Oh, good, it's not just me.
I've found a very small number of other books, but the one book that I tend to actually recommend to teachers is Teach Like a Champion . I'm not a fan of the title, but the actual content is -- shocking! - actually useful, actionable techniques.
They talk about their research methodology towards the beginning, but the nutshell version is that they found great teachers ( which, if I recall, they defined as teachers whose kids improved, and stayed improved ) and found what techniques they had in common.
A decent chunk of stuff is things you likely already know -- for example, tight transitions = good -- but it goes into some examples of ways to tighten up transitions, as well as similar routines that we might not think to teach explicitly, but will save headaches if you actually do ( example: how to put your paper in your folder to take home, how to hand out papers. It seems silly, but as an elementary teacher I have to actually explicitly teach ' take one, pass the rest back ' to my class every year. The fact that I don't tend to have straight lines of desks means I actually plan 'paper paths' so everyone gets one. )
Another example is equally simple but was a ' oh, duh ' moment for me -- putting the kids name at the end when asking a question. ( " What's 5x5 Johnny?" instead of " Johnny, what's 5x5?" ). I tend towards it naturally, but it was a reminder that no, that stuff can actually matter.
No worries! :)
Now I've given it a little bit more thought, one of the contributing factors towards the 'yes' attitude might be that those types of teachers are more inclined to pick up a prac student, so they perpetuate the yes culture.
Aside from saying no, and perhaps picking up this book here, don't hesitate to drop your teaching load. I dropped to 0.8FTE after my first year and it had a massive impact on my mental health and lesson quality - And depending on your tax bracket it might not make that much difference to your pay either.
If you work in the country, in the right town, you can also get free or subsidied goverment housing. It's a huge convience not having to deal with finding a house, applying, making sure it's habitable, etc, before moving to a new place.
And if you're in subsidied housing any rent you do pay is salary sacrificed. If you didn't know, that means it comes out of your income before you pay tax.
In my case I had a 60% subsidy, with my contribution of the other 40% being $250/week. I was about $80 ahead per week.
I am a Computer Science educator. I teach classes 6th to 12th grade as well as run specialized classes for higher level, non-age specific groups.
I would recommend Grant Wiggens' and Jay McTighe's Understanding by Design as a book for curriculum development. It is a great starting point for creating curriculum that can be evaluated and iterated upon.
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Design-Grant-Wiggins/dp/1416600353/
Best of luck!
Check out the book Understanding by design. It is a pretty solid model for planning. Understanding By Design https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416600353/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_4TATBY5D7SRVHSHHY9NN
Also called backwards design, it focuses on starting with the learning outcomes for a lesson or unit then the product that will show student mastery of said learning and then breaking it down into teachable steps.
UBD was the process I used when I started. At this point in my career I tend to, as others have said, just wing it. Though I do pull the proxy back out if I’m struggling with putting together something new.
I read these two over the summer and really liked them!
The First Six Weeks of School: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1892989816/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_cod5Fb8QFTZ2X
What Every 1st Grade Teacher Needs to Know About Setting Up and Running a Classroom: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1892989409/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_6od5FbJTAYZX4
Every school culture will be different.
Look into The First 6 weeks of School
Also, check Teacher Pay Teacher for your discipline. I find that TPT can be good for structuring the more "fluffy" times of the year.
Not these ones, but a friend in a different class is looking for some books as well:
Focus by Mike Schmoker https://www.amazon.com/FOCUS-Elevating-Essentials-Radically-Learning/dp/1416611304
Learning to Teach by Richard Arends https://www.amazon.com/Learning-Teach-Richard-I-Arends/dp/0078110300
Take my example from Negotiating Critical Literacies. It's better if you read the book. It's here.
It's kindergarten-age kids.
The teacher never declares herself to be a leftist or anything; the kids' environmentalist/anti-corporate/pro-vegetarian agenda seems to somehow come from the children themselves, not from the teacher.
(Note: In any classroom, the group's agenda forms in a way that trumps individual agendas, a problem in any democratic system.)
Maybe it does indeed come from the kids' initiative, but the teacher certainly guides/molds/stimulates it, so the question of initiative gets blurred.
The problem is that the kids' agenda seems to turn out to be very leftist in a way that elicits suspicion; is it really a coincidence that the kids' views happen to coincide with the teacher's views (which I understand to be leftist, even if she's not open about it)?
What if you implemented this "Freirian" educational philosophy, and soon you had little kids becoming gun-rights activists too, when they happened to have a right-wing teacher (probably quite rare for teachers to be right-wing)? My guess is that the second that happened, people would FREAK out. The only reason they don't freak out about the environmentalist stuff is that they happen to AGREE with it.
That's the idea, anyway.
I know that kids like rainforests/animals and stuff, so maybe the comparison between environmentalism and gun-rights is inappropriate, but it drives home the point that "political" education turns the kids into political pawns for their teacher's political agenda/ideology--and that's apart from the question of whether they should be the pawns of ANYBODY's political agenda/ideology.
Focus by Schmoker is one we just finished reviewing in my district, and I like how it suggest paring down the standards to a set you know you can accomplish and accomplish well.
Edit: Also forgot If you don't feed the teachers by Connors. She did a PIR day at my district a few years ago, it was very insightful and uplifting.
of course!
Actually and if you are interested. I really really enjoyed this little book. And i bet you could get it at the library if not amazon. But go look into it!
And I included the link- because I realized I'm always like YEAH I'LL READ IT, and then i forget. so boom. CLICK IT IT'S A BOOK
I'm telling you- I'm literally writing and finishing my dissertation. There's a SUPER adhd friendly and easy book called "Understanding Sensory Dysfunction" by Polly Godwin Emmons and Liz McKendry Anderson
(and the smaller font says "learning, development and sensory dysfunctioning in autism spectrum disorders, adhd, learning disabilities and bipolar disorder)
http://www.amazon.com/ESL-Stories-Preschool-Book-Volume/dp/1482012081
This book plus the others in the series make up a complete curriculum of lesson plans, stories and songs so teachers can follow it with little or no experience - it's the practical part to add on to the theory.