25. The Importance of Proactivity

During my first few years as a teacher, I developed some bad habits simply because I had so much to learn that could not be taught in a teacher certification program. There’s only so much you can learn about theories or even from shadowing other teachers. Eventually, you just have to jump in and learn things the hard way, doing the best you can to manage all of the things.  On top of figuring it out as you go, you have an audience of teenagers judging you along the way. I created survival mechanisms just to get by during those first years, and they became bad habits that I had to break. Thankfully, I learned some things through experience and the wisdom of other teachers. In each episode this month, I’ll share a teacher habit that I’ve learned along the way that I wish I had started my first year. In today’s episode, we talk specifically about the importance of proactivity and how being proactive as a teacher can save you so much time and energy in the long run, especially when it comes to interactions with our students and their parents and guardians. We’ll talk briefly about lab day prep. Then we’ll spend the majority of the episode talking about proactivity with parents.  There’s still time to sign up for my FREE live virtual professional development workshop called 3 Secrets to Stress-Free Lab Days happening this summer. Be sure to reserve your seat! Check out the show notes for all resources mentioned in this episode: https://itsnotrocketscienceclassroom.com/episode25