Starting Out
- Each year that you teach, pick one curriculum area in which you want to improve your teaching.
- Keep a balance. The best lesson plans are well thought out and detailed, but can be modified the instant the teacher sees that students are not grasping the concept.
- Establish order, routine, and consistency from day one.
Setting Up The Classroom
- Never allow students to be in a classroom unattended.
- Be prepared to move students and desks during the first few weeks as you get to know the children.
- Always keep a desk and set of books ready to go for a new student.
- Bulletin boards should be up-to-date and reflect what’s going on in your classroom. Include books written in other languages to meet the needs of your ESOL students.
Grading
- Not all work needs to be graded, but all work should be looked at and corrected by you
- Only the teacher should distribute papers containing a student’s grade
- No matter how you are asked to record the grades, you should always keep a back-up grading sheet for each subject in its own folder.
- Have a system to track missed work for absent students.
Behavior Management
- Display photos along with written class rules as a visual reminder of the rule
- Follow the three C’s for behavior management: be clear, be concise, and have consequences
- Having set rules and consequences doesn’t make you mean, it makes you fair
- Always check you school’s policy when designing rewards and consequences as part of your behavior management system
- Make sure parents are aware and on board with your behavior management system. It will cut down on problems if you have their support
- Once the consequence has been served, don’t bring up the incident again
- There is a difference between humiliating a child and providing a child with time out to think about his actionsKnow what rules you want for your classroom before the year begins
Interacting with Parents
- Respond to parent concerns by the end of the 2nd day
- Send out conference information to parents at least two weeks ahead of time
- Sit next to instead of across from parents during meetings. It’s less confrontational
- Children experiencing problems at home often find comfort and security in the routines of school
- Document all conversations, even the casual ones, with parents
- Don’t assume you know all the answers. Listen to what the parent’s have to say.