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Survey: I wish someone had told me...
Responses (generally unedited and in alphabetical order) to a request in a survey to collect data for Becoming a Win-Win Teacher to complete following sentence:
I wish somebody had told me (this about being a teacher)
Note to site visitors: If you would like to respond to this question to post on this site, click here. Please include how you would like to have your response attributed (name and position or position only).
There was so much paperwork!
—Micki Agresta, high school special education teacher*
Teaching is tons of hard work! I knew it wouldn't be easy but I didn’t expect it to be as hard as it is. Your family has to make sacrifices as well, as teachers bring their work home with them and that greatly impacts the family life. My husband loves it when I say my school bag isn’t coming out of the car tonight. That means he gets to spend some time with me without papers.
—Cindy Allen, first grade teacher*
I was best prepared in the humor category, but that was personal not through training. I was least prepared for the paperwork, and that was before NCLB.
—Mel Alper, retired high school history teacher
[That] college grades would not dictate how great an educator you can become.
—Elaine Anderson, attendance improvement facilitator*
[That] the most powerful and influential aspect of learning is the teacher-student relationship. Students will thrive in an environment where they are trusted, respected, empowered, and feel safe.
—Sherry L. Annee, high school biology teacher*
Knowledge of content area and my general interactions with the kids were and are my strongest areas in teaching. I was the least prepared with student grading, organization, parent contact, positive behavior incentive, and planning.
—art teacher (first year)
[Best prepared in] my subject area, English. [Least prepared] trying to differentiate instruction.
—assistant superintendent
That I would be teaching sixth graders how to read. I never dreamed that I would be teaching decoding, phonemic awareness, and fluency to my sixth graders, but I have learned a great deal in the process of learning how to teach these non-readers to read. While I do a lot more with reading strategies to enhance their reading abilities, I never considered that students could make it to the sixth grade with limited reading abilities.
—Erin Beers, sixth grade teacher*
I really wish someone had told me that you don’t always get to “just teach.” There are so many committees and meetings you must attend. It takes away from the time you want to devote to your students.
—Marlene Berman, Title I coordinator*
It becomes a reflective obsession! Every lesson you teach replays over and over in your mind on what went well, what could be changed for next time, and how can I make my best better.
—Charla Bunker, fifth grade teacher*
I was best prepared for technology and classroom management. I was least prepared for phonics and Phonemic awareness. I was also not prepared for all the special education students in the regular education room.
—Jennifer Burkholder, first grade teacher
That it’s ok if I don’t know it all.
—Jen Buttars, sixth grade math teacher*
I was best prepared to evaluate students and instruct. I was not prepared to deal with antagonistic parents.
—Maryann Caprioli, fourth grade special education teacher
Nothing prepared me for the students I taught that first year. I was in a low income school, with students whose only meal was lunch provided by the school. When I first started teaching, I had no books, period. I bought index cards and had the student tell me one word a day. The next day I would review the words with the student. Any word they recognized, they kept. Any word they did not recognize was put in another pile. The students soon learned to put the words together to form a sentence, and then paragraphs. They read the words and wrote sentences using those cards. I had to write the math problems on the board, and the students copied the problems. We worked through math using Popsicle sticks I had the students collect. That first year was a real learning experience.
—Sallie Chaffin, professional development project coordinator
I was prepared with special education knowledge. I knew the overall components of an IEP and how to write one. I was least prepared with classroom management and establishment of classroom routines. I was also not prepared for supervising a paraeducator! So difficult to be young and responsible for someone else's duties without any management experience.
—Amy Donner Chait, special education teacher
That it is OK to make mistakes and laugh about it. I was so hard on myself the first go around. Now after already teaching, I do laugh about how I should have been enjoying that first year and that experience not stressing. [Also,] what the heck all the acronyms meant in each county.
—Michelle Colbert, teacher of three-year-olds*
I wish my education classes had dealt more with classroom management. I love my subject so finding new ways to teach and grow is easy but there are still students who defy my most tried and true management strategies.
—Holly Davis, elementary school counselor*
I was prepared to plan for and implement lessons although not as ready to make adjustments when things didn't go quite right. I was least prepared to deal with difficult parents. They made some years especially trying.
—Christie DeMello, eighth grade teacher
I was best prepared with planning. My undergrad courses taught me that it’s always good to have a back-up plan. I was the least prepared for all of the social and emotional issues that our students face on a daily basis. We talk about Maslow and basic needs being met, but you don’t fully understand that until you get into the classroom.
—eighth grade English teacher
[Best prepared for] assessment (school psychology). [Least prepared for] behavior management.
—educational service center director
I think I was probably best prepared academically. However, I have discovered that academic preparation in the subject matter is really a small part of what is essential in order to be a good teacher. Academic preparation is certainly required; none of the rest of the skills would have a chance to flourish without that foundation. I suppose there should have been some of that kind of information sharing in a student teaching experience, but that was not the case for me. I know that there are some things that you can really never know until you just get into a classroom and start teaching, but there is an entire aspect of the experience that was missing from my education courses in college. (and I attended a satellite campus of The University of Michigan!).
—Anissa Emery, high school counselor and English teacher
I was definitely prepared in lesson planning. I have really had to work on finding classroom management skills that work for most students. I find that what worked for one child didn’t work for the next. I have discovered it is a mix of everything and that one style won’t work for everyone.
—Michelle Erickson, first grade teacher
The area that I was best prepared in was lesson planning with Blooms taxonomy, and making sure that the lessons incorporate more than one subject. The area I was least prepared is time management. It is difficult to make sure that 19 students are all getting all of the help and support that they need and are able to get all of their work done. Time is always an issue for me. Some students take five minutes to do an assignment, when others need twenty. I believe with more experience I will fell more confident that every student is getting all the help that they need.
—Suzanne Faas, fourth through sixth grade teacher (first year)
I knew my grammar and my vocabulary. I could also translate from Old English and Middle English and could recite John Donne and Andrew Marvell any time of day. In primary school these special translation and recitation skills have not been of any use, though. I was also thoroughly prepared to make extra material, cut out pictures from magazines and make brilliant lesson plans. However, I was not at all prepared to deal with kids with ADHD, dyslexia, various other learning difficulties, behaviour problems, kids from broken homes or dysfunctional families, parents...I could go on and on with this list.
—Tuija Fagerlund, primary language teacher
I was prepared in writing lesson plans, IEP's, making modifications and accommodations. I was the least prepared in dealing with parents.
—Ashley Ferris, sixth grade teacher
I feel that I was very well prepared to teach children. I don’t feel that I was as well prepared do deal with parents (especially the difficult ones). I feel I learned this through experience and by learning from more experienced teachers and principals.
—first grade teacher
I wish someone had told me that I would fall in love with so many kids, that my heart would be broken time and time again on behalf of children, that not every teacher cares, that principals don’t often know half what the teachers know, and that parents need lots of compassionate care.
—Julia Frascona, EBD (emotional and behavioral disability) teacher*
That not every student will be successful and that I will have students who fail.
—Jeremy Freedman, high school science teacher*
When you find yourself laying awake at 3:00 in the morning, wondering what you can do to make yourself a better teacher, you have reached the point where you really do understand what teaching is all about. When you can then learn to turn that off so you can get a good seven hours of sleep each night, but still be totally consumed with the passion for learning new things, developing new teaching strategies, setting up labs and activities, and meeting with students before and after school because they want to and you want to, then you'll know what teaching is—or what teaching was meant to be.
—David Friedli, secondary principal*
My subject matter (math) was the easiest thing to be prepared for. Relationships with thousands of different types of kids is the hardest thing to prepare for.
—Bill Funkhouser, middle school math teacher
That you really don’t get your summers off. There is always work to be done after the school year in preparation for the next year.
—Jason Gehrke, third grade teacher*
That the secret to teaching is all about developing respectful relationships with the students. The way to achieve this respect is to help learners do something they thought they couldn’t do. So many students never get to feel the power of really achieving something they feel is personally worthwhile.
—Bruce Hammonds, independent educational advisor*
I really wish somebody had told me how it would be the parents that would challenge me the most! You just assume that they have the same educational goals for success for their kids that you have. Sadly, for some, education is not a priority. It is hard to convince students to value things their parents do not.
—Tammy Hanna, middle school administrator*
Best: Behavior management. Least: Specific programs used in schools
—Stacy Harris, second grade teacher
How to handle late student work. Every teacher does it differently and it’s really difficult to find a way, your own way that works for you and for your students.
—high school English teacher*
I was best prepared to handle a classroom of severely handicapped kids. It was the children with all the emotional and behavioral issues that stumped me.
—Marti Johnson, ED behavior specialist
I was able to write lesson plans like a pro. My organizational skills were excellent. My weaknesses were the politics of teaching.
—K-3 teacher
[Best prepared] in planning. [Least prepared] in dealing with difficult students.
—Seta Khajarian, academic advisor
Best prepared in the use of textbooks. The least was in the area of social-emotional needs.
—Marilyn Lane, former principal, president CA Association Gifted
I was best prepared for my content. I was trained to be a high school English teacher and knew British and American Literature thoroughly and how to teach theme, character, etc. I was prepared to teach writing—all aspects of the process—and knew the rules of grammar. I was least prepared fro dealing with parents. Nothing prepared me for that!
—Diane Laveglia, instructional specialist for staff development
I was best prepared for using best practices in teaching an array of lessons, and dealing with classroom management.
I was least prepared for how to formulate and calculate grades in the best way. How much different projects, activities should be weighed against each other. And how to deal with parents reactions to grades, etc.
—Sherri Leeper, fourth grade teacher
That you don’t really learn what teaching is all about until you do it. And every job is new and different, even if you think you know what you’re doing.
—Berna Levine, special education supervisor*
[Best:] Classroom management. [Least:] Differentiated instruction
—Marvin Marshall, author and educator
I was best prepared for the actual teaching and classroom management aspects. I was less prepared for the politics of dealing with parents and knowing what paperwork to complete that was unique to my school and district.
—Michelle Mayrose, Title I reading specialist
That a lot of first graders are not truly potty-trained! I never imagined that so many kids still wet themselves.
—Jacie Bejster Maslyk, elementary principal*
[Best:] Bulletin boards and how to make a correct lesson plan in way too much detail. [Least:] I guess I really didn't even know how to read a teacher's manual. We should have classes in how to use one and how to pick and choose which activities to use. Also classroom management.
—Wonell Miller, elementary teacher
[Best prepared] to teach curriculum. [Least prepared] to teach unmotivated students.
—Chick Moorman, author, educator
I am a born student, an academic. When I learn content or pedagogy, I have it down cold. However, my first year, I felt tremendously inadequate because the methods courses I was required to take were not practical. The college and the school systems just were not collaborating. I just had no idea how to go about teaching a subject. No clue.
—Aili Pogust, educational consultant
I was lucky in that I was given the opportunity to do a ten week internship in the fourth year of my degree. In the final two weeks I was required to take over the class without the safety net of a mentoring teacher in the room. This really prepared me for the reality of day to day life in the classroom. I was required to contribute to reports, plan consecutive programs and manage a very difficult classroom environment. This scared me like hell but taught me ‘I can do this.’ Saying all that there is nothing that can truly prepare you for that first day when you step into your classroom and get told here is your class you now need to organise the physical environment, implement behaviour management strategies, start reports (I took over a class in term 4), get your programs ready… oh and you have two new students starting today. That bit is trial and error.
—Sione Quaas, elementary teacher
I was best prepared for behavior and management. I was least prepared in strategies to teach students math who did not learn in the way I did.
—Jean Ramirez, positive behavior support specialist
I was best prepared in the area of developing lesson plans. I feel I was least prepared in the area of discipline.
—Lois Romm, elementary readng teacher
I was best prepared to present lessons, in the academic sense. I really needed help with classroom management.
—Marcia Rosen, reading teacher, specialist, facilitator
I was best prepared to deliver the actual academic curriculum. Planning and teaching the academic content is the easy part. I was least prepared for the demands of required testing, concerned parents, as well as the inundation of paperwork related to students who have special needs.
—Adrian Schaefer, third grade teacher
I was best prepared for my subject area, music. I was least prepared in actually teaching and what to do in specific situations.
—Sherry Schafer, K-8 music teacher
That I would never be perfect. If I had stopped beating up on myself as a teacher earlier, I would have felt better about my progress and improvement, realizing that this would be an ongoing process.
—secondary math specialist*
About the rush that you get when one of your students has an “aha!” moment.
—Lindsay Shepheard, executive assistant to the superintendent*
As a beginning teacher I was best prepared for teaching the curriculum. It is definitely a learning curve, but after you do it a year or two it becomes easier. I was least prepared for handling the behavior problems that would arise. Specifically, how to handle them with the student and then with communicating my concerns to their parents.
—Jill Snyderman, kindergarten teacher
It is more than a job. It consumes your life and the smallest thing you do or say can impact a child.
—third grade teacher
I was best prepared in how to find and create lessons. I was least prepared for student management ideas.
—Shelly Traver, seventh grade life science teacher
I was best prepared to teach in my content area because I had great English teachers growing up. I was least prepared to deal with all the needs these kids have today—whether they are self-imposed, parent imposed, or biological.
—Theresa Weidner, high school English teacher
I was best prepared in teaching the curriculum. I knew how to write lesson plans and meet the standards. I was least prepared in dealing with the management side of the job. I did not know how to lead the group.
—Kim Wilson, teacher
I was best prepared for my subject areas. I was least prepared for teaching with very little equipment and supplies. I also think more information and preparation for teachers in handling difficult students and parents would be extremely beneficial.
—Dot Woodfin, director of character education program
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