Tips for New (and Seasoned) Teachers- Part 1: Planning
You finally got the call you’ve been waiting to hear all week. Congratulations! You’ve been hired to teach! Oh the joy must be uncontainable! Your thoughts are racing about … decorating your room … the little minds you’re going to meet … wait, what are you going to teach?
Times have, without a doubt, changed since you were last in school. You still have the usual homework and assignments, but there are now content standards, professional teaching standards, new policies, standardized testing… it’s about to get real, real fast.
No joke, my first day of teaching, I was unprepared and frightened. I signed up as a limited term teacher, and had joined my 4th grade team 1 month after school started. I met up with my principal on Friday, and was told I would need to report in on Monday. I had no supplies, no structure, no idea what to do. All the information I'm sharing with you, I picked up along the way of that first year. I focused way too much on decorating my room, and didn't stop to think about what I'd be teaching. When I walked in on Monday, I was mortified, and I vowed that my 2nd day and every day after wouldn't be that chaotic ever again.
Now, after going three years into this profession, I want to share some tips on how to use this summer wisely! But before you make the mistakes that I made on my first day on teh job, we need to get you ready to work on the real deal meat and potatoes of teaching.
Introducing Part 1 of my 3-part series: Planning
(Font credit from Teaching Talking; background credit from Emily Wean.)
Tip #1: Read up on your standards!
Most (if not all) school districts have adopted the Common Core State Standards for Math and ELA. You should read up on what the standards are for your grade level. This will help you figure out what your students need to know. However, you might find some of the standards a little difficult to understand. For those of you who are in 2nd grade and higher, you should check out Young Teacher Love on Teachers Pay Teachers. Kristina Nanini, the store owner (and owner of a really good blog) has unpacked (or broken down) your grade level’s CCSS so you can understand what each standard is asking for. For those in Kindergarten and First Grade, you can refer to The Curriculum Corner’s I Can statements. They present it to you in kid-friendly language, and you can use the I Can statements to display your objectives every week. It's an invaluable resource that I'm so grateful my team teacher introduced to me during my first year!
Tip #2: Read up on your school district's curriculum map (if it is available) and note holidays and breaks.
I get holidays and breaks...but a curriculum map? Wait...what is that?
Some school districts have a curriculum map posted on their website. This basically helps you map out your entire year, with suggested timeframes and topics your lessons should cover by quarter. You're going to want to at least browse through it or have a copy on hand. Make sure it's saved on your computer for reference!
Tip #3: Create your pacing calendar!
Now that you know your standards – when do you teach them? Pacing calendars are what you’ll have to create in order to figure out when and how long to teach a lesson. No, you can’t teach multiplication in one day! You may want to use the curriculum map to help you with this. Remember there's introducing a lesson, practicing, and reteaching - at most, it takes 10 days for dendrites to form in your kiddos' brains, so they can retain new information. Therefore, try to set it up where you have 2 weeks to teach a standard.
But you're probably going "whoa, Bee, how the heck is that possible to take 10 DAYS to teach counting in first grade!" I know, there are some standards you can probably knock off in less than 10 days, or you'll referring back to throughout the year so initial introduction is about a week. That's why you're creating the pacing calendar - to make sure that you plan ahead. This document is not set in stone; it will change from time to time based on your kiddos' progress, and other unexpected events. But at least you have a guideline to work with. Don't forget to plug in all the school holidays and breaks from the previous tip!
Also, take note of your district's planned assessment window, and add that into your pacing calendar (like a little note).
Tip #4: Read up on your school’s policies and procedures
Every school and school district has differing policies on everything from dismissal to class parties. What do you do when a child’s been absent for 3 days? Who do you report it to? What if your bus-riding student comes into class and tells you their parents said they're a car-rider without a signed notice? What do you do? School policies and procedures help you figure out the answers to all those questions, and the best part is if you have a question, your administration won’t be offended if you ask. It’s better to know now than to get stuck in a position where you’re pushed to a corner.
Tip #5: Know your grade-level schedule
Most schools and districts have a specific schedule they expect you to follow. Know it! Know how many minutes you have to teach each subject, and what are your content days – you’ll need this for lesson planning purposes. Do you have to teach art, or is there an art teacher on campus who takes your class on certain days? Again, this is for lesson planning purposes.
Tip #6: Take a tour of your campus
Okay, so this can be done when it’s closer to the first day, but make sure to take some time out of decorating to tour your campus. You’ll want to know the following:
+ Nearest restrooms & water fountains
+ Offices in the Main office – is the nurse in there?
+ Guidance Counselor’s office
+ Copier room (and if there’s a copier limit/copier code you’ll need to know)
+ Supply Closet (and what’s in store + how do you check out items)
+ Library
+ Occupational Therapists & SPED classrooms
+ Cafeteria
+ Content classrooms
This serves many purposes. First, you estimate how long it would take for your students to get to places such as the restrooms and water fountains from your classroom (to help you see if there are any roamers!). Next, you become aware of where are these particular offices. If you’re escorting your class to areas such as content classrooms, the cafeteria, or the library, you’d want to know the shortest way possible, if any (and you most certainly don’t want to get lost when you have to go there!).
And lastly, supply closets and copier rooms! It’s always good to find out what supplies are allotted to you, and how you can access them (such as tangems and paint). You’d also want to know if there’s a copier limit- I’ve had it where the copier stops midway through my printing, and I’m left with less than 10 students without a worksheet. It’s horrible! You’ll be able to plan what needs to be copied, and if you reach your limit, research your area to find the nearest (and cheapest) copier shop, in case you don’t want to use your personal printer.
Tip # 7: Think and jot down your policies and procedures
What is your policy on make-up work or late-work? How about dismissal changes (for elementary teachers)? What would you want the kids to do every morning when they come in to your classroom? Remember: policies are what your expectations/rules are, procedures are the step-by-step actions your kiddos will perform to meet those expectations. These are questions you need to ask yourself before your kiddos arrive on that first day. Planning out your policies and procedures beforehand will help you manage your classroom effectively. Here are some policies and procedures to think about:
+ Homework submission
+ Rewards for turning in homework
+ Consequences for no homework
+ Attendance
+ Submitting parent notes from home
+ Work submission
+ Late work submission
+ Make up work submission
+ Transitions (to cafeteria, recess, etc).
+ Behavior Procedures (to be covered in another post)
+ Dismissal (how you'll line up your students based on how they're going home)
+ How parents will contact you
Tip #8: Decide NOW what supplies you'd require of your kiddos, and how you'd use them.
The first day of school is coming, which means Back to School specials are on the rise! If your school has their own school supply lists per grade, then take a look at it and plan how you're going to utilize them.
If it's up to you, figure out what supplies would they need. You'd want to get this information ready for parents who'd probably wait for the supply list on the first day. Don't forget: most families wait until the weekend to go shopping, so try and set a timeframe when you'd want all supplies in (possibly the following Monday). If you have that option to disseminate the supply list prior to the first day, do it. Here's a few common supply requests:
+ Folders
+ Composition Notebooks
+ Paper (primary paper for K-1, college-ruled for above)
+ Pencils
+ Crayons
+ Scotch tape
+ Markers
+ Glue/Glue sticks
+ Scissors (child-safe)
+ Construction paper (1 pack in one color: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, brown, black)
+ 1 ream of copier paper
+ Hand Sanitizer
Tip #9: Start working on your first lessons for the first day.
Gradually you'll start to build up your lesson plans for the first week. Try and think of the lessons you'd like to teach, how you'd introduce your procedures, and what activities would you make your students do on the first day. This year, I want to start off my class with a read-aloud of the book, "First Grade Jitters" to get them comfortable. Since I want to implement the Daily 5 for Reading and Daily 3 for Math, I'm also going to start introducing the first centers during this week. It's good to have it all mapped out and ready to go, because then you can move on to Tip #10.
Tip #10: Make sure to take note of any supplies/worksheets you'll need for the first week.
At this point, you're probably already ready to check your supplies. If you find that you'll still be lacking supplies (or there's a limit to how many supplies you can get from the school) you can take note of the things you're going to need. You'd want to make the 1st day of school as easy as possible for both yourself and your students. Ensure that you have a print out of any worksheets, parent information booklet sheets, or other materials you'll be disseminating during Week 1 on hand and set a day to run copies. You don't want to be stuck at the copier during the 1st day of school - it's going to be a mad house!
If you're planning on implementing the Daily 5, make sure you have all your bins and reading materials in order. If you're brand new, and don't have a large library of books (neither do I), you can check with your school librarian to see if you could borrow books for the rest of the year. Signing up with Scholastic is also a good idea; every time your students place a book order, you'll earn points which you can use towards purchasing books. If you have a local International Reading Association (IRA) chapter in your area, consider joining. They usually have discounts on books and opportunities for members to purchase books during their monthly meetings. Make sure to check with your teacher friends/retired teachers if they may have any books they'd like to donate, or check around flea markets/Craigslist (was suggested to me but I've never tried it) to find any bargain buys.
However, this can be built over time. Bottom line: focus on making Week 1 a success. Be organized, so you don't get overwhelmed. I hope this helps, and wish you luck during your first week!
Do you have any tips you'd want to share? Leave a tip in the comments below! Thanks a bunch.
-Bee
