Is all advice good advice? 

In a slide show that I just recently read, there were so many different pieces of advice for new teachers. In fact, much of the advice is good for any teacher. Teaching can be such a thankless job, and burnout is a real concern of those teachers who have been at it for quite a while. While I'm still in school to become a teacher, I have been silently collecting tips, tricks and advice to help with my teaching experience. This slideshow was jam packed with information that would definitely help. 

I seemed to write down many of the good advice early on in the slideshow, but soon found myself overwhelmed with all of the advice. The general ideas I took from all of the advice given were on burnout, asking for help, and don't be fake. There was one piece of advice that I did not happen to agree with, and believe it or not, it was the first piece of advice in the slideshow. I will get more into that in a moment. 

As far as burnout, I hear that it is important to make time for yourself, and don't expect to do everything perfect the first time around. One of the pieces of advice that was given was to do one thing exceptional and the rest you can "get by". After you've mastered the one thing exceptional, you can introduce another thing to do exceptional. You've got a lifetime to perfect your teaching style. 

The next idea I was catching on to was the idea to not be afraid to ask for help. It is also ok to not know all of the answers for the students. This will give you an opportunity to show by example how you find information and how you continue to learn even as a teacher. It is also perfectly acceptable to ask your colleagues for help. When you are clueless about something and your neighbor teacher can help, why wouldn't you  reach out.  

The last good piece of advice topic I was seeing had to do with being real. Fake character may be overlooked at the younger grade levels, but in 4th, 5th, middle school and up, being fake will strip you of the respect of your students. Your students see right through the fakeness, and you will quickly lose respect. You don't have to be their best friend, (btw, that's fake also), but you can be real and true to them as people. 

There was one more piece of advice that I found helpful and was a theme among the slideshow I read. Do whatever you can to create a sense of community. You have a community in your classroom with you and your students, and you have a community amongst your colleagues and departments. Your school is also another community that you play an important role in participating in. 

Now, the not so good advice that I took away from this slideshow is "your first year of teaching is a throw away year." I was immediately put off by this, because I believe you can make your first year what you want to make it. I can say that I have worked my butt off and have been through so much to say that my first year teaching is a throwaway year just encourages me to make my first year teaching amazing and productive. 

I guess that's why they call it advice. We have the choice to follow it or not. I hear tons of great advice from seasoned teachers and I know they have worked just as hard as I have, and some of them have earned the respect of me to listen to them and heed their advice.