Your school year may have already started, but there are still some things to solidify a strong beginning. It’s never too late to implement these ideas!
- Have a filing system that categorizes your information by classes.
- Greet your students at the door so they know you’re excited, you’re prepared, and you’re in charge.
- Frustrated that your students are wasting time finding a place to sit? Have a seating arrangement in place before your students ever enter the room. It creates less disruption, especially if the seating chart is posted on the overhead screen as they walk in. If you don’t want assigned seats, make sure your students can get seated as effortlessly as possible.
- If you can, send a quick note home to your students as soon as possible—especially if you have a particular home base group or small group that you’ll be responsible for through the year. Send a postcard or an email with a brief note saying you’re excited that they’re in your class and that it’s going to be a great year. That gives you an early connection with the students and their families. It also opens the lines of communication in case something later in the year warrants a phone call home—or they need to contact you.
- Continue to reinforce your classroom rules. But keep the list small and manageable. For example, “Respect” is a one-word rule that covers nearly everything.
- Avoid referring to students’ mothers and fathers; today, family can be defined in a variety of ways.
- Smile…even though it’s not Thanksgiving yet. We’ve all heard the idea that teachers shouldn’t smile until Thanksgiving; don’t take it literally. There’s no need to scowl. Instead, the real intent of that saying is for you to be ready to manage your class as needed. As for smiling, give it a try. It will help you and your students feel a little more comfortable in the first days of the semester as you all get to know each other.