Customer Reviews

Rookie Teaching For Dummies

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Want to learn how to navigate workplace politics? Understand the jargon of edu-Speak? Know what to cover at a parent-teacher conference? This is one of my favorite "for Dummies" books, as it offers advice that the first-year teacher would *not* be able to find otherwise without an incredibly insightful mentor.

There isn't much about lesson planning, classroom management, or keeping track of grades - three activities that will consume more time and energy than anything else your first year. For that I recommend Harry Wong's "The First Days of School" better.

This book was valuable to me as I started, and I'd happily pass it along to the next rookie.

After 30 years in the business world, I am embarking on a new adventure in the teaching profession. I will be teaching Math to 7th graders in a few months, and I found this book invaluable in preparing me to face the upcoming first day of school. Of course I am scared and a little nervous, but this book is so full of down-to earth practical advice that I feel so much more prepared after reading it than before. The experience of reading this book, has been like having an experienced master teacher right next to me, ready and willing to answer all of my many questons such as: "Do I need to collect and check every homework assignment?" (The answer is, NO), "How am I ever going to memorize over 150 student names?" (Michael Kelley shares a trick that works!), "How will I deal with repeat troublemakers?", (Mr. Kelly tells you when to drop 'The Atomic Bomb')!

I recommend this book to all new teachers! Don't face your first day of teaching, without it!

This book is very good, I've read a fair number of books about education, and the problem is that most of them don't use their own advice, to make learning the subject easy and practical. This book does a great job at it. While I'm sure that every teacher has different experiences, Michael Kelley does a great job of relating his experiences and giving practical advice.

It is not easy being a teacher, but a book like this can make it a little easier.

Let's cut to the chase. Kelley tackles all aspects of becoming or being a rookie teacher. I had a taste of the "big leagues" last school year as a long-term sub. What I didn't learn through this baptism by fire is certainly covered by Kelley with intelligence and wit. Heads up to you soon-to-be teachers or student teachers: Buy this book! Read this book! It's both practical and fun to read. Oh yeah...Kelley says we should forget all we learned in those Ed classes and worry about how we're going to keep our "butts" from jiggling when we erase the chalkboard.

I am a Teacher Candidate at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I begin my student teaching in January. This book has taught me more in the week since I bought it than two years in professional education classes.

This is the book that tells you about the "dirty" off-limits topics like dealing with sexual harrassment, behavior management, unions, and more. Kelley give advice and tips in a no-nonsense fashion that will help any rookie teacher survive his first day.

As a future urban high school teacher, this book will be one of my most important resources to help me survive my first year teaching. I have already highlighted and bookmarked countless pages and I'm sure I will read this cover to cover many times.

This book contains many helpful insights for new teachers, and I mused at the many suggestions that would have certainly helped me! However, a book as general in nature as this one has its limits. Such a book is certainly no substitute for a good mentor, and is limited since it cannot be grade-specific.

Although I will recommend this work, my expertise is in middle school, and a much better book for new teachers in this area is:

"Teacher Under Construction: Things I Wish I'd Known!" (ISBN: 0595330940).

Since I do not deal with primary or senior high school students, I will let others suggest fine books for these grade levels. My advice? Get this book, use with caution, find a good mentor, and enjoy what you do!

I am in the stages of deciding whether teaching would be a good career change for myself. Michael Kelley's book has really helped me get a clear picture of what to expect in the world of teaching. It is very easy to read and fun too -- he has a wonderful sense of humor and has some great antidotes. I highly recommend this book. This one will be going in my "to keep" pile as I have highlighted quite a few passages worth remembering.

I love this book! Although this book is written more for the middle to high school level of instructors, as a potential new elementary ed teacher, I found this book very informative and filled with useful, timely suggestions. It is easy to read and peppered with humor.

This book was pretty dang good. The author gives a practical outlook on the situations, along with real life stories that happened to him. He offers remedies to big worries - What in the world to do on the first day of school for one ...

I highly reccommend it.

I truly enjoyed reading "Rookie Teaching for Dummies" because it prepared me for the teaching profession. Whether you are a professional teacher of one or twenty years, this book will be an asset to you. I learned about legal issues, behavior problems, learning styles, building professional relationships, and helpful websites to make my class environment more amicable. I felt very confident about entering the classroom after I read the book. I appreciated Kelley's real life experiences and practical advice.