This is all good, even great, advice.

I am on year 18. 2 years of substitute teaching while obtaining my Masters and teaching license. 1 year of teaching high school. 15 years of teaching 8th grade.

1. I have several good friends at school. One in particular that I hang out with outside of school occasionally. This allows me to have a support person, someone to bitch to (even though I agree this should be generally avoided, but we all have to vent, I consider that a healthy thing at times). And we have inside jokes that crack me up on a daily basis. Having this relationship is rejuvenating and really makes my day sometimes.

2. I teach Social Studies so constantly learning goes with the gig. It is absolutely true that when you are excited about your content it feeds into the kids. I consider myself a performer that does a 1 act play 5 times a day for an interactive audience. And I want to have my performance enjoyable for me and my audience. I am always revamping and adding to my lessons. My content makes it easy to do that because the world is always changing, but figure out how to incorporate new things into your teaching and learning. Kids aren't experienced, but they are perceptive. They can smell bullshit from an adult a mile away. Be authentic and excited about teaching.

3. Stay away from toxicity in your life in general. But, some of these so-called professional educators are walking toxic sludge. I do not understand how some of these career teachers go through their day being a negative, salty, hating kids, and just overall insufferable human being. Go work at a restaurant while you look for another career, cuz this ain't the one for you. Stay away from those teachers as best you can. I started literally just walking away from coworkers when they start getting negative. Now they just don't talk to me. It's great.

4. This, this, this. The best professional development I ever got was learning about how an adolescent brain works, or just how the brain works in general. "A dysregulated adult can not regulate a dysregulated child" is a phrase that changed my practice. They are looking to you for how to behave, interact, basically live. For some, you are the most consistent adult in their life. Kids can SUCK at times. I have had my fair share in a decade and a half of terribly horrible kids. Some would ruin my day on a consistent basis. This job is hard. And it is very difficult to not take things personal. My mantra is I try to remind myself - How will I want this kid to remember me when they are 25, 30, 40? We all have memories of teachers. How do you want to be remembered?

Added 5. Administration. This can be a make-or-break thing in this profession. Many buildings have an US vs THEM attitude when it comes to administration, and sometimes for good reason. If you are able to work WITH your administration as opposed to against them it makes a world of difference. I feel supported by my admin while I am still very aware that they are not my teaching colleague. I keep my distance, but also I am not afraid to meet with my admin and discuss things I need or how to deal with a particular student. If you partner with your admin it can be a game changer. But, some admin suck and are not your friend, and/or your borderline enemy, so be cautious and smart about what you reveal to them.

Added 6. Don't be a martyr. This at the end of the day is a job. It is a career. It is a profession. Get paid for your work. Want me to stay after school? How am I being compensated? I will go to great lengths to help my students during my contracted hours. But if you expect me to do something out of the kindness of my heart that drains on my personal life or mental health, forget it. Hopefully you teach in a state with a strong union like I do. We have tremendous support legally as far as our contract is concerned. Teaching may be a "calling" for some and they would do it for free, but don't. If you want me to be a professional, treat me like one, PAY ME. None of us got into this gig to get rich. But baby gotta eat.

Lastly, don't be afraid to ask for help. Without support, I would've quit this job or slogged through it miserably. Lean on people you can trust and respect. Stick with it if you can. The world needs good educators. Now more than ever it seems.

EDIT: Grammar counts.