What the teacher needs to do on the first day...
1. Get your students in the room
2. Tell them where to sit
3. Tell them how you expect them to act
4. Feed them
5. Get them home safely
2. Tell them where to sit
3. Tell them how you expect them to act
4. Feed them
5. Get them home safely
What students want to know on the first day...
1. Is it the right room?
2. Where do I sit?
3. What are the rules in the classroom?
4. What will I be doing this year?
5. How will I be graded?
6. When is lunch?
7. Who is a teacher as a person?
8. Will the teacher treat me as human being?
("Effective Teaching" by Harry and Rosemary Wong)
2. Where do I sit?
3. What are the rules in the classroom?
4. What will I be doing this year?
5. How will I be graded?
6. When is lunch?
7. Who is a teacher as a person?
8. Will the teacher treat me as human being?
("Effective Teaching" by Harry and Rosemary Wong)
Top 10 Things to Do the First Few Weeks of School
1. Lesson Plan - Overplan! It is easier to eliminate an activity than to have to come up with one on the spot.
2. Vary your activities - Plan a variety of activities to keep your students alive and excited.
3. Make "Day of the Week" folders - Get five colored folders, one for each day of the school week. Laminate these folders and place lesson plans and materials for each day in them. Secondary teachers might need to go a step further and make a folder for each period of the day.
4. Make a "Substitute Teacher" folder - Include procedures, a detailed daily schedule, grade level teach members' names and room numbers, and a seating chart of student. Make lesson plans for one day and have all worksheets and materials ready to go.
5. Laminate and display posters of classroom rules and consequences - Make the print on these large enough for students to read from any point in the room. Hang them in a place where they are easily seen.
6. Write out a daily schedule on a poster - Laminate it and hang it where students can easily see it. Secondary teachers can write the start and end times of classes and lunches on the daily schedule.
7. Get important student forms - such as detention slips, office referrals, attendance sheets, counselor and nurse referrals, and grade sheets ready for use.
8. Organize your filing cabinet
9. Decide what your students are going to do with their supplies - Are you going to collect them? Secondary teachers can consider how they are going to pass out and pick up class sets of books and supplies and how they are going to organize materials for different periods of the day. Hint: Number your supplies. This makes it easy and quick to check for missing materials at the end of each class.
10. Write welcome notes for your students - Secondary teachers can accomplish this by printing one on a computer, copying it and filling out individual student names by hand. Even better, plan a system by which you can rotate sending home positive notes about students to their parents. Nothing can establish a strong relationship better than sending home a positive note before you have to make a negative contact.
(From Region 10 ESC - TxBESS News, Vol. 2, No. 1, Fall 2001 As adapted from www.inspiringteachers.com)
2. Vary your activities - Plan a variety of activities to keep your students alive and excited.
3. Make "Day of the Week" folders - Get five colored folders, one for each day of the school week. Laminate these folders and place lesson plans and materials for each day in them. Secondary teachers might need to go a step further and make a folder for each period of the day.
4. Make a "Substitute Teacher" folder - Include procedures, a detailed daily schedule, grade level teach members' names and room numbers, and a seating chart of student. Make lesson plans for one day and have all worksheets and materials ready to go.
5. Laminate and display posters of classroom rules and consequences - Make the print on these large enough for students to read from any point in the room. Hang them in a place where they are easily seen.
6. Write out a daily schedule on a poster - Laminate it and hang it where students can easily see it. Secondary teachers can write the start and end times of classes and lunches on the daily schedule.
7. Get important student forms - such as detention slips, office referrals, attendance sheets, counselor and nurse referrals, and grade sheets ready for use.
8. Organize your filing cabinet
9. Decide what your students are going to do with their supplies - Are you going to collect them? Secondary teachers can consider how they are going to pass out and pick up class sets of books and supplies and how they are going to organize materials for different periods of the day. Hint: Number your supplies. This makes it easy and quick to check for missing materials at the end of each class.
10. Write welcome notes for your students - Secondary teachers can accomplish this by printing one on a computer, copying it and filling out individual student names by hand. Even better, plan a system by which you can rotate sending home positive notes about students to their parents. Nothing can establish a strong relationship better than sending home a positive note before you have to make a negative contact.
(From Region 10 ESC - TxBESS News, Vol. 2, No. 1, Fall 2001 As adapted from www.inspiringteachers.com)
The Five Concepts to Enhance Positive Expectations
1. Name
2. Please
3. Thank You
4. Smile
5. Love
("The First Days of School" by Harry and Rosemary Wong")
Questions to ask when you are new to the school...
The school building:
Where is the restroom I can use? (Can someone watch my students when I go? Am I allowed/Should I to leave my students unattended?)
Can someone take me on a tour of the school?
Where is the teacher lounge / work room?
Who is responsible for what in the administration?
Contact Information:
What is my classroom phone number, if any?
What are the phone numbers for the school and district staff?
Contact information for my team?
How do I contact technology department?
What is the bad weather calling tree?
What is the school's physical address?
Who do I call in case of an emergency absence?
When are the birthdays of the people on my team?
Management:
How do you handle writing referrals?
Who do I call if I need immediate help with a particular student?
Is there a school wide student management program?
What are student hall expectations?
Where is the student code of conduct?
Who are my students that I need to know about?
Classroom Organization / Lesson planning:
What is the lesson plan format?
When are the lesson plans due?
Where do I submit my lesson plans?
What do the administrators expect to see when they enter the room?
What does the principal expect to see on the board? (Objective, TEKS, vocabulary, etc.)
What are the non negotiables?
Absences:
How do I request a sub?
Who to call if I am suddenly sick in the morning?
How many sick days do I have?
How are my absences tracked?
Where do I leave my sub folder?
Special Population:
Do I have any SPED students in class?
Do I have any 504 students?
Do I have any ELLs?
What ELL strategies are used in the school?
What accommodations do my SPED students get?
Who is our diagnostician?
Who is our SPED teacher?
Do we have any SPED TAs?
How can I access the documentation on my class?
Can I see the previous year's data on my students?
Procedures:
What is the fire/tornado drill procedures?
What is the student dress code?
What is the teacher dress code?
Can I leave campus for lunch?
At what time am I expected to arrive to school?
At what time can I leave after school?
Where can I get a copy of student handbook?
How do I send my students to the nurse?
What are the restroom procedures for the students?
What do I do if a student suddenly gets ill in my room?
What is the grading procedure?
How do I access the grade book?
What is the procedure for marking attendance?
How many grades do I have to give my students per week?
What kind of grades am I required to give students? (homework, test grades, etc)
Is there a grade I can't give my students? (68s and 69s)
Do I give students more than one change to complete/redo an assignment?
Do we give students homework?
When do my students eat lunch?
What is the special's schedule?
What must be written on the board, how should I write daily objectives?
Mentoring / Professional Development:
Is there a new teacher mentoring program?
Who is my mentor?
What professional development is available on campus?
How many hours of professional development am I required to attend?
What form will I have to turn in by the end of the year of my professional development?
Where can I access my certificates for attended professional development?
Money:
Do I have any budget for supplies?
What is the procedure for collecting and turning in money from students?
When do we get paid?
What are the trade-in days?
Dates / Schedule:
What is the school / district calendar?
What are the testing dates?
What meetings and when am I required to attend?
What is the library schedule for my class?
What is the school's master schedule?
How does a specials schedule work?
Technology:
What software is available?
Where is the computer lab?
What is the computer lab schedule?
Who is the campus technology person?
How do I contact district technology?
What resources are available in the school?
How do I connect to the school wi-fi?
What do I do if I forgot my password?
Other:
When and where is my duty?
What curriculum do we use?
What student rewards/incentives are permitted?
Can I give my students candy? If not, what can I give them?
What are the school's unspoken rules?
How do award ceremonies work?
Are we allowed to have classroom parties?
What about the field trips?
Do we have a year book?
What clubs and activities can my students participate in?
Where can I help?
Classroom Organizer Binder
What to include:
- Master Class Roster
- Parent Contact Information
- How do we get home charts
- Daily Class Schedule
- Specials' Schedule
- Early Release Schedule
- Emergency contact information
- Bad Weather Calling Tree
- School Map
- Fire Exits Map
- Important Phone numbers
- Important Emails
- Confidential Student Health Concerns Information
- SPED Information
- Student IEP Goals
- Running Records
- Anectodal Notes
- Students Birthdays
- Colleague Birthdays
- Calendar
- The Year-at-a-Glance
- Meeting Notes
- Important Information
- Master Copy of Forms sent home
- Lesson Plans
- ESL standards
- Master Class Roster
- Parent Contact Information
- How do we get home charts
- Daily Class Schedule
- Specials' Schedule
- Early Release Schedule
- Emergency contact information
- Bad Weather Calling Tree
- School Map
- Fire Exits Map
- Important Phone numbers
- Important Emails
- Confidential Student Health Concerns Information
- SPED Information
- Student IEP Goals
- Running Records
- Anectodal Notes
- Students Birthdays
- Colleague Birthdays
- Calendar
- The Year-at-a-Glance
- Meeting Notes
- Important Information
- Master Copy of Forms sent home
- Lesson Plans
- ESL standards
Sub Binder or Tub
What to include:
- Introduction and thank you page
- Class Schedule
- List of people that can help
- Important contact info (office, nurse)
- Classroom routines
- Forms and notes (library, nurse, hall pass, etc.)
- A ziplock with first aid
- Emergency Sub Plans and Activities
- Student Information
- Filler Activities
- Lesson Plan for the Day
- Introduction and thank you page
- Class Schedule
- List of people that can help
- Important contact info (office, nurse)
- Classroom routines
- Forms and notes (library, nurse, hall pass, etc.)
- A ziplock with first aid
- Emergency Sub Plans and Activities
- Student Information
- Filler Activities
- Lesson Plan for the Day