Advice for Teachers

I had a student teacher ask me, "What is the best and worst advice you've received starting out?" (from teachers/mentors) 

I had to think about this for two seconds:

The best piece of advice ever given to me was by my wonderful mentor. She said, "Once you argue back with a student, you've already lost the argument." So true. When excuses are made, I remind them to take responsibility and NO EXCUSES!

The worst piece of advice was given to me by a not so great teacher (read sit-behind-a-desk-all-day  "teacher"). She said, "You need to find your voice. If you don't, the students are going to walk all over you." (I'm not loud by any means and I don't like to even raise my voice). I can honestly say I have never yelled in my classroom. I think it's a behavior management issue when you have to yell over your students.

Thought I'd share the joys of growing and learning. :)



Part II

A teacher once told me, "Don't use sarcasm with kids. They just don't get it."
Worst piece of advice ever!
Sarcasm is awesome and sometimes... it's all we have, just kidding. But, no, I think in certain situations, it's totally warranted. o_0