NWR - first day of teaching is coming up...

In 3 weeks I will be starting my first day of teaching EVER! (of course not including subbing and student teaching!)

I am getting SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nervous! Any words of wisdom from all you current teachers or even anyone who knows what teachers go through would be helpful!

Don't be TOO nice or they'll eat you alive but DO be yourself.
Try to stay organized, it makes everything easier & it's less stressful if you can be planned for a few days ahead of time too.
Don't take everything too seriously or you'll be miserable, just do the best you can.
Good luck, I'm sure you'll be a great teacher

I'm not a teacher, but I do work with children, and the best advice I've ever been given is this:

Don't take it personally. If you let them get to you, you're done.

Whatever they say, or do - don't let it get you down. It's not you, it's them :) No matter how great you are, there will be kids that don't love you, and it's totally ok.

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Posted by KSquared

Don't take it personally. If you let them get to you, you're done.

Whatever they say, or do - don't let it get you down. It's not you, it's them :) No matter how great you are, there will be kids that don't love you, and it's totally ok.

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This is totally true. Also, stay organized and always follow through on things that you say or policies that you put in place.

Good Luck!

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Posted by dannisayz

Give 'em hell and don't smile at them till Thanksgiving.

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Posted by queenbean

In 3 weeks I will be starting my first day of teaching EVER! (of course not including subbing and student teaching!)

I am getting SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nervous! Any words of wisdom from all you current teachers or even anyone who knows what teachers go through would be helpful!

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Stay calm..they sense nervous people LOL Always remember that you are the adult, that helps a lot.

Be yourself, but be your strict-self. Let them know you are the rule-setter and that they must follow it. Give them definite consequences if they break a rule....always follow through with that or they will control you.

Let them in on the fact that they all have a 100 right now and that it is up to them to keep it there. Don't say, 'I'm collecting and grading homework EVERY night', unless you REALLY do it. The very first time you DON'T do it, your kids will say, 'Eh, she's not serious'.

Always remember that no matter what age it is that you are teaching, they are kids! Kids make mistakes and are learning from you....model what you want to see. If you are organized, they will be too. If you follow through with your rules, they'll abide by them. If you show them love, they will show you love. You can create your own 'monster' if you know what I mean.

Keep EVERYTHING on paper and follow-up with anything you have to with students, chairpeople, your principal and the parents. People want to see a reliable teacher who has everything under control.

Lastly, it is OK to cry AT HOME if you need to let it out. Do not let the kids see you cry....they will feed on your weakness. You WILL have to cry at some point, or at many points. It seems overwhelming at first BUT it gets SO much better, I swear!!!

Lots of luck to you! Let us know how it goes!

What grade are you teaching by the way?

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Posted by cds58019

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Posted by dannisayz

Give 'em hell and don't smile at them till Thanksgiving.

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Some people wait unitl Christmas

First off, I have to say the advice already given was pretty much spot on so far!!!

I'll just add a few...

1 - Get a filing cabinet. A good one. You'll need it; I've never seen as many papers in my life as I have during the school years I've taught!

2 - There's something I learned my first year of teaching that wasn't kid related, and that was to keep a low profile with colleagues. Don't be rude or anything, but don't get too invested in your interactions with anyone; keep it professional. There are always gossips in a building and I find it's best to stay far, FAR away from that your first year!! Focus on the kids!

3 - It may be a good idea to ask some of your grade colleagues if you could observe them. I did this on my first year and got a lot of really great ideas (some of which were so second nature to them that they didn't even think of telling me about them; I just saw them in observation), and they were more than willing to share them with me. People who have years of experience can help you in so many ways!!

4 - As for the kids, I'd say it's hard to tell how you should be around them without seeing the group. There are some classes that you can be more relaxed around and with whom you won't have to be as strict. There are others that you just have to sit on. To help you set this up best, I'd suggest talking to some of the former teachers of the kids and peeking at their record cards. If it seems that there are a few that you can imagine may cause conflict, try to situate them close to you and keep them away from any other children that have been known for behavior problems. This helps to cut as many conflicts as possible before you start and give you the best blank slate that you can have. Also, make your rules and consequences very clear from the beginning and stick to them.

5 - To get to know the kids better, I also give them a very quick HW assignment on the first day of school (if the kids are old enough). I ask them to tell me about three of their happiest days. I sort of keep this as a record, because it reveals to me what makes the kids tick and what kind of incentive I can give them to motivate them to do their best. Say, for instance, one child loved performing on stage - I'd give that child a chance to read his/her report first if he does a good job on it, or if another child loved going to the zoo, I'd recommend books on animals to him/her during the nonfiction unit. It's a simple assignment but it gives me TONS of insight on the kids and I always find that it helps!!!

6 -Make sure you get along very well with your secretary, because she will be a HUGE resource to you!!!

7 - If there are workshops offered, and you're given the chance to go, I'd go. They give a lot of free materials and often give you good ideas and an opportunity to network with other teachers.

8 - Keep telling yourself in moments of frustration that EVERYBODY feels that way sometimes; even veteran teachers become overwhelmed! It doesn't make you insufficient; it just shows that you care about your work and take it seriously enough to be effective!

9 - If you're teaching elementary school and will have one small group of kids, find out what you can about the parents and families of the kids beforehand without getting TOO personal. For instance, it REALLY helps to know which parents are the ultra picky ones who will be up your behind for just about everything; it's always good to enter into those meetings prepared. Don't let any parents intimidate you, because they will TRY to, and if they know you're vulnerable to comments about your limited experience, they'll play that card. You're a professional and don't let any insecure parents tell you otherwise. You'll find a lot more who are nice, anyway - pay more attention to those!

10 - If you're teaching young kids and they get hyper, I like to take a few minutes and just do a quick relaxation exercise. I don't even verbally explain what I'm doing; I just start stretching and gesture for them to follow me. If they start giggling, I shake my head and press my finger to my lips, urging them to keep copying me. It sounds really silly, but sometiems they just have all of this energy and they need an outlet to release it, even if it's just for a few minutes. Then, the last stretch that I do is having them fold their hands above their head and slowly bringing the hands to their laps. Then, I VERY QUIETLY tell them that, now that we're relaxed, it's time for us to focus. I find that it saves me the trouble of raising my voice and it works a lot better.

11 - Master the teacher look. That will ALSO save your voice!

12 - Again, this may work if you have very young kids...I like to set aside some time for them to tell me about their weekend/their interests. I call this 'Chickita Time'. I have a stuffed chick I named Chickita that I pass around for, say, five minutes at the end of the day, and the kids are only allowed to talk when they get the chick. They're prompted with a question that I know they'd want to talk about in the middle of reading or math, like what they're doing over the weekend or the like. This helps me in a few ways. For one, it gives the kids incentive to hold off on unrelated topics during academic periods, because then they'll have nothing to say during Chickita Time. It also helps them practice articulating their ideas in a safe and appealing way, to listen to other people's ideas and to know that I care about them as people - they're not just my victims of test prep torture!!

Sorry, this was insanely long. I hope it helps!!!

Thank you so much everyone!! I will be having a 6th grade special ed class (since many of you wanted to know what grade)

I appreciate everyone's advice so much! but.... now that we're another day closer to the first day, I'm still just as nervous, if not more