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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Advice for a first year teacher please
Hello everyone. I have never posted on here, but I am getting ready to start the exciting career of elementary education in just a few weeks. I will be teaching second grade. Any advice that you would give a first year teacher? I would love to hear it. Also, what would you wear on the first day? The school that I will be working at is very casual wear (khakis, flip flops, casual shirts) but I am thinking I want to look really professional on the first day. Thanks for any advice. 
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Re: Advice for a first year teacher please
I teach 3rd grade... I have a blog (in my siggy) so you can read it if you'd like! In the next couple weeks I'll be blogging about getting your classroom set up and intro letters to parents.
I always dress professionally. I look very young, so when I dress down, I blend in too much. LOL. On the first day I usually wear a dress and flats. My school doesn't have air conditioning, so it gets REALLY hot in there.
Do your best to use your planning periods to grade, plan, and make copies. If you do, you shouldn't have to stay too late or bring work home. It's very easy to get distracted and not use your time wisely.
Don't get sucked up in gossip. Do your work, keep conversations friendly (with other teachers) and leave it at that. Gossip always comes back to bite you in the butt.
Keep copies of all emails and letters to/from parents. That is to protect yourself.
See if you can get last year's yearbook so you can start learning your student's names.
Good luck!
I had a professor who made us all recite "I will not quit my first year of teaching!". Ask lots of questions -- even when you think you know what you are doing. Collaborate and utilize the experience of others. Try and take either Saturday or Sunday totally "off" from thinking about school.
I would dress professionally -- but I also personally hate "casual" schools. One teacher book says kids see their parents going to work dressed for work -- be it in a uniform or professionally-- they need to see the same or better of teachers. It is always ungodly hot here at the beginning of the year and we don't have a/c in schools so I usually wear a nice summery dress. Also, wear comfortable shoes! You'll be running around like crazy on the first day and nothing worse than sore(r) feet!
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Ditto! I teach 1st grade. I would add that organization of your classroom can prevent problems too. Here are some pics from mine. I have a Master's in Reading, so I really promote reading in my room obviously.
Learn at least one thing about the kids during the first week, and you can use it to call them into lining up. For example, "if you have a sister named Kayla, line up". The kids are usually like "How did you know???" LOL
Having 'community' area for pencils, erasers, markers, scissors, etc. is WAY better than giving them an individual pencil box to keep track of. I do the same thing with all my math manipulatives too.
Part of my SSR reading area. Shelves from Lowe's. Bins from Dollar Store.
Books organized by genre, author, etc
Kids label these items during the 1st few weeks of school after learning to take care of them.
Math manipulatives (rules, calculators, # grids, dice, etc) in tall white drawers tower
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Thank you all so much for the advice, I greatly appreciate it. I will try my best to use my planning period to grade, plan, and whatever else needs to be done. A lot of teachers have told me that one of the worst things you can do is bring your work home with you, but sometimes I know it cannot be prevented.
I did my student teaching at this school that I will be working at. I actually student taught second grade there and my mentor teacher will be there this year. I am taking a position of a second grade teacher that retired this year. I am sure that I will ask my mentor teacher from student teaching several questions as I begin in my own classroom.
I love to be organized and I think this will help me with classroom management and in other areas. I can't stand a mess and I get stressed out if there is a mess so I am going to try to stay neat and organized throughout the year.
I was thinking of wearing a nice, bright, summer type dress for the first day of school along with some flats. I need to go shopping. I have so many clothes, but yet I feel like I have nothing to wear!
Again, thank you all so much for the advice.
Find a way to take breaks, working yourself into the ground will not make you a better teacher. However, it will burn you out. Aim to find a work life balance.
It's very common for first year teachers to go overboard at the expense of their health and sanity.
I just picked up a great book today "The First Six Weeks of School" a lot of it you probably would do anyway, but it gives a nice outline of how to create a classroom community. www.responsiveclassroom.org This isn't my first year, but I was hired about 7 days before school started last year and I didn't have a great plan in place, and it took some time to build community. I want to do some different things this year, a lot of teachers at my school use this as well and they love it!
Congrats!
I teach HS and was so nervous my first day, I thought I was going to vomit all over my first period, haha.
So some advice:
1. Make friends with the school secretary/custodians- you never know when you'll need something
2. Use your planning periods! - It took me a few years before I got used to not hanging out with teacher friends during this time, but it makes such a difference at night.
3. Dress professionally but comfortable. I like to wear slacks, flats and a comfortable blouse. I normally don't wear heels that are too high (even though I'm short) because my feet will die at the end of the day.
4. Plan, plan, plan. Write everything down, even to every minute- it will make you feel more organized and less frazzled.
5. Ask for help, especially with behavior issues... whether it's from a neighboring teacher, an aide, etc. There's nothing wrong with being overwhelmed and asking for some assistance.
6. Don't spend every waking minute at home working- you need time off and if you do too much at night, you will burn out fast!
7. Have fun with your kids!!!
Congrats and good luck!
All of the advice above is fantastic, I don't know what I would have to add!
I think my biggest piece of advice is to realize that the kids in your room look to you as the authority, they expect you know what you are doing so act like you do, even when you are nervous or unsure, having confidence goes a long way. I've found that the more confident I have become in my role as a teacher the more manageable my classroom has become over the years.
All of this!
-Just know that your gonna have good and bad days
-Dont feel embarrassed to ask for help or to admit you are overwhelmed
-PLAN,PLAN,PLAN ( dead time= trouble)
You will love teaching.
Try to read Lee and Marlene Canter's book Assertive Discipline. That really helped me in establishing my classroom.
Don't be afraid to ask the parents for tissues/paper towels. You will need plenty.
Arrange a class trip early on - it really brings the class together. It may be a little work, but it's worth it.
Give the parents your e-mail address so they can communicate with you.
First day - a casual dress or skirt and top and wedges is nice. It's a special day!
Everyone is giving great advice! I agree with so much on here! I have taught in both the classroom (2nd, 3rd, and 6th grades) and as a K-5 reading specialist. This year I am moving up to the middle school. So I will have a new first day and first year as well.
Some advice that I try to follow:
Share your ideas. Others will be more likely to share theirs. If you can, plan with other teachers at your grade level.
Communicate with parents. This is always hard for me. Write a newsletter or post on a website to keep them up to date on what you are doing.
Spend the start of the year establishing routines and practice them. It is worth the time at the beginning of the year to get your room running the way you want.
Build a positive classroom community. Do class meetings, team building activities periodically, especially at the start of the year. This can help build a caring, safe environment where everyone works together and feels able to take risks.
Share appropriate details of your life with your class. You want to get to know your kids, and they are going to want to know you! One idea is to bring in a "me box" with things (books, pictures, objects) that represent you. Tell stories about the everything. You could extend this to have the students do the same thing. It is a great activity to get kids writing in a writer's notebook so they have personal narrative writing ideas.
Good luck!
I also teach HS, but I can over some general advice:
Seek out help from the other teachers in the building whenever possible. Lots of new teachers feel very alienated that first year, and it helps to build a support system...lots of your coworkers will have valuable information to give.
It's good that your school is casual, but you can always dress particularly well on the first day, to set a tone. Maybe a pretty skirt, or black slacks and a nice blouse? Either way, I do recommend wearing comfortable shoes! You'll prob be on your feet all day!
You might feel a bit overwhelmed your first few weeks, but things will get easier. At the end of each school day, just focus on what you need to get through your lessons the next day. By breaking it down day by day it will seem less overwhelming.
Hope this helps!