Teacher Fired in First 90 Days, How I Made a Comeback

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What really happened?

Teacher fired! Ok, well, I wasn’t exactly fired. However, being in the Principal’s office after the first weeks of school is a close enough call. They put me on notice that, “Things don’t seem to be working out, and our time together may be shorter than what we had hoped.”

WHAT! I mean seriously, did we really just have that conversation. I literally have spent the last 4 years, and not to mention thousands of dollars preparing for this job…and now I am about to be without one! How in the world is this happening to me? This must be some sort of April Fool’s in September kind of joke.

Not to mention, I voluntarily came to teach at the “hood” school, okay inner-city/Title I if you want to be politically correct. But my rant, my rules. It isn’t like folks are lining up at the door to be here in the first place, so why are we even having this conversation?

Well, in reality, it actually wasn’t a joke. Also in reality, I couldn’t figure out how did I get here. I graduated college with a 3.9 GPA and a Bachelor’s in Education. I am prepared for this…right?

Truthfully the answer is no I wasn’t. I mean sure I was solid on writing lesson plans, creating purposeful assignments, and using pedagogy. Astonishingly, college had not prepared me for the real deal 150+ personalities I was going to encounter on a daily basis, and how to be a true captain of my own classroom ship.

Fast forward 14 years later, I am still going strong in “The Hood” and in the classroom. What I like to affectionately call, “The Trenches,” How did I do I do it? Here are my  top 5 tips to help first year teachers survive their first 90 days.

How I made a Classroom Comeback

1) Mentors Matter

One of the first things that was instrumental in leading me to almost being a teacher fired is the mentor assigned to me. Or a lack thereof. During pre-planning I was introduced to my mentor.

She was on the countdown to retirement and had nothing good to say about anything or anyone. Whenever I asked for help she would spend what felt like forever, talking about a bunch of nothing. Needless to say I left without gaining any insight.

With the lack of a true mentor, I was secretly drowning. Literally on my own I was just winging it and trying to make the best out of the situation. Part of why I almost got fired was a lack of guidance and support. So, word to the wise, be mentored by a teacher(s) you aspire to be like.

The school may assign you a specific mentor. A person, who gets a little extra in their paycheck for being a mentor. That does not mean that you have to solely stick to them. As you start to observe how other teachers do what they do, feel free to pick their brains on a regular basis.

Honestly, most teachers like passing on good information. It makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside, that someone actually sees the value in what we bring to the table as an individual. That is what saved me. A teacher on my hallway heard the news. Surprised? We all know bad news travels fast.

Knowing I was not receiving proper support, a decision was made to take me under their wing. This teacher did not receive any additional income for mentoring me. They really did this out of the kindness of their heart.

The next four tips I am sharing with you are a true testament to the time and energy others gave to me.

2) Rules & Procedures Over EVERYTHING

Fresh out of undergrad, I was young, and naive. Desiring my students to like me. I wanted to be the cool teacher. But at the same time I wanted them to respect me. The biggest mistake I made in this department, was putting the cool before the respect. Ultimately leading me down the path of almost being a teacher fired.

I only had 5 rules and didn’t even think about creating procedures for how to properly do things in my classroom. I saw very quickly, I can’t even say that I learned it quickly. The fact that students will fill in your blanks with whatever they want . Meaning, if you don’t already have a rule or procedure in place, they will make one up for you.

Trust and believe what they come up with will be far from what you would actually desire. Once they create their own, it takes hell and high water to get them to change to something else. Which is why it was so difficult to regain control of my room.

Even when I tried to put something in place, they rejected it. Not because they smelled fear, but because I allowed them to take the reins by being under prepared. There was no chance they were going let me take it back easily.

I also placed too big of an emphasis on getting through my lessons. Despite the chaos that was going on during my lessons. News flash, Learning is unable to truly take place if the environment does not allow it.

Once I pivoted and decided that my rules and procedures were non-negotiable, the culture of my class began to shift. I gained the mindset that if I don’t teach my students anything else, I will teach them manners and self-control.

When my focus changed to creating an environment where learning can occur, then learning started taking place.

3) Make Learning Fun

Guilty, Guilty, Guilty. Withing my first 90 days, I put most of my emphasis on having my students take notes, and then practice with worksheets. How silly of me. To think that 8^th graders were going to follow the old school method of, “Sit and Get.”

Sure, my students were already acting up because I did not have strong classroom management. The flip side of the coin is the misbehavior was also occurring because they also did not like math. This combination was lethal as it was a catalyst for me almost being a teacher fired.

They were trying to do anything and everything to distract me from being able to get through my lessons. In hopes that I would spend multiple days trying to finish one. Ultimately keeping them from having to do any real work.

Hind sight is 20/20. I put a greater emphasis on teaching good content, that I did not pay attention to the delivery. I did what my teachers did to me in the 90’s and early 2000’s. The old and dusty, “Sit and Get.”

Let’s face it. If you are bored teaching it, then your students are also bored learning it. Once I worked with other teachers and stole some of their more engaging activities, it helped to take the risk out of math. Not to mention incorporating more use of technology.

You should check out my post on how to effectively use technology in your classroom, for more tips.

Newfound engaging methods, coupled with my reformed attitude to make my rules and procedures a non-negotiable, really helped things to make a complete 180 in my classroom comeback. Lowering my chances of being a teacher fired.

4) Everything’s a Grade, But You Better Not Grade Everything

Another big mistake I was making during my first 90 days, deals with how I was grading, or lack there of. I was trying to be the teacher that only graded notebooks, quizzes, and tests. Trying to allow everything else in between to be practice.

What was I thinking?!? Once the students realized the daily work was not worth anything, they stopped doing it. When they stopped doing the daily work, they filled that time with their off task and distracting shenanigans. The gossip of these shenanigans happening in my class spread quickly. Playing a major role in me almost being a teacher fired.

Something had to give, and that something was allowing them to think certain assignments don’t count. The self-appointed, second mentor showed me how to trick my students into thinking everything counts.

While at the same time only grading a few assignments a week. I have a more detailed post on, “Everything’s a Grade, But You Better Not Grade Everything.” If you have a few moments, it is worth reading.

A New Way to Grade

Just call me, “The master of disguise.” It took about 2-3 weeks of collecting every assignment they completed on loose leaf paper, and putting a grade directly in their notebook for assignments they did in their notebooks.

Majority of my grades were based on :

1) Did they follow instructions

2) Did they try

3) How on task and on topic they were.

I only counted right and wrong on quizzes and tests. Which definitely made grading a much easier task.

Along with “grading” everything for those few weeks, I also made sure to put in at least 3 grades per week. Most importantly before the next school week started.

This newfound combination really threw my students for a loop. It made them see that the work I give them counts, and if they don’t show proper work ethic, the results would show almost immediately. Making this change almost immediately saved me from the hot seat, of almost being a teacher fired.

5) Keep it Simple

I can truly say, that I not only see, and learned from the error of my ways on this one. The mistake I made in this was trying to do too much at once. Not only was I a first year teacher, but I was also still in graduate school for my Master’s.

I was extremely naive on how my first year of teaching was going to go. I was totally unaware of all that lurked in the shadows of this profession. To say I was overzealous would be an understatement. I ended up with too much on my plate from my personal life. Grad school, sorority life, volunteering at my church, and coaching high school track.

I did not have much time to devote towards mastering the craft of teaching. As I mentioned above, my lessons were initially sit and get. I bit off more than I could chew in my personal life. On top of that, I did not have the best mentor, I also was aimlessly wondering through different strategies. Try a ton, and mastering none.

Keeping your personal life simple is essential to prevent yourself from being a teacher fired. Keeping teaching methods simple is also helpful. Focus on 2-3 strategies, activities, or educational tools. Use them repeatedly. By mastering them, you can then add on a couple more.

Becoming a great teacher is not something that is happens overnight. Give yourself some grace. Veteran teachers spend years creating and perfecting their system. If you are lucky, you will have the pleasure to receive mentorship by a rockstar teacher. Which brings everything back full circle, to tip 1, mentors’ matter.

Conclusion

Finding out that you are on the cusp of being a teacher fired is devastating. I honestly did not know what I was going to do with my life if it wasn’t teaching. I had no plan b. Mentors matter because a mentor that fails to support and pour into you is simply meaningless.

Rules and procedures trump everything. I don’t care what anyone has to say about this. I survived the dark side. Having a good rapport with your students is important. They should be able to feel safe, and supported while in your class. Rules and procedures weave into this intricately.

Making learning fun and engaging helps to take the risk out of failure. When students are more focused on the fun parts, the work is simply a means to an end, to be able to have more fun. Ditch the sit and get, and literally get with it. The program, because technology is here to stay.

Mastering the disguise that everything is worth a grade, gives the pleasure of watching majority of your students work with a purpose. Engagement will increase because each assignment will be accompanied by a sense of urgency. Remember, it is a disguise, please, please, please, do not waste time you can never get back, trying to grade everything.

Can we say that Rome was built in one day? Then, neither will your teaching style or your repertoire of tricks. Focusing on a few educational methods or activity types at one time will be helpful. Most teachers desire to be superheroes, but sticking with your faithful few until you master them, will pay off more in the long run.

As for your personal life. It is great to indulge and enjoy yourself. Bare in mind, that only for a small season of your life, you may need to cut back a tad. Just to make sure you have some time in your week to breathe.

Do me the biggest favor, and learn from my mistakes. Whether you are a first year teacher or still in your first few years of teaching. If you are using any of these sabotaging methods, being a teacher fired isn’t necessarily in the near future. However, do not panic. Simply make a plan to start implementing changes in the more effective direction. We don’t know what we don’t know. But once you know, you need to move like you know.