Book Review: Classroom Advice for New Teachers: A Proactive Approach for Meeting the Daily Challenges of the Profession

I first learned about Jeff Julian’s book Classroom Advice for New Teachers: A Proactive Approach for Meeting the Daily Challenges of the Profession because it was sitting on a table in my office. My teammate informed me that Jeff Julian was an instructor for Jamestown Community College and had written this book. I have had a chance to meet Julian as well as read his book. I have found him and his book to be both compassionate and passionate about educating others. It was an absolute pleasure to read this book.

Julian shared his experience of teaching in western New York for the last 32 years. While primarily teaching high school students, he also teaches college students.

Classroom Advice for New Teachers is 129 pages long. I found it to be a quick read packed full of useful tips. The book has 15 chapters along with two appendices. The chapters include:

• How to recognize the advantages of a career in education
• How to conduct your job search
• You want a teaching position! Now what?
• How to plan your lessons and keep records
• How to start the school year
• How to present your material effectively
• How to assess student progress
• How to keep order
• How to overcome favoritism
• How to utilize instructional technology
• How to handle your colleagues
• How to handle your administrators
• How to handle parents, the community, and public relations
• How to handle extracurricular activities and graduate work
• How to overcome negativity, avoid burnout, and adapt to the future

Julian made a lot of smart decisions while writing this book. At the beginning of each chapter, he included quotes from his students as they relate to the topic. This helps to keep in mind what is at the heart of the book.

Each of the chapters also contains short lessons. These lessons are presented as absolutes or guiding principles and supported with further explanation. These are lessons that Julian seemed to have collected over his career and neatly packaged for new teachers. These principles are also curated in an appendix.

Many of the chapters also include an In Practice section, where Julian presented a scenario and you, the reader, are to decide how to proceed. According to Julian, these scenarios actually happened. He shared what had happened as well as what should have occurred.

It is evident that Julian absolutely cares about his students. It comes through his writing.

Classroom Advice for New Teachers would be a wonderful gift for a new teacher. I showed this book to our education department, and they were very excited about what they saw. I also believe experienced instructors could benefit from the reminders in Classroom Advice for New Teachers. This is a definite recommendation.

Come follow me on Facebook!

Additional Reading

• Book Review: Small Teaching Online: Applying Learning Science in Online Classes
• Book Review: Teaching Naked Techniques: A Practical Guide to Designing Better Classes
• Book Review: The One World Schoolhouse: a New Approach to Teaching and Learning

Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash

In the spirit of full disclosure, this is an affiliate link, which means that if you purchase this item through my link I will earn a commission. You will not pay more when buying a product through my link. I only recommend products & systems that I use and love myself, so I know you’ll be in good hands.
Plus, when you order through my link, it helps me to continue to offer you lots of free stuff. 🙂 Thank you in advance for your support!