All New Teachers Need to Do This to Survive Their First-Year of Teaching
The first year you began teaching can be beyond exciting. However, there’s a huge learning curve. If you want to know some of the things that you absolutely need your first-year teaching, then read on.
Number 1: Books to Read
Before you ever step foot into your classroom, there are some books that I would recommend that you read to give you a head start.
One of those books is Perspective!: The Secret to Student Motivation and Success by Tommie Mabry. Dr. Tommie Mabry is a native of Jackson, Mississippi. He led a trouble childhood. He got into a lot of trouble. Mabry was expelled from several schools. He was breaking into houses and doing all types of terrible things.
Luckily, he finally met someone that helped him see the light. His whole world changes, and his life takes a totally different path. Today, Tommie Mabry is an extremely successful man. He is an educator and motivational speaker who gets to travel all over the country sharing his knowledge and his story. In his book, Tommie Mabry explains how our perspective as educators has an important impact on our students.
I was fortunate enough to get to hear and meet Dr. Mabry at my school. And, he was fantastic.
Another book that you need to read is The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong. This book is an oldie but goodie. This book outlines the importance of taking control of your classroom from day one by teaching your students procedures.
Wong included the story of a young teacher who quickly and easily takes control of her classroom with nothing more than a hand signal. All I could think about was how baby ducks walk in a little line behind their mothers. And, I can remember thinking, “Wow! I would love to be able to do that”. I made it a goal of mine to be able to do the same thing.
I wanted to know what this teacher’s secret formula was. I read the book and discovered the magic trick. What is the trick, you ask? You train your students within those first few days of school.
I’ve used the techniques that I learned from reading this book throughout my teaching career, and they have worked for me.
Over the years, I have used signals and codes with my students. They have learned them so well that I don’t have to say a word. All I do is give my students a signal, and they know exactly what that signal means. Even my former students who have graduated and have kids of their own remember what “the signal” means.
Another book that you want to read is Rigor in Your Classroom by Barbara R. Blackburn. In this book, she discusses various activities that you can do in your classroom. She explains how rigorous each activity is.
Let me tell you right now, the word rigor is a word that you will hear over and over again. Rigor, rigor, rigor. So, if you’re trying to figure out if an activity you have in mind is rigorous enough, please make sure that you check this book. I also have a series of YouTube videos that discuss rigor. So, be sure to check those out as well. I’ll leave a link in the description below.
Number 2: Welcome Letter
Send your parents a welcome letter either right before school starts or during an Open House that your school hosts.
What should you include in a Welcome Letter?
In the letter, introduce yourself. Let your parents know who you are. Tell them what you teach. Give them a little background information. This can include where you graduated college from, where you are originally from if you’re new to the area, and your office hours/planning time. Tell them when you’re available for parent conferences so you won’t get bombarded with parents during your planning time every day. Outline your expectations for your class and your students.
Regular Parental Contact
Contact your parents. This is imperative. It will keep you out of a lot of trouble, and it will help improve your students’ performances in class and on tests. By contacting your parents, you are ensuring that you are protected. The key to this is documentation.
Always document when you talk to parents. Document what you said, what they said, who you talked to, and the time. Document everything as if you are going to court, and you have to get up on the witness stand. And, be sure to keep this documentation. Even if you have to turn in a log to the office, be sure to keep your own copy. I would advise you to keep your log for at least 5 years because you never know when something may come up a few years down the road and you need this.
There are programs now that many schools can use to keep up with parental contract like School Status. However, keep your own log!
Make sure that not all of your parental contact is bad. In fact, you should not be calling parents just to tell them bad things about their child. Who wants to hear that?
Contact your parents with some good things too. Find something good about each of your students. Then, share those good things with your parents. I recommend making contact with your parents weekly.
If you can’t contact them once a week, then definitely get in contact with them biweekly. I know it can be hard to contact all of your parents when you teach high school, and you have more than 40 or 50 students. However, make an effort to contact all of your parents once every two weeks.
Contact Calendars
How do you keep up with which parents you contact? How do you know which parents to contact next? Use a contact calendar.
This can be a digital calendar/planner. It can be the calendar on your watch, or this can be an actual physical calendar where you write out your students’ names and the day on which you plan to contact them. You can opt to rotate your parental contact, or you can contact the same parents on the same day at the same time. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that you contact your parents on a regular basis.
Forms of Parental Contact
What are the different forms of parental contact? Parental contact can take the form of newsletters, emails, text messages, and phone calls. All of these constitute parental contact.
You build those key relationships when you contact your parents. This is how I gained the trust and respect of my parents. By contacting them and keeping them abreast of what was going on in my class, they knew I wasn’t just there for a paycheck. (Paycheck, right 🙄. We all know teachers don’t make much money.) I have parents that I still talk to and stay in contact with right now, and their child is grown.
Things to Discuss
What are some things that you want to mention when you make contact with your parents?
- Objective for the week’s lesson or thematic unit
- Upcoming Assignments or Projects
- Skills that they can work on at home
- Homework assignments
Let your parents know what objectives you’re covering that week in class. Let them know what activities you have planned. Discuss any other concerns that you may have or any important information. Definitely tell them what homework assignments or major projects are due. Be sure that you include any upcoming events like field trips or celebrations like Awards Day.
Number 3: Support Systems
As you begin your first-year teaching, you need someone to help cheer you on, keep you accountable, and help you keep up with all the things that you need to do. Teaching can get to be hectic even for a veteran teacher. And, you’re going to need help. You’re going to need some support.
You can hit having those emotional cheerleaders. Make sure you have a support system in place as you begin your journey as a new teacher.
Number 4: Schedule Time for You
Make sure that you schedule some time for rest and relaxation. It doesn’t matter how busy you get. I don’t care what’s going on. Schedule some time for you. Make yourself, your family, and your goals a priority.
Number 5: Don’t Take Work Home!
Don’t take that work home. I did it for about 20 years before the light really came on. Don’t take that work home with you. Be sure that you leave those papers on that desk and go home. Don’t spend your Christmases doing paperwork. Don’t spend your Spring Break doing paperwork. There’ll be time to grade those papers later. You’ll regret it if you do. Don’t allow your job to intrude upon your home life. Enjoy the time you have at home with your family. Enjoy your hobbies.
Years ago, you could always justify doing school work at home because you had your summers off. Well, times are changing. And, year-round school is looming. The time you have away from school is shortening. So, don’t waste another minute dragging those papers home.
Good luck with your new career. And, happy, happy teaching!
Books:
Perspective by Tommie Mabry : https://amzn.to/3V0mGBd
Rigor in Your Classroom: A Toolkit for Teachers: https://amzn.to/3Ao3ML8
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: 30th Anniversary Edition (The Covey Habits Series) https://amzn.to/3Xpm4Vl
THE First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher, 5th Edition (Book & DVD): https://amzn.to/3Ll3s6a
Other videos to watch: