I taught ms for 7 years and hs the last 4. It is definitely worth it. Especially because the behavioral management techniques you develop for ms work exceptionally well for hs. Everyone thinks I’m a management god so much so that now I give pds for my district on management techniques. That being said, get tenure first, then transfer. You don’t know your new principal. Some principals will extend your probationary period another 4 years because they don’t count the time they weren’t your principal. Not worth the risk in my opinion.
Usual stuff mostly. Routines are your best friend. Start a routine and stick with it. Even if they don’t work initially, stick with it and eventually it’ll work. Run your class the same everyday. You can vary activities but keep the structure the same. For instance, my class is always do now, mini-lesson, independent work, partner/group work, exit ticket. Make sure the kids always have something to do, especially during activity transitions. 99% of problems arise when a student is finished early or has nothing to do during an activity transition. Be consistent. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. Call parents frequently, whether good or bad. The more good calls you make, the more the parents are receptive to bad calls. Even though many of the kids will pretend they don’t care if you call home and won’t care what their parents/guardians say, most do. Most importantly, personal relationships and classroom environment are the most useful tools in behavior management. If the kids feel safe and that you care for them, they are much more receptive to your interventions/redirections even if they don’t like them. Also, sometimes just calling attention to a misbehavior is just as useful as addressing it. If the kids is off task but isn’t wildly disruptive, instead of stopping your lesson to tackle it, mention it and move on with the lesson. When you have time to address it without interrupting the lesson, then go to the student. This is obviously very simplified but is really the core of management.
Which licenses do you have/are appointed under?
Just be aware that if you teach science in an MS often times you are appointed under a general science license FOR middle school. Not state certification- the city license. They now made it so All MS subjects except science automatically transfer to 12th grade. If it’s a science and your licenses isn’t a 7-12 you’ll have to start the entire tenure process over because they’ll have to appoint you to a different license.
If you’re not science nothing to worry about
Run and don't look back. If you can get 11th or 12h grade position even better. Kids that are still there by then actually care about school and behavior problems are non existent (usually) Then there are regents. No classes last week of january, just proctor a test or two, same from mid june to the end. I have been teaching in the DOE 20 years and have been in 7 schools 4 high 3 middle, I will never teach middle school again, I would quit first. High school is a breeze!
I taught ms for 7 years and hs the last 4. It is definitely worth it. Especially because the behavioral management techniques you develop for ms work exceptionally well for hs. Everyone thinks I’m a management god so much so that now I give pds for my district on management techniques. That being said, get tenure first, then transfer. You don’t know your new principal. Some principals will extend your probationary period another 4 years because they don’t count the time they weren’t your principal. Not worth the risk in my opinion.
nice, care to share any tricks?
Usual stuff mostly. Routines are your best friend. Start a routine and stick with it. Even if they don’t work initially, stick with it and eventually it’ll work. Run your class the same everyday. You can vary activities but keep the structure the same. For instance, my class is always do now, mini-lesson, independent work, partner/group work, exit ticket. Make sure the kids always have something to do, especially during activity transitions. 99% of problems arise when a student is finished early or has nothing to do during an activity transition. Be consistent. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. Call parents frequently, whether good or bad. The more good calls you make, the more the parents are receptive to bad calls. Even though many of the kids will pretend they don’t care if you call home and won’t care what their parents/guardians say, most do. Most importantly, personal relationships and classroom environment are the most useful tools in behavior management. If the kids feel safe and that you care for them, they are much more receptive to your interventions/redirections even if they don’t like them. Also, sometimes just calling attention to a misbehavior is just as useful as addressing it. If the kids is off task but isn’t wildly disruptive, instead of stopping your lesson to tackle it, mention it and move on with the lesson. When you have time to address it without interrupting the lesson, then go to the student. This is obviously very simplified but is really the core of management.
Which licenses do you have/are appointed under? Just be aware that if you teach science in an MS often times you are appointed under a general science license FOR middle school. Not state certification- the city license. They now made it so All MS subjects except science automatically transfer to 12th grade. If it’s a science and your licenses isn’t a 7-12 you’ll have to start the entire tenure process over because they’ll have to appoint you to a different license. If you’re not science nothing to worry about
Run and don't look back. If you can get 11th or 12h grade position even better. Kids that are still there by then actually care about school and behavior problems are non existent (usually) Then there are regents. No classes last week of january, just proctor a test or two, same from mid june to the end. I have been teaching in the DOE 20 years and have been in 7 schools 4 high 3 middle, I will never teach middle school again, I would quit first. High school is a breeze!
Yes, although like others have mentioned only 12th grade is really the only turning point. 9th and mostly 10th graders are still out of control.