Teachers: Start Your School Year Right!
Regardless if this is your first or 21st year of teaching, it's always good
to review advice from your colleagues. A little planning at the beginning of
school can pay big dividends as you go through the coming school year.
Here are some suggestions to consider before school starts:
Get yourself ready
Arriving in town the day before you report to school, moving your home, juggling
calls to insurance companies, or negotiating on a new car, can drain energy
and time from your important new job. And do plan time enough for sleep. You're
beginning an exciting journey, but it is a very demanding one.
Find out where
Familiarize yourself with the building. Locate the exits, the principal's
office, the gym, the nurse's office, the cafeteria, the supply room,
the faculty lounge, media center and so forth.
Know the rules
Get acquainted beforehand with school policies and procedures, such
as opening and closing hours, attendance procedures, fire drill
regulations, lunchroom regulations, nurse services, etc.
Know your rights
Read or re-read your contract so that you will know your rights.
Build relationships
Seek out the school secretary and the custodian and introduce yourself.
Be sure to meet the teachers on your hall.
Give your classroom some class
Try decorating your classroom in a manner that will catch the eyes
of your students and give them something to think about at the same
time.
Get organized
Start off the year by getting your personal papers organized. You
never know when you may have to produce a document related to your
job.
Keep records
During the year, you may have expenditures that could be deductions
on your income tax. Now is the time to set aside a place for keeping
tax records and to start keeping track of them.
Plan, plan, plan
Create lesson plans for the first few days. Plan at least twice as much as you
think you can cover. Write down everything. Detailed plans will provide you
a feeling of security when facing the class for the first time.
That Critical First Day…
Get there early
On the first morning, arrive early so you'll have time to ask any last-minute
questions, go over final plans, and relax before the students come in.
Greet your pupils
Be in your room when the pupils arrive. Have your name written on
the chalkboard. Greet the students with a smile and a pleasant "Good
morning." Encourage them to be seated and remain so.
Help students get acquainted
Take student attendance and make seating assignments. Help students
get to know one another's names and interests and make sure students
are familiar with other school personnel such as the librarian and
principal.
Make a good impression
Whatever else you do, give the class the impression from the beginning
that you are well organized. Your students must get the feeling
right off that you are prepared and know what you are doing.
Introduce yourself
Post a biographical sketch of yourself outside your classroom and
encourage others to follow suit. You never know when a student may
find he or she
has something in common with a
teacher and is able to strike up a relationship that could foster
a positive learning experience.
Get down to business
Post your KNEA professional educators door sign on your door. Write
your name on the blackboard.
Go over the rules
If you want discipline to work during the year, start off by establishing
class rules right at the beginning. (They probably should number
no more than five.) Let the students have a role in establishing
them. They will have more of a tendency to follow the rules. Rules
should be written and posted in the classroom.
Start the learning
Make the first day of school a real one. Accomplish some constructive
learning with your students. A good start yields big dividends later
on.
Give an overview
Provide an overview of the classroom and learning for the coming
year.
With secondary students this should include a discussion of the
purpose of the class, its relationship to graduation and important
milestones such as the SATs. Students will want to know your grading
system, your classroom management style, and the class syllabus
highlights.
With elementary students, you might provide highlights of the coming
year including skills they will learn and special projects.
Brief your students
At the high school level particularly, let your students know early exactly
what you expect of them in your course. Most students will rise to the teacher's
expectations.
In the First Few Days…
Start off slowly
Go over your material slowly the first grading period so that students can
find success while the material is not too difficult.
Think about health
Make an early determination about how you will handle students with
special health problems. Do you know what to do if you have a student
subject to epileptic seizures? What about administering medicine
to students?
Build class spirit
If you teach elementary youngsters, you might try giving your class
a name such as the "Bumblebees from Room Three."
Check school policy
If you intend to be teaching subject matter that borders on controversy,
be sure you are within board policy. Keep your personal views on
religion and politics to yourself.
Set a class goal
You can develop some spirit among class members if you have a project
you are working toward. Perhaps a holiday project to help a needy
family, a class trip or a class party at the end of the year.
Find a shoulder
Look for a colleague to turn to for special advice or simply to unburden yourself
about a special classroom challenge. This could be your school-assigned mentor.
AND ALL DURING THE YEAR
Be alert to your professional growth
The KNEA has dozens of professional workshops that can be arranged through
your UniServ director. Effective communication skills, classroom management,
sexual harassment, special education issues - the list goes on. Titles are available
from your association president or on the KNEA Web site: www.knea.org. Most
can be brought to your own school or local association.
Do your best
Determine what factors are likely to keep you from doing your job
during the school year. Then figure out a way to work around them.
For example: How will you work with too many students in your class?
How will you deal with the wide range of student abilities? How
will you deal with disruptive students?
Develop resources
Develop your own sources of information and your resource list.
Know where to get help when you need it. Keep your eyes open for
free and inexpensive materials such as those previewed in the KNEA
Issues and NEA Today.
Look for hope
Give yourself a lift toward getting in the proper frame of mind
by watching for something hopeful. It may be that student who comes
up to you and gives you an indication he or she learned something
within the first week of school. Maybe it's the child who speaks
to you in the parking lot and uses your correct name!
Get parents involved
Determine how you will involve parents in your students' education
during the coming year. Is there any special way to approach parent-teacher
conferences? Are there any special messages you want to send home
to parents? How will you deal with parents who want to help their
students learn?
Communicate with parents
If you teach primary grades, send a note home early informing parents
that you need time to get to know pupils before you can comment
on them. Let them know that you are available, however, and list
the process and times for getting in touch with you. For other parents,
you might want to introduce yourself and include your policy on
homework.
Support your association
Join your local education association for the moral support of people
who understand the difficulty of your job.
And finally....
Keep these three qualities of good teaching in mind: be flexible,
be patient and keep a sense of humor.
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