They Never Taught Us That: Educator Andrea's Guide to Teaching, Managing the Chaos, and Keeping Your Sanity

Everything inexperienced first-year teachers need to manage the chaos of the modern classroom

They Never Taught Us That is your friendly (and slightly frazzled) guide to the hilarious realities of the classroom that teacher training left out. Veteran educator Andrea Forcum, PhD, combines laugh-out-loud anecdotes from the trenches with practical tools and strategies for everything from surviving the first day to building trust with parents and other stakeholders. The best practices in this book from experienced educators who taught before, during, and after the pandemic help readers supplement their training without having to rely solely on the break room—which sometimes ends up being an echo chamber of discontent—or unvetted online resources.

In this book, readers will learn how to:

• Establish classroom rules that won't get trampled
• Create a captivating lesson plan and collaborate on Individual Education Programs (IEPs)
• Document parent contact, student behavior, grades (including failing assignments), and more
• Navigate the paperwork avalanche without turning into a sleep-deprived zombie
• Facilitate collaborative parent-teacher conferences

They Never Taught Us That is an essential resource (literally, essential) for early career-year teachers who are all too often scrambling for purchase on the slippery, moving, mucous-covered treadmill that is public education (said with love, of course).