Name Plates

Let me save you a whole bunch of time with guiding students to their assigned seat.  This idea is an oldy but goodie:  nameplates.  This beautiful idea was inspired by my college professor Mrs. Test.  She gave all of us teacher students a piece of card stock which we were to fold "hot dog" style.  We wrote our first name as large as we could and had our names facing the direction of the professor so she could learn our names.  At the beginning of each class, she had these name plates on a table, and when we arrived, were to grab our individual name plate.  If any name plate were still on her table, she knew these students were absent.  Also, a book I described in a previous blog post called A First-Year's Teacher's Guidebook by Bonnie Williamson mentions this idea too.

Now, this is how I use these.  Once I receive my class list, I buy enough colorful card stock for each of my students, fold "hot dog," and I write each of their names on one.  I use these to assign seats.

Now I know there are many ideas with assigning seats.  These are a few ideas of what I have seen...

1. Writing students names on the desk with permanent markers.
2. Buying cute name plates, laminating them, and taping them to the desk.
3. Buying cute name plates, laminating them, and use VELCRO to stick them to the desk.
4. Assigning each student a number and taping this number to the desk.
5. Assigning each child a number and placing it on the back of their chair.

I feel like creating name plates saves the teacher much headache when changing the seating arrangement.  (Which you know we must do at the beginning of the year since most of us do not know our students at first.)  I have seen a teacher use the number 4 listed above.  Everyday during the first week of school, this teacher would move the whole desk around to tweak the seating. But then there is the problem if you have two or more classes of students.  What if in the first class, the number 1 student works well with the number 12 student, but in the second class, these kids do not work well beside each other?

I think you get my point.  With the name plate idea, all you have to do is move the name plates around.  

Please note that to do this, you need to have your seating chart written down or memorized since some kids will try to switch your name plates around so they may sit by who they would like.  This has not been an issue with me.  I just simply tell the student that I know they swapped the name plate and they need to fix it. Only one or two tries will ensure students that you know where they are supposed to go.  Hope this helps!

Highlights of My Favorite Classroom Management Books

When you are a fairly "green" teacher, everyone has a book they recommend for classroom management, and I am no exception to this rule.  I decided to create a list of some of my favorite classroom management books I have read and give you my favorite topics and ideas from each one.  So here we go.

1. The First Days of School:  How to be an Effective Teacher by Harry Wong:  I was given a copy of this book my first year of teaching.  I taught 5th grade math at a magnet school.  This book is filled with concepts and ideas that will help any new teacher get started into their new profession.  One of my most favorite concepts in this book is the "First Day of School Script."  This concept allows the teacher to stay on topic throughout the first day of school.  Also, this book allows the reader to go beyond the chapter found here.  Also, I love how this book encourages teachers to greet students warmly at the door assigning each child a number where they may find their desk easily and begin the assignment.  I am only scratching the surface, you really must check this book out!
   
2. Tools for Teaching by Fred Jones:  My second year of teaching, I moved to a tougher school due to budget cuts at my first school.  Now I would be teaching 8th graders Pre-Algebra and this district adopted this book.  My favorite concepts in this book includes what it looks like when you "mean business" and how to arrange your seats so you are only within a certain amount of steps from every child.  Also, this book offers whole class incentives which I think is absolutely brilliant.  In fact, Dr. Jones's PAT (Preferred Activity Time) saved my life and this was the only thing that allowed me any control over these 8th graders.  Another item that I use constantly are what Dr. Jones called a VIP which is  Visual Instructional Plan.  Sometimes we refer to these as anchor chars.  These show the lesson in pictures or one step at a time.  This along with other strategies allow us to eliminate those "helpless hand raisers."  Dr. Jones has many more awesome strategies in his book and is also a must for any teacher or principal's collection.   
   
3. The Everything New Teacher Book by Melissa Kelly:  This book is very matter or fact and really breaks down what teachers need to know before beginning work as a teacher.  This is the author that let me know that is okay to send a student to the office on the first day of school.  Also, Ms. Kelly lets the readers know that student behaviors start small and if they go ignored then they will escalate.  Now this might be common sense to some, but this statement was eye opening for me.  One thing that I struggle with is being consistent.  I am horrible at consistency.  Ms. Kelly boldly states, " Students do not respect inconsistent teachers."  These are just a few things that stuck with me from this reading, but this book explains high expectations better than any author I have read so far.  Also, this book discusses maximizing instruction time, assessments and grading, high-stakes testing, just to name a few.  The title does not lie.
   
4. A First-Year Teacher's Guidebook: An Educational Recipe for Success by Bonnie Williamson:  This book has fantastic ideas.  Like I stated earlier, I am the most inconsistent person in the world.  This book suggests having a procedure that starts the morning every single day.  I know I followed this closely by having morning meetings.  When I did not have a morning meeting one day, my students were lost.  So I now stick to the morning procedure to allow my students to get off on the right foot each day.  Another item that I struggled with as a new teacher is how to have an effective class meeting.  This book has a whole chapter of how to achieve this task.  This chapter guided me to teach my students how to handle issues in a civil manner.  I also learned that students may help choose topics for a class meeting to go on the class meeting agenda.  This book is full of tips and strategies.
   
    
5. The Teacher's Survival Handbook by Martha Ainsworth:  I saved my favorite book for last.  This book is written by a Special Education teacher and has very practical strategies for managing difficult kids.  Mrs. Ainsworth writes in a way that you feel you are sitting beside her and she is talking to you.  All through this book she reflects and shares stories of her personal experiences as a teacher.  This book really stresses that you are positive, kind, and respectful to your students.  What really sets this book apart from the others is Mrs. Ainsworth does not just give theories on how to prevent student behavior, but she gives specific examples of how to handle scenarios that all teachers might find themselves.  For example, what if you lose control of your whole class?  She reflects on a time when she was required to test over one hundred students that were off task upon her entrance to this testing sight.  I will say, she did get these children focused on what she wanted them to do.  Or what to do if all the kids start dropping their books during instruction?  She also includes fun activities that will keep students engaged while learning.  I cannot say enough good things about The Teacher's Survival Handbook.  Also, it is small enough to fit in your purse.  This book inspired a freebie on how to follow directions.  I used this idea to create flip cards of how to solve long division problems.
    You may find this free item here.
   

These are my top five favorite books on classroom management.  One thing I noticed that every single book addressed was consistency and high expectations.  I hope you found this helpful.  Please, check out these books!  They are spectacular! Do not forget to get your freebie!  You may also get this at my teacherspayteacher store here.

 

The Don'ts of Being a First Year Teacher

Being a 1st year teacher is one of the most stressful situations I have ever been a part of.  I quickly learned what to do and what not to do.  I wish my education courses would have discussed these situations further.  Before I begin, let me give you a short background of my personality.  I am super friendly, go with the flow, hates confrontation and asking for help, but likes to please everyone.  I will not say anything about anyone that I would not have the confidence to say to their face.  I am also really shy when it comes to meeting new people.  So I decided to create a list of the mistakes that I made the first year.  I want this post to help first year teachers so they do not have to learn the hard way like I did.

1. Don't trust any of your fellow teachers at first.  I was standing alone in my empty classroom two weeks before school was to start and I felt lost.  My mentor teacher (We will call her Mrs. Yellow.) burst into my classroom smiling ready to help.  She was completely kind and seemed extremely knowledgeable, and I felt so blessed to have someone so ready to help me.  As the year progressed, I noticed that many of the other faculty did not think too kindly of Mrs. Yellow; this is always a red flag, but I don't ever judge people negatively until they give me a reason to think this.  It turns out, Mrs. Yellow displayed many acts of insecurity even though she was incredible in her teaching abilities.  I wonder if she would have had more confidence, maybe she would not have taken so much out on me.  Mrs. Yellow would tell my principal things I would say, but she had twisted them to make them completely horrible.  For example:  I might have said, "Mrs. Principal was really tough on me today, but I know she is trying to help me."  Mrs. Yellow's version would be that I called the principal the "B" word.  So when you start at a school, of course be nice to everyone, but do NOT share any personal opinions about anyone to anyone.  Also, if a group of teachers starts talking about another faculty member, quietly walk away.   
2. Don't wait until the last minute to create lesson plans for your first month of school.  I know you are probably thinking, "Why in the world would I do that before my classroom is set up?"  Just hear me out.   I know that as educator students, we learn that we must teach rules and procedures the first and second weeks of school.  I did this to some extent:  lining up, walking down the hall, sitting at the cafeteria table, etc.  The reason I suggest having your first month planned is so you will know exactly which procedures teach.  So if your plans include working with partners, you need to teach students to work with partners.  Also, if you are doing a lot of group work, you will need to teach that.  If you are going to have students go on a scavenger hunt, create a beginning of year scavenger so you may teach this procedure.  So after teaching four years, I had a light bulb moment that I need to create lesson plans first; then I will know how to create lesson plans for the first week of school and I will know which procedures to teach so I will have a more productive year.  Also, when you are ready to set up your classroom, you will know which desk arrangements will be most appropriate for your lessons.
3. Don't neglect to call parents.  My first year teaching, I was terrified to call parents to tell them something negative about their child.  I dreaded it so badly, and I would feel sick to my stomach any time I would make a call.  Unfortunately, I did not call parents until the end of my first year teaching.  Two different times, I had one of the teacher assistants come to my classroom and tell me to go to the principal's office.  That knot would form in my stomach and I felt like a child again.  When arriving to the office, I had a parent upset with me about something I did not know anyone would get upset about.  (I learned quick.)  So I learned to call parents at the beginning of the year to say hello, and give them my cell phone number so they could call me instead of going straight to the principal.  Whatever the parent was upset about was usually a misunderstanding, and we could take care of the situation easily.  Many teachers do not like parents to have their phone numbers but I prefer it.  I like that parents can call or text me if they have a quick question or problem.  I have never had a surprise parent-teacher conference since then.  
4. Don't forget about your gifted or advanced students.  One of my biggest regrets as a first year teacher was not growing my most advanced student.  Let's call him Joesph.  Joseph came to me on an 8th grade level when he was in the 5th grade.  When he left me, he was still on an 8th grade level.  Make sure you identify these students immediately and plan enrichment activities so these students will grow.  I would even progress monitor these students like you do Tier II and Tier III students.  These babies need as much help and opportunities as the rest of your students.  
5. Don't discuss discipline issues in front of your students.  If you have a student that is misbehaving, make sure you speak with them privately since many times kids will try to argue so they can entertain their other classmates.  Do not fall into this trap because it will get worse as the year goes on.  
6. Don't forget to document EVERYTHING.  Anytime you have a disagreement with a student, teacher, or other faculty member document in a notebook that is private.  My first year that I had taught, my principal was a bully.  Let's call her Mrs. Orange.  She did not want to hire me from the get go because she had someone else in mind for this position.  The superintendent, took some of her power away by hiring me.  I felt like she made it her mission to get rid of me.  (Please know, that I usually do not have problems with anyone, but for some reason Mrs. Orange hated me.)  Every week, she would pull me into her office and tell me what a horrible teacher I was, and every week I would leave her office almost in tears.  I wish I would have documented these instances.  Not saying I would have told on her, but it would have been nice to have a fresh and accurate record for things she would have said to me.  Mrs. Orange would also speak negatively about the superintendent which I wish I would have documented since this is extremely unprofessional.  But the importance of documenting this will give you a clearer picture of the situation.  Later, when you are not so upset, you may read and reflect on what you may do to make this situation better.  Also, if you have a student that frequently breaks classroom rules, you will have a record to bring to parent-teacher conferences.
7. Don't neglect to give pretests for each unit you teach.  Like I stated earlier, my principal at the time, Mrs. Orange, would bring me into her office and tell me what a horrible teacher I was.  If I would have just given a pre-test, she would have seen how much my students had actually grown.  I could have showed her that this is where these students were before I taught, and this is where they are now.  Just know, that people in the education world, respond to data.  If you have data to support you, you will be okay.  Now, I am not saying that the only reason to create pre-tests is to prove that you are effective.  Pre-tests are wonderful tools to guide your instruction.  Also, if your students do not score much better on the post test, you know that you need to teach the skill differently.  Every teacher should give pre-tests and post tests.  But being able to prove that you taught a skill effectively if you need to is an added bonus.    
8. Don't be afraid to send misbehaving students to the office the first day or first week of school.  Where I have made mistakes was not following through with my discipline procedures for the first week of school.  This sets the pace for the entire school year.  (Now most of the time, your students will be angels the first day of school since they are observing you and figuring out who you are.)  If you happen to have a student keeps misbehaving, send them to the office immediately.  This will send a message to the other kids that you mean business.
9. Don't disrespect your students.  Now, I have never openly disrespected a student, but I have used sarcasm or mimicked a child.  Please, don't do this.  For one, students under 12 do not understand sarcasm.  Also, mimicking students make the other kids laugh but it embarrassed the student.  You want your students to trust you no matter what.  They are supposed to feel safe when they are with you.  Your classroom might be their safe place.  Remember that you are the adult.  I have seen teachers pop students on the hands with rulers which is against our code of ethics I might add.  I have seen teachers tell their students to "shut up."  I have seen teachers scream at their students at the top of their lungs.  Remember that these methods are completely unnecessary.  As educators, we are there to set an example and to teach students how to behave in this world.  
10. Don't participate in gossip...especially about the principal.  This statement sort of goes hand in hand with the first item I listed.  Just know that at every school, there is at least one person that up the principal's behind.  (For lack of a better expression.)  I have noticed that some teachers love to talk negatively about other teachers or the principal.  This person cannot wait to tell the principal what was said about them throwing teachers under the bus.  Now don't get me wrong, I do not condone speaking poorly about administration.  I find this quite childish.  However, I was brought up not to tattle unless someone might be hurt.  Now, I have never said anything about a principal that I would not have told them personally, but as I stated in the 1st "Don't," some people will twist your words around.  It is best not to be around when these conversations are taking place or not to contribute to the dialog.   

As a side note, please do not let this list of "Don'ts" scare you.  Teaching is one of the most wonderful professions.  I love the creativity that goes into this profession.  I love getting fresh data that shows how well my students improved.  I love getting to do fun activities with my students.  I love collaborating with other teachers to create memorable lessons.  

Also, I know I might have made it sound like teachers are a bunch of sneaky backstabbers from my list.  Please note, that I have met more teachers that are kind, compassionate, and would help you no matter what.  I just wanted you to be aware that there will be one or two that might not be what they seem.   So until you figure out who these people are, you need to be cautious.  I hope this helps you.  

Since one of my tips is to document everything, I have included a free daily/weekly completely editable documentation log found here. You may print and write directly on them, or type your documentation onto the computer. 

Feel free to post any "Don'ts" that you have.  :)