5 Tips of Advice for New Teachers
Starting out as a brand new teacher can be an exciting, but still very daunting task. Before the first week of school is complete, you’re likely to find out that teaching the standards is only a one part of your duties as a new teacher. Cultivating a classroom environment that supports student learning, maintaining positive parent relationship and developing daily routines are also things to thing about as a new teacher. Here are 5 tips of advice for new teachers that will help get the back to school season and the new school year off to a great start.
1.Build Relationships
It is so important to take the time truly getting to know your students. Building relationships with students goes hand in hand with being an effective teacher. It helps you create a positive environment for students to learn. Get to know students interests and then try to incorporate those interests into your lessons. Even something as simple as creating a math word problem that uses a student’s name and their love for baseball cards can do wonders with getting students engaged.
At open house I have students answer the question I wish my teacher knew. You can grab a template that’s ready to print out HERE and try it out with your students. I always find this to be a good use of time and I save them all year.
Use this Summer Vacation activity as a fun way to learn what your students did over the summer. You’ll also find lots of fun “get to know me” activities inside of this No Prep Back to School Pack!
2. Organize Everything
Classroom organization can make or break the day for a teacher. Spending the time to get your materials and supplies organized at the beginning will really pay off in the long run.
Before the day ends each Friday, I like to have each day’s copies for the following week done and organized by day. I’ll label each set of copies with a quick note such as “exit ticket” or “morning work”. Doing this the week before saves a ton of time and helps to set the tone for the next week.
At each of the students’ desk groups, I like to keep a caddy with extra supplies like glue, crayons, markers and pencils. Students also normally have their own pencil box, but these extra supplies ensure they’ll have everything they need.
If you pull small groups, make sure you have everything you’ll need at those areas ahead of time. Always make sure you have supplies for yourself and your students at the Guided Reading table. You’ll want to have a set of pencils there too, so students aren’t going back and forth to their desks.
3. Communicate With Parents
Communication is everything when you want to maintain a positive relationship with your students’ parents. Parent’s will appreciate when you share important updates about things happening in the classroom and their child’s progress.
I’ve always tried to reach out to every parent during the first few weeks with something positive to say before ever having to communicate something negative, such as behavior or grades. An easy way to do this is to write a quick note telling about something their child did that you were proud of that day. Choose 3 students a day to send a short note home about and you’ll cover your entire class in about two weeks. A phone call is even better, but notes are quick and easy!
It can feel overwhelming at first to maintain consistent parent communication, but establishing a routine at the beginning that is easy to keep up with will help. A classroom newsletter template that you type important information in each week and send home with students is an easy way to maintain communication with parents.
4. Spend Time on Classroom Management
So much time can go to waste without a clear classroom management strategy in place. There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of classroom management systems out there, but my favorites are the ones that require minimal effort to put in place and maintain.
If you don’t have a classroom management strategy in mind yet, Secret Student is a great place to start. There is very minimal prep and it doesn’t take up valuable classroom time to keep up with it like other management systems that require points do.
5. Develop Morning and Afternoon Routines
Morning Routine
If the morning in your classroom is chaotic, there is a good chance the rest of the day will follow suit. That’s why it’s always a good idea to have a consistent and predictable morning routine for students.
As soon as students enter the classroom, make sure they know exactly what they are to do. On the first few days of school, address things like:
Where does homework go?
What are students working on once they sit down at their desk?
What are the bathroom procedures first thing in the morning?
A morning routine that involves morning work will provide something for students to work on at the start of the day. Planning morning work doesn’t have to be complicated. I like to alternate between math and ELA activities so that students get a variety of both. Morning work should cover something students have already learned or are currently working on as a way to give extra practice. Spiral review activities, like this one are a quick way to cover multiple math skills each day.
Afternoon Routine
Afternoon routines in the classroom are equally as important as morning routines. There’s nothing worse than having students rush out of the classroom in pure chaos. It’s stressful for you and it’s stressful for them. Clearly communicate to students at the beginning of the year what the afternoon and dismissal routine will be. Determine the order that students will get up to get their book bags, what their desk area should look like before they leave and what they’ll need to take home each day.
There usually isn’t as much time in the afternoon as their is in the morning when students arrive, but having something for students to work on it still a good idea. I like to have students complete activities such as Math Color By Number sheets or any unfinished work during this time.
Congratulations on your new role as a teacher! Yes, it may feel overwhelming at the start, but know that you are playing the part in shaping so many lives everyday! Your role as a teacher is an invaluable one and that’s something you should never forget. I hope you’ve found some helpful advice as a new teacher here in this post. You can click each of the images below to grab some of the resources mentioned above.
