Eighty-Six Things I Learned at P.S. 86 is a great guest post by Hallie Fox over at Larry Cuban’s blog. Here are the first eleven:

Be the first class down at fire drills
Take the stairs not the elevator; it does get stuck and your kids will have no teacher
Know Maria (payroll)
Avoid Dunkin Donuts
Speak powerfully – yell only when it really counts
Don’t make promises you can’t keep
Keep your lab-top over the summer (getting it back the first few weeks is a loose term)
Have Jerry’s Number programmed (IT)
Make Normal Fuentes (or another 30 year veteran) your best friend
Ask for help from people you trust; don’t always take their advice
Know the janitors

I’m adding it to The Best Advice For New Teachers.