Teacher Appreciation Week 2011

[#1]

Being a first year teacher is so exciting!  You are finally getting your own classroom with your own group of students.  I have a few tidbits of advice for every first year teacher that are "must haves" to follow.  First of all, you want to be sure to get to know all of the secretarial and custodial staff very well.  You will soon learn that having them by your side is going to be very helpful for you for years to come.  They are the ones who schedule appointments, keep track of students, talk to parents most often and last but not least, keep your room clean and help to move things around when needed and keep an eye out for you when things become available that you need in your classroom that you don't want to pay for out of pocket such as book cases and filing cabinets!

My second piece of advice is geared more towards the student body.  I find it very important to first and foremost have great classroom management.  Sometimes it can be difficult, but if your students know from the very beginning of the year what your expectations are and what consequences may be received for inappropriate behavior, you will end up having a much better year than expected.  I also always have the entire week of lessons posted on the board for each of my classes.  This way, students can see on Monday what the entire week looks like and know what is coming due.  This eliminates a lot of the "I didn't know that assignment was due already!"  Also, it eliminates a lot of the chitter chatter each time a student comes into the room and says "what are we doing today?"  All they have to do is look at the board and read it!  I found that my students love knowing what they are going to be doing the entire week so they can also plan their other class work load around what they have due in my class.  Not only does it keep the students organized, but it also help the teacher.  By having my lesson plans done a week in advance, it eliminates any last minute, rush planning that would usually end up not being such a great lesson.  Plus, I can have everything ready to go (power points, worksheets, or activities) in folders or baskets for each day.  This eliminates a lot of stress on a teacher because each and every day is all ready to go! 

Last but not least, make sure to develop relationships with each of your students.  It is important to them to know that you care not only about their education, but also their health and safety.  If a student "needs" to talk to you about something that has nothing to do with school, make sure to make a few moments sometime throughout the day to let them vent to you.  Believe it or not, even though it is not an academic issue, it is affecting their academics for that day.  If they feel they can trust you enough to talk to you, then they will in turn respect you enough to meet or exceed your expectations in the classroom and trust when you tell them the importance of excelling in all classes.

I really hope that this advice helps a few first year teachers out their because I didn't have this my first year and wish that I had because it has really helped me become less stressed and have less work to bring home in recent year.

[#2]

my classroom can really use this money.  please take your time to read my ideas and give me a Kudos!  Thanks a lot for all of your support!  :-)