Best Back-to-School Advice Ever! BUY SHOES!
I remember my first student-teaching job.
My master teacher looked down at my stiletto heels and said,
“Are you going to teach in those?”
I didn’t understand the question.
That’s because I was young and naive.
Don’t make my mistake and make your back-to-school experience a good one.
The best back-to-school advice I can offer is this: buy shoes.
Not just any shoes.
Comfortable shoes for teachers.
If you are standing, walking, pacing, bending, and moving all day, heels are not your friend. Neither are pointy-toed shoes. Research shows that heels contribute to back pain, foot pain, and long-term posture issues. They can even deform your feet over time. ABC News and many medical sources have covered the link between heels and chronic back pain.
So why do we keep wearing them?
For years, fashion dictated what women “should” wear, even when it caused pain. For centuries, women were expected to damage their feet to meet beauty standards. Foot binding in China lasted over a thousand years. It forced women into tiny shoes at the cost of lifelong pain.
In an age of gender equality, it’s worth asking why discomfort is still normalized.
For years, fashion dictated what women “should” wear, even when it caused pain. For centuries, women were expected to damage their feet to meet beauty standards. Foot binding in China lasted over a thousand years. It forced women into tiny shoes at the cost of lifelong pain.
When I’m on my feet all day, I don’t want pain pulling my focus away from teaching. I want to move easily around the room. I want to glide from Susy-On-Task to Bobby-Fidget-Spinner without limping. I want to pivot quickly from the board and deliver a well-timed dragon-fire glare to a student who needs a reminder.
Which I do with love. Always.
One of the most effective classroom management strategies is proximity.
Proximity requires movement.
Movement requires proper footwear.
This is why supportive shoes for teachers matter more than style. Athletic shoes, professional sneakers, clogs, or Birkenstocks can make a huge difference. Shoes with arch support and cushioning help reduce fatigue and prevent long-term injury. Your feet, knees, and back will thank you by October.
So contribute to the economy.
Head to your local shoe store.
Buy shoes you can teach in all day.
Your body will notice the difference.
So now is the time to contribute to the economy by heading out to your nearest athletic shoe store or Birkenstocks. Your feet will thank you.
The second-best back-to-school advice I can offer is this:
Fill your teacher toolbox with enough comprehensible input to provide tons of repetition in context. Students need to hear language repeatedly, in meaningful ways, to learn it. To help with that, you may enjoy these popular videos. Your students love them, and they support real language acquisition.
In the next blog, we’ll continue discussing strategies for motivating unmotivated learners. If you missed the earlier posts, you can read them here: How to Motivate Unmotivated Learners.
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