You teach so you can have summers off, right?

If only I had a dollar for every time I've heard that one. If you teach like you should, you will need the summer to recharge, refresh and research for the next year!

Teaching is like rolling several vocations into one. Yes, you're a teacher but you're also a counselor, judge, police officer, nurse,strategist, statistician, event organizer, secretary, researcher, and yes, entertainer. Children today have (some literally) cut their teeth on the remote! The days of the Charlie Brown teacher droning are over (at least they should be).

I was asked about behavior management in my class. I do have alternate things I implement but first you have to plan and deliver lessons that are interesting and exciting. Bored children will do things to occupy themselves so it's up to me to prevent that. Can I "be on" all the time? No, there will always be times for work that has to be done, that isn't entertaining but is necessary. The trick is to provide intriguing lessons frequently so the students know,"Yeah, I have to sit right now and work on this but later, Mrs. G., will teach us something cool."

And food, yep, it's definitely a crowd pleaser.