Tips for New Teachers: Back to School

by Judith Aguilar

As a brand new teacher, setting up your new classroom and preparing for that first day of school can be an emotional roller coaster. You’re excited to meet your students and you’re brimming with new ideas, yet you also feel a little nervous and don’t want to forget anything important. It’s easy to begin with the most obvious needs, and you’ve probably already been obsessing about how you’ll set up your room, prepare the seating arrangements, what to put up on your walls, and the organization of your teaching materials and supplies. These are all significant, but perhaps the most essential element to consider when preparing for the new school year is classroom management. A good plan should include not only rules and consequences, but also routines and procedures. Setting these daily, weekly, and monthly routines are a must to keep you as well as your students on the track to success.

Of course you already realize that you must take grade level into consideration as you create your classroom management plan. Not surprisingly, my first experience teaching middle school was vastly different from my first experience teaching 5^th grade – the middle school students were measurably more mature than 5^th graders. I quickly discovered, however, that even the older students still need plenty of structure. I learned this the hard way when I jumped in expecting my middle schoolers to take notes and complete an assignment on the first day, when in retrospect I wish I would have approached them like I did with my 5^th graders by doing a hands-on, getting-to-know you activity.* No matter what their ages, students benefit from having classroom leaders, love rewards, and need to know that you care. The more clearly you can communicate expectations, the better! Deadline reminders on the whiteboard as well as their student planners, a designated place for handouts, and an easily accessible classroom calendar help students feel more confident in knowing what the should be doing and when they will be tested.

Finally, although the first day is central to setting the stage for the year, it is the entire first four to six weeks when you’ll teach your students the classroom rules, procedures and routines that will help keep you, and them, sane. Create the structure, be consistent, follow through, and establish a safe learning environment for your students.

*An introductory activity can be something as simple as a gallery walk of the curriculum they will be learning in the new school year.  You might include diagrams, pictures of well-known scientists, illustration of a concept, or maybe even some formulas you might be using.  Give them an empty list and ask them to go to each picture and write down what significance the picture has for your class.  For example, you might have a picture up of Isaac Newton or of an atom. This can give you an idea of what prior knowledge students have coming in to the classroom and you can observe student behavior. This type of activity can also help you establish the expectations for group activities and their parameters, such as noise level and movement.

Judith Aguilar is a science teacher in the Long Beach Unified School District and a member of CSTA.

Powered By DT Author Box

Written by Judith Aguilar

Judith Aguilar is a science teacher in the Long Beach Unified School District, serves on the CSTA Publications Committee, and is a member of CSTA.