The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors: Effective Teaching Tips for Daily Classroom Use, 2nd Ed.

I once heard a teacher announce to her class, “Look, I’m having a bad day. I’ve been up all night with a sick child, so I’m not in a good mood. I’m going to try to concentrate on my teaching, but I’m tired. Also, we’ve fallen way behind in the textbook, so we’re going to have to move fast today. Stay in your seats, and don’t mess with me!”

We’ve all been there. We can remember the feeling of boiling blood pulsing through our veins, building, racing through our bodies, and then—BANG—an explosion! We got angry, and we lost control. We said things that, to this day, we still regret. Once again, we lament the fact that we allowed ourselves to give in to the anger. We are all human; we all have emotions; we all experience anger. But not everyone expresses anger in the same way. Our feelings don’t determine how others perceive us, but our actions surely do...

I often hear teachers complaining about their administrators. I typically listen for a while and then ask, “What percentage of the school day do you typically spend in your classroom with your students?” The answer is usually about 90%. Then I ask, “What percentage of the day do you spend in the presence of your administrator?” The answer is usually 1%. The fact remains that some teachers spend a good percentage of their time complaining about someone they hardly see...

The following guest post was written by Annette Breaux, author of 101 Poems for Teachers in honor of National Poetry Month. Annette is an internationally-renowned educator, author, and speaker. She is the author of the bestselling 101 Answers for New Teachers and Their Mentors. She has also coauthored books with Harry Wong and Todd Whitaker. She may be contacted at AnnetteLBreaux@yahoo.com or on Twitter @AnnetteBreaux.

If you know me, have heard me speak, or have read my writings, you already know I love to write poetry. When asked to write this post, I first considered telling why poetry is important and how it has the power to affect lives. Instead, I’ve decided to prove that.

The following tip was written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

Want to know how you’re REALLY doing as a teacher? Ask your students. During my third year of teaching, I read, in a magazine for teachers, about the idea of a “teacher report card.” I thought to myself, “My students receive report cards, yet they never get the opportunity to evaluate me, to tell me how I’m doing as their teacher."

If you walked through a crowded airport, you would instantly be able to spot pilots and flight attendants because they are professionally dressed in uniform. That is because when you step onto an airplane, you want to feel like you are in capable, competent hands. But wouldn’t the pilot be just as capable and competent if he were dressed in tennis shoes and blue jeans? Yes, but the passengers would not view him that way. So the uniforms are intentional.

The following tip was written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

Fact: Written goals are far more likely to be accomplished than mental goals. Most people have goals, lots of tehm. But many people never accomplish them. Consider New Year's resolutions. "I'm going to get skinny." "I'm going to save more money." "I'm going to get rid of the clutter in my house." "I'm going to be a nicer person." Notice how vague these goals are...

The following tip was written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

Since the real world happens outside of the classroom, it's often good to bring it INTO the classroom! As a teacher said to me recently, "I'm not a one-man show. I enlist the support of anyone who can provide assistance in helping my students to learn..."

The following tip was written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

Okay, so we all entered the profession of teaching for the same reason: the money! (Ha!) Seriously, I believe that, as teachers, we all share a common calling and a common purpose.

In my training sessions with teachers, I often begin by having them state why they entered the profession. It is always inspirational to hear the same thing, yet stated in unique ways by each teacher. The prevailing theme? “I wanted to make a difference, to touch lives.”

The following tip was written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

Researchers tell us that the effects of an ineffective teacher can be seen in student test scores years down the road. To some, that research seems amazing. That’s just common sense!Can you see where I’m going with this? Why is it that when students are not achieving in our classrooms, we tend to buy more “stuff,” implement more programs, or, better yet, spruce up the physical surroundings?

The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

We all have lives of our own outside of our classrooms. If you’re a new teacher, then you’re the exception. (Just kidding—but I know it feels like you don’t have a life outside of school right now!) Whenever possible, however, it is important to participate in after-school functions.

The following tip was written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

Any teacher, any parent, and any child can relate to "Who's to Blame." Why? Because we've all been guilty of it. But the simple fact is that playing the blame game does us no good. There's only one piece of advice I can give you regarding the blame game: DON'T PARTICIPATE!

The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

One of the biggest fears of new teachers is dealing with parents—namely the angry ones. And, if a new teacher does not know a few simple tricks for working cooperatively with parents, parent conferences can be unsuccessful and downright frightening experiences. So read on if you would like to learn ways to work cooperatively with parents—even the angry ones.

The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

It's not always easy to be positive, but being positive is best for your students. It would be easier to dole out busy work, but that's not what's best for your students. It is far easier to let the textbook tell you exactly what to teach as opposed to simply using the textbook as one of several references, but letting the textbook make your decisions is not what's best for your students.

The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her book with Eye On Education: 101 Poems for Teachers.

Students respond favorably to teachers who keep them intrigued, wondering what exciting thing will happen next. It is human nature to be intrigued by “the element of surprise.” Regarding teaching strategies, spice it up. As the saying goes, “Variety is the spice of life.” Successful teachers know this, and they use every opportunity to capitalize on this with their students.