Tammy’s Teaching Tips
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The realities of the jobNew teachersFuture teachersVeteran teachers

Be flexible — this job changes on a dime

A kid vomits. Someone pulls the fire alarm. Or there's a world pandemic.

With Tammy Striler · 1:34 · Filmed fall 2020

What to take away

  • However you thought the day would transpire, it can change completely.
  • A child vomits on the floor. An earthquake drill. Somebody pulls the fire alarm. Or — I don't know — there's a world pandemic.
  • Sometimes nobody really knows. We're all learning together, and that's okay.
  • Share it out with each other: talking it through validates what you're feeling and gets you other people's ideas.

Why it works

Filmed in the autumn of 2020, with her school about to go hybrid and nobody sure how. It's the tip that dates the footage and also the one that aged best — flexibility is the skill underneath every other one on this list.

TS

Tammy Striler

Founder · classroom teacher

Thirty years in the classroom, most of them with the door open and a student teacher in the back. Tammy started these tips because the best things she learned came from other teachers over lunch, and nobody was writing them down.

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Teachers are paid over ten months, not twelve. Spread it out from day one.

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The things people say when you tell them you're a teacher

“That's so fun, you get to play all day.” You'll hear it forever. Here's the answer.

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Every other tip

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Be that teacherRelationships · 0:56Is this the hill you want to die on?Relationships · 1:01Call home with something goodParents & families · 2:18Fake it till you make itParents & families · 1:24Teach like there's a camera on your shoulderParents & families · 2:00Relationships are the whole jobRelationships · 2:26Don't spend your own money on incentivesIn the classroom · 2:06Use humorIn the classroom · 2:01Cry week is coming, and it's normalLooking after yourself · 1:28On breaks, actually disconnectLooking after yourself · 1:25Get out of your room at lunchRelationships · 1:55No surprises for your principalRelationships · 1:48Class parties: no glitter, everBig days & events · 1:40Take work email off your phoneLooking after yourself · 1:27First day, back-to-school night, conferencesBig days & events · 1:29What's said in the tent stays in the tentRelationships · 0:55