Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Teaching Opinion

Q&A Collections: Advice for New Teachers

By Larry Ferlazzo — August 07, 2021 2 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

During the summer, I am sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past 10 years. You can see all those collections from the first nine years here.

Here are the ones I’ve published so far:

The 11 Most Popular Classroom Q&A Posts of the Year

Race & Racism in Schools

School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis

Classroom-Management Advice

Best Ways to Begin the School Year

Best Ways to End the School Year

Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning

Implementing the Common Core

Challenging Normative Gender Culture in Education

Teaching Social Studies

Cooperative & Collaborative Learning

Using Tech With Students

Student Voices

Parent Engagement in Schools

Teaching English-Language Learners

Reading Instruction

Writing Instruction

Education Policy Issues

Assessment

Differentiating Instruction

Math Instruction

Science Instruction

Today’s theme is on advice for new teachers. You can see the list of posts following this excerpt from one of them:

ifsomeonetellsyou

* Video: Tips for New Teachers This Fall

During this unusual teaching year, in which where and how teaching will take place is up in the air as a result of COVID-19, I offer recommendations to new educators entering the profession.

* Mistakes New Teachers Make & How to Avoid Them

Michael Janatovich, Sarah Thomas, Roxanna Elden, Kristi Mraz, Christine Hertz, and Julia Thompson contribute their suggestions.

* New Teachers Must Create a ‘Balance’

Recommendations for new teachers come from Cindi Rigsbee, Carol Pelletier Radford, Jenny Grant Rankin, Jennie Farnell, and Ken Lindblom.

* New Teachers Should ‘Leave Gossip for Tabloids & Reality Shows’

Rebecca Schmidt, Madeline Whitaker Good, Katherine Whitaker, Ann Hoover, Jon Harper, and Otis Kriegel provide advice to new teachers.

* What Teachers Wish They ‘Had Been Told’

Allison Marchetti, Rebekah O’Dell, Kathy Levy, Matthew R. Morris, Stuart O. Yager, Rita Platt, and Larnette Snow finish off a three-part series on what teachers know now that they wish they knew then...

* ‘When I Started Teaching, I Wish I Had Known ...’

Linda Hoyt, Jenny Edwards, Mary Tedrow, and Vance L. Austin offer their suggestions about what they know now that they wish they had known then ...

* What Educators Wish They Knew When They Began Teaching

Roxanna Elden, Dave Stuart Jr., Julia Thompson, and Jennifer Gonzalez share what they wish they had known prior to becoming a teacher.

* New Teacher Advice—'Hold on to Your Optimism & Idealism’

Allison Zmuda, Jenny Edwards, Kelly Young, Maurice J. Elias, and Emily Geltz contribute their guest responses sharing advice for new teachers, and many readers do the same.

* Advice to New Teachers From Veterans

Five veteran educators—Valeria Brown, Julia Thompson, Roxanna Elden, Sean McComb, and Megan Allen—share advice they wish they had at the beginning of their careers.

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

College & Workforce Readiness K-12 Essentials Forum Career and Technical Education Takes Its Next Big Step
Join this free virtual event to hear creative approaches to modernize CTE programs and navigate the shift away from a near-exclusive focus on "college preparedness."

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching EdWeek’s Ultimate PD Reading List Is Here
EdWeek's crowd-sourced PD reading list is here! See your top book recommendations and ask an author some questions.
2 min read
A summer scene of sunny blue skies and flowers with several book titles overlayed on top. Titles include: Leaders Eat Last, Power Up Your Math Community, I Love This Place, Just Do This, Rethinking Mathematics and Disability, Intentional Moves: How Skillful Team Leaders Impact Learning, The Kids Who Aren't Okay, Write Beside Them, How Children Succeed, Get Better Faster 2.0, Leadershift, The Digital Delusion, Anxious Generation, and Portrait of a Leader
Education Week + Canva
Teaching Opinion Teach For America's New CEO: 'We're Working to Reinspire Belief' in Public Education
The new TFA chief explains what’s behind a 43% uptick in its incoming class.
6 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Teaching Letter to the Editor Rethinking Flexibility: It’s the Whole Classroom That Matters
Schools need flexible learning spaces, says this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
Teaching From Our Research Center 6 Things to Know About Homework's Role in Schools Today
A look at why and whether homework assignments are beneficial for student learning.
4 min read
Aggie Gambino, center, helps her twin ten-year-old daughters, Giada, left, and Giuliana, right, work on math worksheets as they go through homework from school at the dining room table in their home on Aug. 23, 2023, in Spring, Texas.
Aggie Gambino, center, helps her twin 10-year-old daughters, Giada, left, and Giuliana, right, work on math worksheets as they go through homework from school at the dining room table in their home on Aug. 23, 2023, in Spring, Texas. EdWeek Research Center data dives into what educators think about the purpose and effectiveness of homework.
Michael Wyke/AP