Advice for beginning teacher

David Ball • There are practicalities to teaching that must be discovered. It is important to know it isn't your entire life. You need to have a separate identity to your school persona so as to retain integrity when things go wrong and be balanced when things go right. Be prepared for schooling to invade that personal time. It is ok to lie to kids about irrelevant detail to drive home a larger point. It is ok to be wrong and be corrected. Know that while you may feel frustrated that basic things that are obvious to all have not been done and you will need to do it, that you are in fact not the first to realise it, only the latest. The door you cannot open is marked "Pull." The keys to your classroom should never be loaned to a student. They will open the adjacent classroom. There are myths about past mathematicians like Hypatia, Pythagoras, Euclid et al, discover them and spread them. They may not be true, but that doesn't matter .. stories inspire. The student who is woken each morning by a drunken abusive dad will never do homework and will involve themselves with ridiculous, dangerous activity and make poor life choices. Be good to them and help them. They may not thank you, ever, and they may spread bad stories about you .. it isn't personal. Involve yourself with extra curricular and co curricular activity .. it will help you meet members of staff and extend your knowledge of the school. Read Delderfield's "To Serve Them All My Days." Good luck and best wishes, and know that God loves you.