Ready, Set, TEACH

Today's episode is all about the HEARTBEAT of your classroom. According to our guest, Andrea "Fitz" Fitzgerald, the heartbeat of our classrooms is "Culture" and "Relationships," and it is our duty as educators to ensure that our classroom has good heart health. Fitz walks us through 5 principles that will impact the heart health of your classroom. Fitz is a fellow educator and the author of the book The Rookie's Playbook: A New Teacher's Practical Playbook for Thriving in the First Years of Teaching. This episode covers topics such as building relationships, self-awareness, biases, authenticity, and more! Connect with Fitz! Mentalfitzness.com IG: mentalfitzness FB: facebook.com/mentalfitzness Visit: www.mentalfitzness.com/rookies for an autographed copy of her book!!

Have you ever received your class rosters and couldn't wait to go talk to a colleague to find out what your new students are like?!?! I am very much guilty of this! I believe this happens quite often for teachers, however, when we do this, we fall into the trap of pre-labeling our students. In this episode, Priscilla Morales, an educator, and author of the book How to Survive your First Five Years of Teaching joins me to share the problems with pre-labeling students and tips on how to avoid this. This episode is extremely relatable and an important conversation to have. Don't forget to check out Priscilla's book, How to Survive your First Five Years of Teaching, on Amazon or at Barnes and Nobel!!

Reading your students' names from your class roster for attendance is an extremely VITAL moment that needs to be done RIGHT. To your students, their name carries their IDENTITY, represents their HISTORY, and makes them WHO THEY ARE. In this episode, Rebecca speaks to Bareeq, a fellow educator who shares her personal experience with being in school and living with a "difficult" name to pronounce. Bareeq provides an insider's perspective on how it feels and how our students are affected when their name is consistently mispronounced. This raw conversation will provide you with actions to AVOID and more importantly, TIPS on how to get this moment right. Follow Bareeq on Instagram @ bareeq.barqawi Check out Bareeq's podcast "Bold & Unapologetic" & the episode we reference: Names & Identity Formation"

Is (or was) part of you SO EXCITED to be a teacher because of all the TEACHER CLOTHES?! (I was SO excited!!) In this episode, Rebecca speaks with Aisha Khan, the teacher and well-known fashion blogger at Classroom Couture. This episode is one you don't want to miss if you want to hear the MUST HAVE clothing items all teachers need to have, how to buy clothes without breaking the bank, how to AVOID being an OUTFIT REPEATER, how to recycle clothing items to create completely new looks, and SO much more! Follow Aisha on Instagram HERE! Check out Aisha's Fashion Blog/Website HERE! Rebecca's Favorite Quotes: "The most important thing is to wear something that reflects your PERSONAL STYLE and makes you feel CONFIDENT." - Aisha Khan "You want to wear things that EMPOWER you to be a better teacher and not make you feel like you want to hide and run away." - Aisha Khan

I recorded this quick BONUS episode to have some REAL teacher talk about a curveball that was thrown to me which is now making me feel like a new teacher! I share the advice I've been telling myself just in case you might need it also. 

Here's another lesson to help you continue setting yourself up for success! In this episode, Rebecca talks about CREATING and CONVEYING your classroom rules. Rebecca discusses everything from who should create the rules, to what rules to create, to how many rules, to examples of rules, and lastly, how to convey rules so your students KNOW you mean BUSINESS! This episode is one you DON'T want to miss if you're looking for clarification or something to PUMP YOU UP when it comes to being the teacher BOSS of your classroom! Other episodes mentioned in this episode: Lesson #8 - Preparing your classroom procedures Lesson #5- Classroom Climate Rebecca's Favorite Quotes: "Your classroom rules really reflect the VISION you have for your classroom." "Your rules will influence how your students FEEL within your classroom." "Kill'em with CONFIDENCE" "At the end of the day, your rules are meant to keep order so that everyone feels SAFE within an environment where LEARNING can take place."

In this BONUS episode, Rebecca speaks with Jessica Barker, a new teacher from Tennessee who is on Ready, Set, TEACH for her New Teacher Testimonial. Jessica shares how she found success during her first year of teaching and discusses her journey within the field of Education. Are you a veteran teacher listening to this episode? Well, you don't want to miss when Jess shares what she hopes for from veteran teachers. In addition, she highlights practices she can't teach without, which includes restorative practices and building relationships. Jessica has great energy and is all about supporting and being a voice for new teachers. You'll love her New Teacher Testimonial! Rebecca's Favorite Quotes from the Episode: "I still have NO IDEA what I'm doing because I'm new...but it's fine, FAIL FORWARD." - Jessica Barker "I think veteran teachers sometimes, not all the time, have a tendency to write new teachers off as NAIVE or un-knowledgeable or just new...they ASSUME we don't have a lot to bring to the table." - Jessica Barker "I think it's SO important to edify new teachers and LET THEM KNOW what their strengths are." - Jessica Barker "It doesn't make you LESS of a good teacher to focus on just SURVIVING the first year." - Jessica Barker

In this episode, Rebecca talks about setting yourself up for success by planning, ahead of time, your classroom procedures. In essence, having clearly defined classroom procedures is the first step in classroom management. Clearly defined procedures can eliminate behavior situations because students will know exactly what to do when completing different classroom tasks. Rebecca talks about how to plan procedures and what kind of procedures to consider. Rebecca's Favorite Quotes from the Episode: "If students DON'T KNOW what you expect of them...they're going to start doing WHATEVER they want." "Procedures are meant to provide the BEST LEARNING ENVIRONMENT for our students." "Procedures should be established and enforced out of LOVE."

Want to know what it's like to be a new teacher? Well, let's talk to some actual New Teachers then! In this episode, Rebecca talks to Hunter, a new teacher from Iowa for his very own New Teacher Testimonial.  NEW TEACHER TESTIMONIALS will feature new teachers who can tell you about their experience and what it's really like! 

Rebecca and Hunter talk about topics from wanting to be students' friend, to holding high expectations, to taking ownership, and SO MUCH MORE! This is an episode you DO NOT want to miss!!

Connect with Hunter on Instagram HERE!

Check out Hunter's Podcast Schools of Thought HERE!

Check out Hunter's website HERE! 

Teaching is an incredibly demanding job and because of that, it's SO important to be KIND TO YOURSELF along the way.  In this episode, Rebecca speaks with Erin, the teacher behind The Engaged Spanish Classroom.  Erin walks us through ways in which we can be kind to ourselves throughout the school year. It's an episode you don't want to miss!!

You can find Erin's Blog post that we mention HERE!

You can find Erin on Instagram HERE!

You can find one of Erin's Taco Tuesday Resources HERE!