Tips from a great teacher

Ryan Brown’s tips for teachers who are starting their careers

Ÿ You, as a teacher, have to have fun.

If the teacher is not having fun than the kids are definitely not having fun. The worst lessons that I’ve had are lessons that I just don’t like ... or it’s a lesson that’s poorly planned. If I’m not having fun, nobody’s having fun. It doesn’t have to be cartwheels and circus clowns to be fun. The passion has to show.

Ÿ You’re teaching students, not material.

I don’t know another way to say it. The students should be the most important thing. The material is always going to be there, it’s the kids you should be working for.

Ÿ You have to be well-to-do well.

The kids have to be well-to-do well, so be sure that’s what you are paying attention to. I can tell when kids walk in that there’s something different, that their demeanor is different. Their shoulders are slumped, they don’t say hello to me in the say way that they do every day ... those are things that we have to notice and not just overlook. That becomes a part of how you should go about the day.