Comments on: A Letter To A New NYC Teaching Fellow

By: New teacher? Blog posts to read (even if you’re not new) at tracyrosen.com

New teacher? Blog posts to read (even if you’re not new) at tracyrosen.com — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:02:37 +0000

[...] That’ll Teach You A Lesson: Ten Rookie Mistakes of a First Year Teacher by Ms. C A Letter to a New NYC Teaching Fellow by Jose Nine Things My Students Have Taught Me About Classroom Management and Teaching and [...]

By: …a new dawn, a new morning, a new chance… | Leading From The Heart

…a new dawn, a new morning, a new chance… | Leading From The Heart — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:37:43 +0000

[...] A Letter to a New NYC Teaching Fellow by Jose [...]

By: Learning Aesthetics - Good advice

Learning Aesthetics - Good advice — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:15:41 +0000

[...] and teaching are related. Worth a read is A Letter to a New NYC Teaching Fellow by Jose Vilson. Also worth a look is the presentation below (if you click the ‘View on [...]

By: brran1

brran1 — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:34:59 +0000

It just goes to show you that being humble and acting like you have common sense will take you a long way.

By: Jose

Jose — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:52:11 +0000

But JD, what you’re saying isn’t all that different either. After reading your series of posts on the matter, I realize that we’re really on the same boat. Maybe not the same approaches to everything, but that can be expected. You’re welcome, man.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:43:41 +0000

Jose,

What I say is different (I’ve been trying to write it up, but it’s not so brief) from what you say, but consistent, part of the same message. Thanks for putting that out there.

By: Jose

Jose — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:17:53 +0000

Clay, I wasn’t a puffed up noob, but I wasn’t always in the position to be the student like I wished. This might be one of the instances I actually took my own advice. And thanks for adding your voice, I’m glad you did. People are definitely moving around this issue, especially in the blogosphere.

Tracy, I agree that we should show our humanity, but in different settings, it’s often best to keep that blankness, not just with students but teachers. Many times, teachers get caught up in being themselves but they get eaten alive by the people around them. It does take a little maturity and understanding to get to the point where you can be that emotional. Just sayin’ …

By: Tracy Rosen

Tracy Rosen — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:13:46 +0000

In general, good advice. Not so bought on the poker face – our human qualities are so precious. I don’t hide mine, though I do know how to keep my priorities straight both in the classroom and the staffroom.

One of the most important lessons I learned early on, and one of the first things I try to impress on new teachers, is that my students are not my friends. I may be a friendly teacher, but I am their teacher first. I do not do things because I want them to like me but because it is how things need to be done.

I’ve found that students respect teachers much more when we have principles and expectations and stick by them than when we roll over so that they’ll ‘like’ us.

By: Clay Burell

Clay Burell — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 07:46:16 +0000

Man, that’s good advice for puffed-up n00bs in any school (and most of us, present writer included, were puffed-up n00bs when we started).

How quickly we learn, when we enter the trenches, how little we learned in the tower.

(And thanks for the LaVena link. I added my voice. Reading about that on CrooksandLiars.com was like a punch in the soul.)

By: Jose

Jose — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:24:02 +0000

Thanks to the both of you. This was semi-inspired by a real life conversation I was having with an incoming Fellow. She’s there taking copious notes and it just got me to thinking that she may want to print this all out at some point. Nonetheless, it needed to be said.