First-Year Teaching in Middle School - A Conversation with Melissa Castillo - Part 1

First-Year Teachers Not too long ago, I decided to make a small pivot with the podcast, to fold teachers into the mix. As a former middle school teacher, I know how important it is to connect with your students. It's my passion to support beginning middle school teachers as they launch their careers in the classroom. This episode is the kick-off for that pivot, and I found the perfect person to talk to about it! My Special Guest Melissa Castillo is a National Board Certified Professional Teacher, blogger, academic coach, curriculum designer, and technology integrator with 30 years of experience. During her years in the classroom, she served as a teacher mentor for colleagues and student teachers. She is the owner of MBC Academic Coaching and also works as a freelance writer and photographer. One of her passion projects right now is supporting new middle school educators.   The Convo Today's episode is full of our best advice for new teachers as they step into their first classrooms. From the importance of good classroom management and good self-care to reflecting daily on your teaching and receiving critiques graciously, we cover a lot of ground. The Topics In our discussion, we touch on first-year teacher concerns, like: Classroom management Classroom Procedures Classroom transitions Good self-care Accepting critiques Reaching out for help Finding resources that help with "all the little details" Prepping for that first week of school But wait, there's more . . .  This is the first half of my conversation with Melissa, and next week I'll share the second half - you definitely don't want to miss the finale, when we tackle getting to know the kids personally, modeling grit after failure, and what it's like to have former students who are now adults. For links to the resources mentioned in this episode, head to theishgirl.com/ep54