[shelbean91]

I know there are a lot of teacher (or former) teacher moms and want to ask for help.

I just graduated w/my degree in el ed in May (YAY!!) and accepted my first position this week. 6th grade- my team (4 other teacher) seem great. Meet the teacher night is Monday and I'm no where near ready. Kids return next wed.

Aside from being really nervous about being a WOHM again (was SAHM since ds1 was born, except FT student), I need any and all tips possible in helping to set up a classroom.

The curriculum/schedule is pretty much set- my schedule is set around specials (art, pe, music, etc), and special ed, gifted programs. I get to teach around all those other things.

But, my classroom is completely bare. I did my student teaching last spring, so I was unable to see the beginning of the year stuff and getting hired a week before school starts is a challenge. Obviously, I won't be online much, but if you can post here or PM me, I'd GREATLY appreciate it.

 

[Jennifer-Juniper]

Congratulations! Your questions were pretty general, so I'll offer some brief and general advice. Then, if you have any more specific questions, you can let me know.

It's great that your team seems like a good group. Hopefully you can depend on them for lots of help and guidance this first year. I've been teaching 8th grade for almost six years now (at two different schools with two very different teams) and let me tell you, your co-workers can make or break your job.

Get a copy of Harry Wong's book The First Days of School (or do a search for "Harry Wong classroom management" -- but the book is well worth the $). He advocates setting up a classroom structure with clear expectations for the kids. (He also describes the stages of teaching as (1) Fantasy (2) Survival (3) Mastery and (4) Impact. So don't feel bad if this year you feel like you're just keeping your head above water. It gets better.) A smoothly running classroom allows learning to happen (because classroom management and procedures become automatic).

Make friends with the secretary and the custodians. They are the backbone of the school and you will need them.

If I can think of any more quick tips, I'll let you know. School doesn't start for me for another two weeks, so I'm just starting to think like a teacher again. Hope that helps.

 

[shelbean91]

Thanks Jen-

We did discuss Harry Wong in my classes. I need to (and am in the process of) finding all my textbooks, which are really some good classroom tools.

Now that I've actually been in the class, I'm feeling a bit better. It's just SO overwhelming to walk into a completely bare room and have to start from scratch, there's just SO much.

The districts around here tend to wait until the last minutes to hire b/c so much can change w/boundries, enrollment, etc. Some people don't get hired until meet the teacher night or even the first day of school.

 

[Jennifer-Juniper]

A bare room can be part of your "plan." A friend of mine that teaches elementary covers her bulletin boards with paper and border, but then leaves them all empty and every few days she does another board. She says that if she has the whole room decorated when the kids walk in, it's too distracting; that they have so much stuff to look at they don't pay attention to her. So, every few days she does another board (or wall) and introduces what's there.

I cover one board at the back of my room with examples of consequences -- positive on one side and negative on the other. For example, I have little "good news!" notes I send home and positive passes (can be turned in for a piece of candy on Friday). I also have a homework letter I send home when a student has missed four assignments. Stuff like that, those are just a few examples. But I don't hang all those up right away. It only takes a few minutes to staple them up one day after school (putting up paper and border is the long part, so that's what I do ahead of time).

 

[LisaBMrsS]

Hello,

Congratulations and good luck! I also agree that you should keep your room simple at first. To make it warm, cheery, and inviting, make sure your bulletin boards are covered with paper and borders. When I taught fifth grade, I kept one board dedicated to display student work. (This was also a mandate of the school, but obviously a good one.) To keep that board simple to decorate, I made cut-outs from the die-cutter of 10 different seasonal shapes (1 for each month) for each child. For example, September was a school bus, October a leaf or a pumpkin (forget which), November a turkey, etc. I laminated each one. (Here's a time-saver: laminate sheets of paper in the colors you want a little smaller than the width of the die-cutter. Then cut the laminated paper and discard the scraps.) With a transparency pen, write the students' names on the shapes. Then tack them to the board. If you do this before the start of the year, it can send the message from the start that you believe in and expect greatness from each child. (Of course, that's also not necessary.) If you have parent volunteers, ask them to make you each month's set. Keep each month's cards in a separate plastic bag.

My other boards were dedicated to a calendar and notices for me (by my desk), Student Spotlight, and one that changed with each science or social studies unit.

In addition to your boards, think about how you will instruct? Are you a stand-and-deliver type lecturing from the front of the room? Does your curriculum call for a lot of group work? These answers will help you arrange your desks.

How will you organize papers? Sixth graders can and should be expected to do a lot for themselves, and they need to practice good organization as well. Where will they turn in their homework? How will they organize their work - binders, notebooks, folders, etc? How will you distribute notices, and how will they return forms, money, parent notes?

It's good to have your own papers very organized, too. I tend to photocopy things a few days to a week a head of time, so I got stacking trays and colored pocket folders with subject titles to contain that potential mess.

Again, good luck!

~Lisa

 

[shelbean91]

Thanks. I've got an idea for homework turn in (stolen from my student teaching experience!!) I've also got my grade book set up (3 ring binder instead of those teeny tiny gradebooks they sell.

I bought a calendar set to put up and posters of the 6+1 traits of writing, which is big around here. We also do a character counts.

I like the idea of diecuts w/everyone's name on it. Fortunately, we have a day between meet the teacher and the first day back, so I've got a little bit of time.

I actually have one smaller bulletin board in hte classroom, one full wall of 'bulletin board' material, and a full board in the hall. I need to do something in the hallway, maybe I can do something with the 'character counts' that is in our state (trustworthy, responsibility, respect, fairness, caring, citizenship).

Thanks again.