your own personal growth as well.
Ironically, I am here at school getting all of my students reading notebooks prepared for after thanksgiving and it’s 5:30pm. I will definitely use that advice to ask a parent to help me prep for this next time! It’ll save me a lot of time and I know she looks for ways to help anyways :)
So appreciate your honesty! I’m not a teacher, but I also am experiencing many of the same “mistakes” in my career. Thank you for the reminder to take a step back, take a deep breath and reevaluate things now and then. ❤️
Hi! I was glad to hear that I wasn't the only one who made some of the same mistakes. When you mentioned Pacing Plan, I recalled an experience I had with my admin. I told him that I needed to reteach a Math lesson he had observed because I didn't think students really understood it and needed more time but I was worried because I didn't want to fall behind on Pacing Plan. I basically sort of asked him if it was ok to fall behind 1 day or 2..He just stared at me and gave me no response. Sheer silence. I was thinking wow, I guess it's more important to be on point than for students to really grasp the material. Either that or he thought it was my fault as a new teacher for not explaining it correctly. Like you said, I guess that's not a school I wanted to be at. 🤷♀️ Thanks for your helpful videos!
My students think we are behind in science. The other science teacher is on chapter seven and we are on chapter three. They were comparing themselves to the other two classes on Friday. I told them that we are not behind and that how we do science is helps them more. I have seen the results by not sticking to the pacing guide. My school sees the results and they are okay with it. No, we don't cover everything in the book, but we cover what they need to know. The slower pace is what this class needs. It takes them longer to understand a concept and I am fine with that. :)
My hs math teacher was one of the co authors for making sense of mathematics. He inspired me to be a teacher, actually and continues to be an inspiration to me. I highly recommend that book! I absolutely love teaching math because of him! Nice tips!
Thank you for being so honest!!! I taught prek before but this year is my first teaching at a public school. There is way too much paperwork and not enough time to teach. I feel overwhelmed a lot lately but you made me feel like I am not alone. 💕
Thank you for sharing Michelle! Those were my mistakes too in my first year teaching. I am very blessed to reach in an international school so we actually have assigned EAs to help with printing, laminating etc.
Thank you for putting yourself out there in a vulnerable way. I relate to so many of the struggles you shared and now I don't feel so alone about it. I also picked up some wonderful ideas on how to address these "mistakes" in my own journey. I'm moving forward to make changes that will be beneficial for me and my students.
I ABSOLUTELY LOVED EVERY INCH OF THIS VIDEO!!! So transparent!!! I could relate to everything you said... like everything!!! Thanks so much for recording this!!!
This video is one of your best yet! It takes a TON of courage to take complete ownership over something most people (likely not in the profession) wouldn't even CONSIDER a mistake, like working way past a typical 5:00 cutoff - but it NEEDS to be shared! Overworking (especially in a job already as demanding and exhausting as teaching) is never the answer. :( I truly think it starts with voices like yours to help new and old teachers feel like they don't always have to learn things the hard way :)
OMG I've been watching your videos for hours now. As I am returning to the field, this video is really reaching me. This is me. This is me! This helps so much! Just thank you so very much!
