We did it!!!! Okay, now I am going to take a little more credit here and go ahead and say that I did it – and you all helped!! After 5 interviews at various schools in Chicago and Philly, I was offered a full-time position with a charter high school in northeast Philadelphia.
The school has block scheduling so at the semester point (January 23rd) students start new courses. This is a huge advantage for me as a new mid-year teacher because although I will be new to the school in January, I will be starting my classes from day one.
I have two blocks of track two 11th grade precalculus and two half blocks of 12th grade remediation/consumer math. I am extremely excited to have both of these courses because I get to have college bound students and most likely non-college bound students. I student taught a section of Business Math for the lowest track of seniors and had a lot of trouble and fun getting to know and work with these students. I also had a lot of disciplinary trouble – but hey, what’s the fun in working in an urban environment if the students won’t keep you on your toes? I am also pumped to work with precalculus students because I want to push myself at challenging students more often and making sure I am contributing to them becoming college successful.
So now, I enter my plea. What do I need to bring to my new classroom? I mean that both physically and emotionally/mentally. What types of things should be on the wall, on my desk? What should be around to keep me organized? What should be photocopied and what types of procedures and routines should we do everyday – at least consistently in the beginning to start (i.e. warm-up/bell work sheets, exit ticket sheets)? What do I say on the first day? Should I have an icebreaker – I saved this post from Kate Nowak a while ago and really enjoyed her idea. What type of paper gradebook system should I use (my friend prints an excel file for the week and uses a clipboard, I was using a floppy binder with a month of grades and filling in…)? Mathy McMatherson offered this link about getting organized with a lot of feedback on these questions as well.
What questions am I forgetting to ask?
And most importantly (obviously).. do I need to change the scope of my blog from a pre-service, cuz folks… I’m a teacher now!
I don’t have any advice because I’ve just began my student teaching, but I just wanted to say Congrats on the job! I look forward to keeping up with your teaching experiences!
Congrats on the job. I wrote this in August on classroom management http://alwaysformative.blogspot.com/2011/08/classroom-management-stuff-for-new.html
Congrats on your job! It’s so exciting (and scary) to be entrusted with students. Here is how my 8th grade math class is setup: http://nicholashussain.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/my-classroom/
Congrats Molly! I wish you all the best in your new job.
OK, I know I’m answering the easiest of all your questions, but I have fallen in love with using an online plan book as I can link documents, power points, GeoGebra files, etc. that I am using that day in class. I use planbookedu.com
I will say, the one day that the internet was down at my school was hell, though, since I couldn’t access my planbook!
@Jason – I actually read this post before and it was extremely helpful, thank you for posting it again here. I used this to help me with some guidelines for my first day of student teaching but as I reread it again there are a lot more relevant and helpful pointers for actual new non-pre service teachers. So thank you!!
@Nick – you think how I think. Which means your blog post is extremely helpful. Thanks for reading and sharing. Appreciate the support.
@Allison – I have never heard of planbookedu.com so thanks for letting me in on that secret.
Thanks everyone. I will be geeking out on all the blog references today and starting to make a list of all the key elements I want to bring along to Ms. P’s new room.
Congratulations on the job! My first advice for what goes on the wall is to put what YOU want there first. You’ll be spending more time in that room than anyone else, so take care of yourself first. If you’re comparable, your kids will be comfortable. As time goes, you’ll change things around as you learn what the kids may want.
I’m huge on routines (I teach low income freshman, so I’m teaching life skill as much as I’m teaching science). I’ve tried everything. Find routines that serve as a good backbone but can contain a variety of activities so kids don’t get bored with minutia. I’ve settled on getting the students to begin a warm up as soon as the tardy bell rings. It’s on the board and the bell start class, not me. It’s beautiful, but it takes some teaching with freshman. Upper class an in a charter school should take to something like that quite easily. And the end of class I’m currently trying to build a 5-10 minute period that’s the same each day: clean-up, return to original seats, reflection, exit task. The reflection and exit task is the part that can change as I choose the different questions and how they’ll answer.
With all that said, just try one system at a time and give it a fair chance. For too many semesters I tried too many strategies at once instead of getting good at one. Go with you favorite that you’ve read about and try to make it yours. Go from there and make minor tweaks as you go.
Congratulations!
One suggestion for a first-day ice breaker. I would have my students write down the answer to five simple questions:
1. What do you love?
2. What do you fear?
3. What are you good at?
4. What are you not good at?
5. What is one thing you wish your teachers knew about you?
That offered a great resource throughout the year for me as I tried to meet them as individuals. To model, I would share with each class the answers to my 5.
A few ideas:
I only put a couple math comics on the wall, and then fill it with student work as quickly as possible. I have a student art corner- ask them to contribute!
Some things to have for kids/for your sanity: http://crstn85.blogspot.com/2011/10/organization-system.html
Some great resources for grading/planning:
http://crstn85.blogspot.com/2011/08/technology-for-teachers.html
Start with routines you’re comfortable with and add to them as you go. Discuss what it means to be respectful and any other rules/guidelines you want. And… keep posting here and on twitter!
Congrats, Molly!! You deserve it. Can’t wait to follow your many adventures. Miss your funniness.