For+New+Teachers

=For New Teachers=

Ask any teacher and they'll agree: Teaching is the toughest job you'll ever love. Like all things, getting through the beginning phase of teaching can be difficult. Many teachers quit within the first three years. If you're just starting out, TeacherNet is here to give you the advice and resources you need to make your first years as a teacher a success. Veteran teachers can provide tips on every subject from classroom management to what works best to get that funny smell out of your room and everything in between. Even if it's just stories of other teachers' first years, you'll see that no one was born teaching and that we all need some help sometimes.

Sometimes, teachers get only a last minute notice about their classes. If you are a new teacher hired late in the summer, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by all you have to do. Here's my personal Top 10 of things you should try to accomplish on your teacher prep day or as soon as possible. It's not meant to be authoritative. Ask ten different teachers, you'll get ten different top 10 things to do.

Top Ten Things to Do on Teacher Prep Day

 * 1) Find the teacher's workroom
 * 2) Find the copy room
 * 3) Find out how you get extra supplies (paper, staples, post-its, etc)
 * 4) Introduce yourself to the secretaries...nicely
 * 5) Introduce yourself to your department head, ask if there's anything you need to know
 * 6) Find one or two teachers at your grade level and ask if you can come to them for questions during the year
 * 7) Create an attendance binder with printouts of your students' names
 * 8) Create a grades binder with printouts of your students' names
 * 9) Prepare first week of lessons, include details about rules, consequences, and late work; be clear about your expectations
 * 10) Relax! Realize that you're going to look back on your first year as a teacher and wish you did things differently. No one's perfect, not after one year, not after ten, so lighten up and have fun with your job.