getting ready for school

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Home : 2002 : July : 31

getting ready for school
By Julianne

First, I hope you have a principal who isn't overly concerned about your asking questions. After all, how will you know if you don't ask! But do follow the other advice given and ask a teacher or two first. If you still
can't get a satisfactory answer ask the school secretary, then the principal. (It's like following the chain of command.)
Essential items to buy for your classroom depend a great deal on what is already there. Ask to see your room and ask about supplies you may have access to already. Then start filling in the gaps. Hopefully your school will provide basic materials for teaching

reading, math and other subject matter. Ask about copy paper, pencils and other student materials and make a list of things your school doesn't provide. Are you allowed to ask students to bring certain supplies? (We can't, but some schools expect kids to bring their own pencils, notebooks, etc.)

With your own money you'll want to buy borders for your bulletin boards, a few cute educational posters and a couple of fun sets of math manipulatives. Get a good planning book and a couple pairs of good teacher scissors, a good stapler and plenty of dry erase markers if your room has whiteboards. Buy some sticky notes. Now keep a sticky note on your desk and make a running list of other things you find you need as you prepare your classroom and teach your first few days. And don't forget to ask other teachers in your building before you buy stuff. We have six (count them - six) big bottles of rubber cement in our room and would gladly share if any of the new teachers would just ask! Spend extra money on books - teacher books for you, fun student books for your class. Mark them with your name and if you can afford it cover them with clear contact paper.

As to discipline, you're going to have some work to do here. Harry Wong's book "The First Days of School" is a good place to start. There are tons of good discipline ideas on the Classroom Management board here at ProTeacher. In your case I think it would be a good idea to sit your class down on the first or second day of school and have them help you write four or five good general purpose classroom rules. Read and reread these rules in the first few weeks of school and have the students help amend them if they don't work as they should. Remember that students make choices and every choice has a consequence, either good or bad. When students understand that their actions are the basis for your discipline they will begin to learn what behaviors are acceptable and which are not. And believe me when I say it will not go smoothly all the time - it never does, even for teachers who have years and years of experience. So steel yourself and keep trying stuff until you find things that work for you.

Good luck to you and I hope you have a wonderful first year.