When a new teacher walks into her classroom to prepare for the first day of school, it is an exciting and overwhelming experience. This classroom will be the home and office for a new teacher for the school year. Making those first days of teacher preparation time count is important. Here are some tips for what to do to be ready for the first day of school.
Organizing the Classroom for the Start of School
While there is a lot of in-depth organization that needs to happen, a new teacher needs to first get a handle on some basic classroom organization. First, decide on the layout for the classroom. Where will the teacher’s desk go? Where will the classroom library be displayed? Where will the student’s desks go?
Learn more about classroom organization.
Now is not the time to organize the books in the classroom library or to decide on a specific arrangement for the student desks, just get a basic classroom layout. With a basic layout working much like an outline, classroom organization will begin to fill in the missing pieces.
When deciding on classroom layout for the start of school, think through each movement that students will make on a daily basis. Think through high traffic areas and ensure that items such as the pencil sharpener and trash can are easily accessible without clogging up movement in the area. Once this is completed, the next step is to think about student desk placement in the room.
Read about student desk arrangement in the classroom.
Basic Understanding of the Curriculum
First, a new teacher needs to understand some basics of the curriculum and begin writing lesson plans for the first week of school. Remember that the first week will be a lot of introduction and review. This is not the time to teach much information, but a time to assess what the students already know. Understanding what to teach each day will come with time.
Find out how to write a curriculum map.
For a new teacher, this is also the time to get used to what a lesson plan looks like and how to use one in real life. Writing lessons for a college class or even for a student teaching experience is very different than writing a lesson plan to be used in the first real teaching job. Knowing the principal’s requirements will help, but a new teacher should plan on spending quite a bit of time before the students arrive that first day familiarizing herself with the curriculum and writing some basic lesson plans.
Learn how to write a lesson plan.
Being prepared for that first day of school can be a time intensive and nerve-wracking time for every new teacher. Work each day to accomplish one goal, and keep a list of additional tasks that need to be completed. With a basic organization of the classroom and a basic understanding of the curriculum, any new teacher will be well on her way towards a successful first year of teaching.
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Jennifer Wagaman - Jennifer is a mother of 2 and has both public, private and administrative experience in the education field.
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