The Successful Teacher's Survival Kit

83 Simple Things That Successful Teachers Do To Thrive in the Classroom

Dale Ripley

If you have ever had the opportunity to observe a master craftsperson at work, one of the first things you will notice is how easy they make their work look. This principle applies to artists, athletes, plumbers and painters. It also applies to teachers.

If you were fortunate enough to have some master teachers in your K to 12 schooling or for your university student teaching, you will have seen this principle at work. You will recall how easy they made teaching look. For the most part, their classes just flowed. The teacher would ask the students to do something, and the students did it. The teacher would cue the kids to transition into a new activity, and the kids transitioned. There was little conflict, few arguments, and the vast majority of classroom time was spent engaged in learning.

It is a pleasure to observe these kinds of behaviors in the classrooms of master teachers, but this leaves us with an important question: how do they do it? Just how did these teachers get their students to be so cooperative and have their classroom running so smoothly?

That is what THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER’S SURVIVAL KIT: 83 simple things that successful teachers do to thrive in the classroom will show you – the kinds of things that master teachers do to make their classes work – both for themselves and for their students. You too can become a master teacher. This book will show you how.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 172 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4758-4705-5 • Hardback • December 2018 • $81.00 • (£62.00)

978-1-4758-4706-2 • Paperback • December 2018 • $41.00 • (£35.00)

978-1-4758-4707-9 • eBook • December 2018 • $39.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Education / Decision-Making & Problem Solving, Education / Classroom Management, Education / Teacher Training & Certification, Education / Renewal and Retention

The Successful Teacher's Survival Kit

83 Simple Things That Successful Teachers Do To Thrive in the Classroom

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

If you have ever had the opportunity to observe a master craftsperson at work, one of the first things you will notice is how easy they make their work look. This principle applies to artists, athletes, plumbers and painters. It also applies to teachers.

If you were fortunate enough to have some master teachers in your K to 12 schooling or for your university student teaching, you will have seen this principle at work. You will recall how easy they made teaching look. For the most part, their classes just flowed. The teacher would ask the students to do something, and the students did it. The teacher would cue the kids to transition into a new activity, and the kids transitioned. There was little conflict, few arguments, and the vast majority of classroom time was spent engaged in learning.

It is a pleasure to observe these kinds of behaviors in the classrooms of master teachers, but this leaves us with an important question: how do they do it? Just how did these teachers get their students to be so cooperative and have their classroom running so smoothly?

That is what THE SUCCESSFUL TEACHER’S SURVIVAL KIT: 83 simple things that successful teachers do to thrive in the classroom will show you – the kinds of things that master teachers do to make their classes work – both for themselves and for their students. You too can become a master teacher. This book will show you how.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 172 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-4758-4705-5 • Hardback • December 2018 • $81.00 • (£62.00)

978-1-4758-4706-2 • Paperback • December 2018 • $41.00 • (£35.00)

978-1-4758-4707-9 • eBook • December 2018 • $39.00 • (£30.00)

Subjects: Education / Decision-Making & Problem Solving, Education / Classroom Management, Education / Teacher Training & Certification, Education / Renewal and Retention

Author

Dale Ripley has over 35 years of teaching experience working with students in elementary, junior high-middle school and high school, in schools in the inner city, the suburbs and on a First Nations reserve. While Dr. Ripley has been the principal of several schools and served two school districts as their superintendent, the classroom was – and still is – his favorite place to be.

Table of Contents

Preface: Fish Discover Water Last

Acknowledgements

Introduction: Establishing Legitimacy

How to Get the Most from this Book

Section One: What You Need To Know and Do before School Even Starts

Introduction: The Importance of the Teacher and the Power of Positive Thinking
1. The Question You MUST Answer First!
2. Do Your Christmas Shopping in the Summer!
3. The Stomach and the Brain – Have Food Available for Your Kids
4. Vomit, Coffee & Ketchup – Have a Change of Clothing Available for Yourself
5. Mints and Toothpaste – Essential Tools for Effective Teaching
6. The Best Teacher Prep Tool Ever Made – Large Capacity Flash Drives
7. Who’s the Boss? Probably the Principal
8. Without This – Nothing Else Really Matters: Lessons from a Student to a Teacher
9. Establish a Seating Plan That Allows Maximum Proximity to Your Students
10. Tick. Tick. Tick.
11. The Problem of Pens, Pencils, Paper . . .
12. How Sponge Activities Can Prevent All Kinds of Discipline Issues
13. Facebook, Twitter and Twits
14. The Only Three Ways to Teach a Child
15. No Matter Where You Go – There You Are
16. Is Teaching Really Your Gift?
17. Half Step, Full Step, Step and a Half: How Many Steps Will Your Kids Be Taking With You This Year?
Section Two: What You Need To Do With Your Students on The First Day And During The First Week Of School

Introduction
1. You Never Get a Second Chance to Make a First Impression
2. Pizza and Movies: The Best Investments You May Ever Make
3. Why Procedures and Routines – The Way We Do Things in Our Classroom – Are Critical to Successful Teaching
4. Start Teaching the Curriculum on Day One
5. To Know Them Is To Love Them . . . Well, Most of the Time
6. Why Should the Kids Listen to You? The Importance of Establishing Legitimacy.
7. Fired Up? Ready to Go?
8. Let Horton the Elephant Be Your Role Model
9. Even Monkeys Know When Something is Unfair
10. When You Are Vastly Outnumbered, Fighting is Unwise
11. The Importance of Face
12. Never Look Back When Asking a Student to Follow You Out of the Classroom
13. Don’t Just Stand There – DO SOMETHING!
14. Knowledge Has Value
15. Did I Do That? Helping Students Keep Track of Their Achievements
16. Always Have a Plan B.
17. What Did You Learn in School Today?
Section Three: What You Need To Do During The First Month

Introduction
1. Eyes Open; Ears Open; Mouth Closed
2. The Best Teachers You Will Ever Have
3. Secretaries, Custodians and Teacher Aides
4. Who Knew? Ten Minutes is a Huge Chunk of Time
5. Maybe Not 50 Shades of Gray – But 49 For Sure
6. What’s the Difference Between a Classroom and a Petri Dish?
7. Want to Avoid Classroom Chaos? Bait the Hook to Suit the Fish!
8. How to Train a Tiger – The Art of Negotiating with Your Students
9. Practice Saying, “I’m sorry” and really mean it
10. Getting the Elephant to Go Where You Want It to Go
11. You Don’t Want to Send Kids to the Principal’s Office – At Least, Not Often
12. When You Bring a Problem to Your Principal, Always Bring a Solution
13. When Your Students Tell You Stories about Their Families
14. How to Get Parents/Caregivers to Look Forward to Your Phone Calls
15. Parent’s/Caregiver’s and Emails – Managing Expectations
16. Don’t Confuse Activity with Achievement
17. What Do You Mean You Only Taught That Once? The 9 Laws of Learning
18. In Pursuit of Peppermints and PEZ™
19. So You Reached the End of September – Time to Take a Good Look Around You
Section Four: What You Need To Do During the Rest of the Year

Introduction
1. Great Teachers are Great Storytellers with Great Stories to Tell
2. Remember the Starfish Story – You Cannot Save Them All
3. You Must Learn to Adjust
4. Not My Circus – Not My Monkeys
5. Remember. . . There Is Always Enough Time To Do the Most Important Things
6. Learn to Make Staff Meetings Productive
7. Learn to Say “NO” Nicely
8. Make the 80 - 20 Rule Work for You
9. Become First a Good Animal
10. Who Do You Need to Forgive the Most?
11. If Your Name is Johnny, You Must be Bad
12. I Am Not My Older Brother . . .
13. Remember This About Your Students – They’re Not Done Yet
14. You Can’t Free a Fish from Water - Your Students Live at Home
15. They Already Have Friends
16. Do You Want to Hear a Joke?
17. How to Use Music to Sooth a Savage Beast
18. When You’re Sick, Tired, Cranky, or Having a Bad Day
19. You Are Rarely the Target – Even When They’re Aiming at You
20. Every Artist Was First an Amateur
21. You Are Never Done
22. When You Stop Learning, You Are Done
23. You Don’t Bring in an Elephant to Teach the Color Gray
24. How Do You Eat an Elephant?
25. Why We Don’t Try to Teach a Pig to Fly
26. The IKEA Effect – The Pride We Feel in Work We Do Ourselves
27. If You Are Working Harder Than Your Students in Class, You’re doing It Wrong!
28. The Virtue of Frustration
29. Let This Year’s Students Help Make Your Courses Better for Next Year
30. So You Reached the End of June – Time to Look Back
Section Five: What You Need To Do During the Second and Third Years of Teaching, and Going Forward From There

Twenty-Eight Essential Truths About Teaching

Lastly: The Secret to Success in Teaching

Three Recommendations for Further Reading

References

About the Author

Reviews

Dr. Ripley’s The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit is a brilliant reminder of how master educators can make the complex job of teaching look effortless. Steeped in experience and insight, Dr. Ripley shares his gift for teaching via stories and proactive considerations for creating successful classroom environments. As a seasoned educator, I only wish that this invaluable publication was available when I entered the profession -- a must-have for all teachers! Robyn Shewchuk, M Ed. Over 30 years of experience in K-12 and post-secondary education.

So much of learning how to teach is done through experience…but there is nothing wrong with peeking at the answer key first. The 83 strategies described in The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kitare “the answer key” to successful teaching!
— Ryan Nichols, B Ed. 15 year junior high teacher

For teachers with decades of classroom experience and for teachers committed to lifelong learning, The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit offers exceptional insights in mastering the art of teaching... a book worth wearing out at any stage of your career.
— Bob Gagnon, B Ed; MRE; 25 years of teaching

I loved Dr. Ripley's The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit! This bookgives me insightful knowledge about obstacles that I never considered before entering the teaching profession, and ways to overcome them.
— Nicole Dundys, University of Alberta

Dr. Ripley’s The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kitprovided me with valuable knowledge that could otherwise take years to develop. I know this because during my practicum I shared some of The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kitwith seasoned teachers who were equally grateful to hear this insightful information.
— Rhonda Baldry, Novice Teacher

The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kitprovides practical and time-proven strategies and ideas. They can be easily adapted to fit any classroom and can be drawn upon at any time or for any situation.
— Margit Warner, preservice teacher, University of Alberta

The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kitgave me a most realistic snapshot of life as a teacher and has also helped me to understand teaching as a continuous reflective practice, so I may teach and guide my students to the best of my abilities. The Successful Teacher’s Survival KITis extremely relevant for any teacher.
— Angelene Huffman, preservice teacher, University of Alberta

The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kitnot only provides guidance on how to teach, but it also helps prepare you for the life of being a teacher both inside and outside of the classroom. This is a wonderful and most useful resource that every teacher should have.
— Kennedy Scherbinski, University of Alberta

The Successful Teacher’s Survival Kit will be my teaching Bible.
— Samia Sarwar, preservice teacher