The Modern Teacher's Handbook: Your Ultimate Guide to Success in Education

By Nick Duda, Emily Velazquez and Kristina Davis Salazar

The Modern Teacher's Handbook offers innovative, practical, and student-centered classroom strategies that support all students in achieving both academic and social-emotional success. Nick Duda has created a framework that will leave both new and experienced teachers with meaningful takeaways. Nick's engaging writing style makes readers fe

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nicholas E Duda
• Release date: Oct 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986450322

Nick Duda

Nick Duda has worked with educators and students throughout the world, as far as India, to promote meaningful, effective, and practical learning strategies and has been in education for over 18 years. He offers free STEM Education resources through his website and YouTube channel and professional development opportunities for teachers, administrators, and districts worldwide. He is certified in the State of Illinois, USA, to teach Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts in grades 5-9 and Elementary Education, English as a Second Language (ESL) K-9, and is a Certified Technology Specialist PreK-12. His experience in education ranges from running a Middle School Summer Camp, a before and after school program, substitute teaching K-8, and teaching 5th grade, 6-8 Science, 7th Language Arts, 7th grade Math Interventions, and 7th grade STEM.Nick has been heavily involved in developing the curriculums for all the subjects he has taught (developing the large majority of resources). In addition, he has served on many committees, including the District Leadership Committee, Technology Implementation, Curriculum Planning, and New Teacher Mentor Program Design. Nick is a trained teacher-coach in multiple strategies, including collaborative structures and de-escalation techniques.He lives in Batavia, IL, with his wife and three sons and is a strong proponent of individualized education, of which he has found much success with his students. The school district he has spent most of his career in at the time of this writing is 57% low-income, 62% English learners, and has seen a lot of turnovers, especially regarding administration (5 new principals in the last 12 years). In regards to his district, he says, "We are in a great place now, at least from my perspective. Through all of that turnover and turmoil, I have been able to learn a lot."He has been a new teacher mentor for many teachers throughout the years and continually tries to help teachers develop practical lessons, address classroom behavior issues, and improve their teaching practice in all stages of their careers. In this book, he has put together everything he has found most helpful and hopes it makes a positive change in your classroom and the field of education.

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Copyright © 2022 Nick Duda

All Rights Reserved.

For bulk purchases, please contact me via DudaEducation.com for a discount.

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Duda Education. Batavia, IL

Cover, characters, logo, and The Duda Model for Modern Education illustration created by Emily Velazquez Creative: www.emilyvelazquezcreative.com

Cover Fonts:  DK Zealand by Hanoded, Clementine Sketch by Teagan White, and Bourbon Grotesque by DaFont

No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means (graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, etc.) without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief cited quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Hardback: ISBN 979-8-9864503-0-8

Paperback: ISBN 979-8-9864503-1-5

EBook: ISBN 979-8-9864503-2-2

Audiobook: ISBN 979-8-9864503-3-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022917243

Dedication

Educators

To the current and future educators that have dedicated their minds and emotions to helping people learn.  You’re awesome.

Students

To all of my current and former students, thank you for teaching me every day.

My Wife

To my wife, for your love, creativity, insight and inspiration (and awesome editing skills!).

My kids

To my sons for continually reminding me to always be my best and to approach every situation with love.  You help me to see the world more beautifully every day.

Foreword

written by Kristina Davis Salazar, Ed.S. Superintendent of West Chicago Elementary School District 33

Are your students having trouble finding success? Are they overly distracted, and don’t seem to care as much as they used to? Perhaps you’re having trouble finding the motivation you used to. As an educator, you are up against so many outside factors-factors that did not seem to exist previously. Many would say that teaching has never been more difficult. We are seeing record numbers of early retirement and great teachers leaving the classroom (Gomez, 2022). Even more are asking what can be done to solve these issues.

I am Kristina Davis Salazar, Ed.S. and am the superintendent of West Chicago Elementary School District 33 in the town of West Chicago, IL. We are a Pre-K through 8th grade school district that has the wonderful opportunity to serve around 4,500 students from a diversity of backgrounds. I began my career in 1996 as the first bilingual teacher in an Illinois farming community of migrant workers. The need for a focus on more than just the curriculum was very apparent from the moment I began teaching, and has been a guiding light for my professional goals, as well as goals for the school district where I am now Superintendent.

Nick Duda’s book, The Modern Teacher’s Handbook: Your Ultimate Guide to Success in Education, provides a meaningful framework for success as a teacher, whether you are brand new to the profession, or have been teaching for decades. With a strong focus on Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support (PBIS), we are able to not only provide for our at-risk students, but enhance school climate and safety, and improve conditions for learning to promote the well-being of all students (PBIS.org). The Modern Teacher’s Handbook goes beyond the PBIS model, introducing you to "The Duda Model for Modern Education" which is a framework that will give you the skills and mindset needed to not only find success in the modern classroom, but once again discover your passion for teaching. Nick goes on to talk about the lessons he has learned in his career, as well as how to positively navigate school and classroom dynamics.

Nick Duda has been a teacher defined by high standards, leadership, and going above and beyond to provide his students with an education that not only focuses on subject area standards, but provides a strong focus on helping his students to be well rounded, successful people. He works with educators and students throughout the world, as far as India, to promote meaningful, effective, and practical learning strategies and has been in education for over 18 years. He offers free STEM Education resources through his website (STEMwithMrDuda.com) and YouTube channel, as well as professional development opportunities for teachers, administrators, and districts worldwide.

He is certified in the State of Illinois, USA, to teach Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts in grades 5-9 and Elementary Education, English as a Second Language (ESL) K-9, and is a Certified Technology Specialist for PreK-12. His experience in education ranges from running a middle school summer camp, a before and after school program, substitute teaching K-8, and teaching 5th grade, 6-8 Science, 7th Language Arts, 7th grade Math Interventions, and 7th grade STEM.

Nick has been heavily involved in developing the curricula for all of the subjects he has taught (developing the large majority of resources, as well). In addition, he has served on many committees, including the District Leadership Committee, Technology Implementation, Curriculum Planning, and New Teacher Mentor Program Design. Nick is a trained teacher-coach in multiple strategies, including collaborative structures and de-escalation techniques. Nick is a strong proponent of individualized education, of which he has found much success with his students.

Throughout Nick’s tenure in West Chicago, we have seen a lot of staff turnover, including a large number of teachers and 5 new principals. In regards to his district, he says, We are in a great place now, however, it has taken a lot of hard work to get here. Through all of that turnover and turmoil, I have been able to learn a lot. And what I have learned has helped a lot of other teachers. I just want to help teachers find happiness and fulfillment in education again. He has been a new teacher mentor for many years and continually tries to help develop practical lessons, effectively addressing classroom behavior issues.

In this book, he has put together everything he has found most helpful throughout his career, and hopes it makes a positive change in your classroom and in the field of education as a whole. Nick has been a leader in our school district, helping countless teachers find success and happiness in their classrooms, and continues to be a favorite among his students. It is with my pleasure that I introduce you to Nick Duda’s The Modern Teacher’s Handbook: Your Ultimate Guide to Success in Education. There is no doubt in my mind that his experience, anecdotes, and advice will help you to find more happiness and success not only in the classroom, but throughout your career in education.

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Check out DudaEducation.com for additional resources!

Introduction

Very often, I hear about poor student behavior, low work ethic, and how exhausting it is to teach in my school (I hear this about teaching at most other schools, too), and I get it. Each generation has seen their share of struggles and changes, and our current generation is no different. Students are addicted to their screens, many don’t have an inherent respect for teachers or education, and they have parents who may not be teaching them the basics of correctly treating one another. Perhaps the parents are so busy working or never learned these skills themselves. Maybe they spend too much time on their screens. We have a lot that we are up against as educators, and it can be an absolutely exhausting job. NPR released an article entitled, More than half of teachers are looking for the exits, a poll says on February 1st, 2022, citing the following top three reasons:

I see all three of these things in my district. Education is in a tough spot, and something has to change. I want you to have a classroom that isn’t full of bad behaviors. I want your students to be excited to learn from you. I want your classroom to be a place you look forward to going to every day, and that your students look forward to, as well. You have dedicated a lot of time, money, and emotional energy to this career. Your students are lucky to have you. I believe that I have developed a solution to many issues we are facing today in education, and I hope that this book can help you find the happiness that you truly deserve as an educator. I’m not promising all sunshine and rainbows or a quick fix, but what I can promise is that if you do the work to implement what I discuss in this book, you will leave work the majority of days feeling more fulfilled, with more energy, and proud of how your students are growing.

I have been in education for over 18 years. I ran a middle school summer camp and a before and after school elementary education program. I was also a substitute teacher for a few years while working towards my Master of Science in Education. I have received Excellent/Distinguished as a classroom teacher on most of my teaching evaluations. For many of those years, I have been a mentor for new teachers and have found it one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I was even able to help revamp the mentoring program.

Over those 18 years, I have seen a lot of impressive student learning and met a great group of colleagues that I now call friends. I have also seen an amazing amount of turnover and experienced many emotional ups and downs. There have been wonderful school years and some school years where I felt ready to quit right then and there. I have served on committees where I felt like my opinion mattered, and we got a lot of work done, and other committees that were abusive, manipulative, and bad for everyone involved. Through my 18 years, I have honed my skills as an educator to help my students and serve as a mentor for many new teachers who have found success in their careers.

I am certified in Illinois to teach K-9 General Education, 6-9 Math, Science, Social Studies, Language Arts, and ESL, and I hold a K-12 Technology Specialist Endorsement. I have taught in a general education 5th-grade classroom, Middle School Science, Language Arts, Math Intervention, Social Studies, and Science. I have provided ESL support in the form of co-teaching for many years. I also spent one year (part of my day) working in a room dedicated to students that could not currently find success in their mainstream classrooms due to behavioral concerns (I talk more about this in the section on

De-Escalation). I have also served on many committees dedicated to curriculum development, technology implementation, building leadership teams, new teacher mentoring, and more.

Most of my career has been in an economically challenged suburb of Chicago with a high level of ESL students with low reading and math scores. Within my first few years of teaching here, I recall being told by building administrators that we had three options so the state didn’t shut us down;

We always chose the third one. Needless to say, there weren’t many improvements. We are in a drastically better place as a school and district today than we were when I began, and I have learned a lot from that experience. I have been able to gain the knowledge, skills, and mindset that allows me to show up to work every day, have students who are highly involved in their learning, have a very high work completion rate (without me continually asking them), and have enough mental space to not feel stressed the majority of the time.

Who can benefit from this book?

What I present in this book is for teachers of all experience levels. I have found a lot of success in my classroom and want to help others find it. The information that I have organized here has helped many of my mentees find great success in the classroom. I know that you will get a lot out of this book, and I am so glad that you are here. For those of you who have more experience in education, I hope that I offer a fresh look at ideas that will either help you approach situations differently, or reaffirm what you are already doing. Many times I feel quite isolated from others. I think that’s the general nature of our job, and I am stunned to hear what other educators are experiencing when we do get the time to work together. I truly believe that this book will offer you a better opportunity for a more fulfilling career in education. So let’s get started!

What will I talk about in this book?

Part 1: The Duda Model for Modern Education

In this section of the book I boil down what I have found to be most important in regards to getting my students to be intrinsically motivated to learn (including academic and socially).  By following the parts of the Duda Model for Modern Education you will see just how rewarding teaching can be, and how natural it will feel.

Part 2: Lessons I have learned in my career

In this part I talk about the top advice that I have for all educators on a variety of topics.  Through my experiences mentoring new teachers, as well as working through some extremely challenging school years I have been able to learn a lot.  I want to provide you those lessons so that you do not have to learn them the hard way, as well as to provide you with the tools needed to achieve success in education.

Part 3: Techniques to positively navigate school and classroom dynamics

Teaching is definitely an art.  With so much of education surrounding your ability to deal with other people, and college level education courses many times focusing on lessons planning and content teaching (and not the politics or social science of the school environment) I have found many teachers (new and experienced) lacking some understandings that lead to a lot of unneeded stress.  In this section I talk about how to better handle the dynamics of working with teachers, administrators, parents, students, and more. 

What type of student was