50 Things to Know Becoming Series

There’s hardly anything more exciting than getting that first teaching job. You get to create lesson plans for your own students, see your ideas for classroom decor come to fruition, implement the classroom management system you’ve always wanted to use. The list of decisions and ideas goes on and on. What fun! This is what you trained for and you’re ready! But what will teaching in the upper elementary grades reallt be like? What unexpected twists and turns did you not think to ask when you were in college or doing your student teaching? How will you manage the questions, concerns and wonderings that arise as you teach each day? Teachers can get bogged down by these events. These “unexpected” questions, concerns and wonderings can zap your energy, creativity, patience and infect your calm state of mind. This book will help you plan proactively so when these situations take place (and they will!) you’ll be ready!

Do you know what makes teaching upper elementary school students different from other grade levels? Do you know how to foster student growth during this critical time in your students' lives? Do you have the resources to navigate the extraneous pressures of your job and be the teacher you want to be?

If you want to know the answer to any of these questions, then this book is for you.

50 Things to Know About Being an Upper Elementary School Teacher by author Karrie Coombe offers an approach to teaching 4th through 6th grade students in a public elementary school setting. Most books on teaching elementary school focus on strategies based on the younger grades, kindergarten through third. Although there's nothing wrong with that, kindergarten through third grade is a critical period for children to develop academically, especially in reading, writing and math. You don’t have to look hard to find strategies to teach these grades. One internet search can supply you with a rabbit’s hole of overabundant information from the world’s leading experts in education. Yet, what strategies and skills are specific to teaching the upper elementary grade level students? What really makes teaching 4th-6th grade different from the rest of the elementary school grades?

In these chapters, you'll discover what it’s truly like teaching in upper elementary school students. These tips and tricks will provide insight into preparing you for what your students need, as well as what you’ll need, to encourage your students to be their best selves. Even though the composition of our schools will be different. While my point-of-view is a suburban, public elementary school setting, in a school pushing 600 students, with two to five classrooms per grade level. These differences won’t matter because the tips and tricks in this book will be essential in preparing you to teach in any school. This book will provide you with essential insight into how to take care of you and your students. No matter the setting or composition of your school, even the most senior teacher, or I should say especially the most senior teacher, knows that each day, he or she will be adjusting, learning and growing their craft. By the time you finish this book you will relish learning the art of establishing yourself in your profession, the art of working with students, the art of teaching true to yourself and in making your teaching life as rewarding as possible.

So grab your copy today. You'll be glad you did.