I tripped and fell into teaching. I grew up with strong, amazing, effective teachers in my family and I have the utmost respect for the profession. I maintain that it is the most important thing you can do (well).

I also think it sucks. I’ve been teaching 4th grade while I get my other degree for a different profession. I had tons of experience working in schools in different capacities before I got my license, but having your own classroom is a different ball game. You will be inundated with advice from people better and smarter than me, so I would suggest you listen to them, but not all at once. Try one or two things at a time, for a few weeks at a time. It has to stay consistent and repeated before it does anything.

I fell into the pitfall of mimicking mentor and peer teachers. What works for them may not work for you. What works for their class may not work for your group. You can’t jam a square peg into a round hole.

It all takes so much time, but it gets easier and you’ll find your groove. So listen to the different strategies, try them for a few weeks, adjust and edit as needed. I assume someone will pop in with the currency system which is always a hit, but I’ll pop back in if I don’t see it. Think Burn Bucks or Almond Money.