Forum Posts Updated

Question: I came into my classroom and I don't have the furniture or supplies that I need for my first year of teaching. What can I do to get the stuff I need?

BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR

Response: Consider using a ‘Going Home’ slip (see Resources) and have parents/guardians complete the information for the first day of school. Once you have that information you can post it in your classroom for future reference, or continue to give the students the slip until it becomes common practice. That way, the student can approach any staff member with the paper, and the staff member can see where the student is supposed to be.

Question: I have a lot of questions about how things work at my school. I don't know who to ask for help. And I don't want to look needy.

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Response: For getting furniture, try a custodian. They will know if there is a storage room in the school somewhere with unused furniture, or if another teacher is getting rid of furniture from their classroom. Most of the time you don't need to seek permission from anyone else and can go directly to the custodian to ask for help. If that doesn't work, or if you need materials for teaching, you can ask the school secretary or office manager. They will know if there is a budget for you to purchase supplies, if supplies are stored elsewhere in the school, or who else you can talk to get what you need for teaching.

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Question: I want to plan out my school year but I don't know the dates for special events, half days, conferences, etc. Where can I find that information without having to ask another teacher, again.

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Response: If you have contact information from another teacher at your school, preferably at your grade level, it is recommended that you start there. You should know that all teachers have had their own first year of teaching, and they know exactly what it is like to be in your shoes. For this reason, most of them are more than willing to help. You can also ask your administrator if you have been assigned a mentor teacher. If so, that person is most likely getting compensated in some way for that work, so it is literally their job to help you. Ask them anything!

Question: I am staring at a bunch of blank walls in my new classroom. How can I fill them?

Response: You can start with the school district calendar that should be available on the school website. This will have the days off, and might even include special events such as parent conferences. Most schools also have a master calendar somewhere (usually in the school office). You can check there for other important dates. And, as always, you can ask a fellow and/or mentor teacher what other dates you might need to know about.

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6.19.26

Question: What should I do on the first day of school?

Response: Put things up that you can leave up all year, if needed. A student showcase for posting student work is recommended. You can put up a space for each student using a 14 x 14 piece of construction paper, which will allow for students work to be displayed horizontally or vertically. You just need to swap out (of have students swap out their work) from time to time.

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Question: I am worried about not knowing students’ names on the first days of school. Should I have them wear a name tag?

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Response: Instead of using a sticker name tag that will be thrown away, you might want to invest in a lanyard and name card holder set for your class. You can make a name tag that can include other information, such as class number, student ID number, even going home (or bus number) for younger students. You can then use them all year long.

Question: I teach young students and I am not sure how to make sure they get to the right place after school during the first week of school. Suggestions?

Response: You should make an effort to have your students get to know you. Consider playing a game in which they can guess things about you (see ‘Meet the Teacher’ game on the Resource page) and also plan activities that they can do to get to know each other. There are several ideas on the Resource page including ‘Find Someone Who’ and ‘This or That?’ Reviewing classroom expectations also lets students know what is expected of them.

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Response: Keep a list of your students with the school designated fire drill materials (usually cards to show if all your students are present). You can do a quick count of students, and then go through the list if you do not have all your students when you count.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT AND ROUTINES

Question: Fire drills stress me out. How do I make sure I have all my kids accounted for?

Question: I don’t like assigning homework. But many of my families expect it. Do I need to have homework?

Response: You should first check to see if your school has a policy for homework that you need to follow. If not, consider open-ended homework such as reading time, writing a story with spelling words, completing a book report, or recording use of math in real-life. If students have a choice, they are usually more invested in the homework.

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Question: I can't figure out a good system for students using the bathroom. Students are in and out of the classroom, and I am having trouble keeping track of where they are and how often they are leaving the room.

Response: For younger students, you can have a place for students to hang their name or student number (using clothespins or magnets) if they are leaving the room. You can then look to see who is gone from the room at any one time. For older students, you can use a sign-out sheet for every time they leave the room. If you have a space for the time, you can see how often and for how long they are gone. A sign-in sheet is available in the resources tab here, and on our Teachers Pay Teachers site here.

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Response: Some things that you do in the day are always the same (such as lunch time). You can create a blank template (or use the Weekly Schedule template in the Resources) and fill in those recurring events. That will help you block your lesson times, and you can then simply fill in what you are doing in those lesson times each week.

LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION

Question: Writing a lesson plan for my entire day every week is unrealistic. How can I make it easier?

Question: How do I write a learning objective?

Response: Learning objectives must have three things: Student behavior (what you want the students to be able to do at the end of the lesson), testing situation (how and under what conditions learning will be assessed) and the performance criteria (what will you consider mastery of the learned objective.

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Question: Should I do centers in my classroom?

Response: Having centers, even with older students, allows you to work with small groups rather than having whole group instruction for every lesson. Try breaking your students into 4 groups and have one group working on independent assignments, one group silent reading, and one group on computers or playing learning games, then you will have a group to yourself. You can rotate each day or through all four centers each day.

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