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As a new teacher, you have a lot to learn in a short period of time.

To help you keep track of it all, download a free copy of my New Teacher Checklist. It contains tips and reminders for setting up a teacher binder, creating a filing system, setting up your classroom, and getting to know your school, students, colleagues, and curriculum.

It's just one of the downloads in my Members-Only Library, a collection of free resources you have access to any time as a subscriber.

To get into the Library and download your checklist, just sign up for my mailing list-you'll receive a weekly email with tips and tools for making your teaching better. Use the form below to sign up, then check your inbox for further instructions.

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As a new teacher, you have a lot to learn in a short period of time. To help you keep track of it all, download a free copy of my New Teacher Checklist. It contains tips and reminders for setting up a teacher binder, creating a filing system, setting up your classroom, and getting to ...

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The school year may be over for students, but for first-year teachers the work is just getting started. If your first year in front of the class is ahead, here are some tips to make sure you start the year off on the right foot. This list will help ensure you're prepared for your first day as a new teacher:
Review Standards and Plan Your Curriculum
First and foremost, make sure you understand your school's policies and procedures. Feel free to ask for clarification of policies that are unclear. It's also a good idea to review your state standards and take inventory of the materials you are provided with to make sure you have everything you need. And, review all the materials that your school or district has provided to better understand their expectations for your success. Use the content you've been provided as a guide to help you create your own curriculum and bolster your own unique materials.
Build Your Support Structure
Reach out to other first-timers and seasoned teachers to create a support network that you can rely on in the coming year. By helping each other prepare, you can fill in gaps and share ideas that can improve your collective experience. The summer can also be a great time to get to know your new peers. Talk to colleagues and try to meet for coffee to get to know each other outside of the school. Ask them for their advice and insights into what you can expect that first day and the weeks after.

Prepare More Than You Think You'll Need

There's nothing wrong with being over-prepared. It gives you the opportunity to switch activities at the last moment. Knowing that you have options can help you feel even more at ease during your first week. Over-preparing allows you to adjust your content to the pace of the classroom on-the-fly, rather than having to adjust the pace of the classroom to your content.
Set Up Your Classroom
Take the time to set up your classroom in advance. Arrange the furniture and decor to support an engaging learning environment. Also, purchase the school supplies you'll need to make sure the room is well-stocked. Consider creating a "wish list" of supplies to distribute to parents at your open house. Display a few informational charts on the walls so that students can refer to them as they settle into the new year. Leave space to add student work and additional charts as you build on concepts. Finally, build a quick reference folder to keep important information like the main office and nurse's office contact information, and school policies. Students' and parents' contact information will also be helpful.
Take a Mental Walk-Through
Before school starts, mentally walk through your first day from the first moment to the last. Do you have a classroom management strategy? If available, reach out to your "positive behavior" coach for ideas. Do you have a specific routine prepared for when students arrive or leave each day? Taking a mental walk-through and also working through how you will handle the intricacies and challenges of each day can help boost your confidence for that first week.

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The school year may be over for students, but for first-year teachers the work is just getting started. If your first year in front of the class is ahead, here are some tips to make sure you start the year off on the right foot.

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This week, I called in a substitute for my third grade class. When I returned, along with a stack of spelling projects, I found a little post it note which nearly knocked me off of my feet. It read: "I'm not sure how you did it, but you have transformed this class since the beginning of the year." Needless to say, her notes from two months ago sounded markedly ...well...different.

Looking back over the course of this year, I had my moments of doubt with this particular class. "Will I ever get this class in working order? Are they even capable of behaving?" These were just a few of the pesky little thought clouds that popped up at those not-so-comical moments with my third graders.

In November, I was called in to take over as a second language teacher at a local school. With over a decade of teaching experience and a few education degrees under my belt, I felt confident that I could breeze into any classroom feeling cool and calm.

Entering my new school, I was greeted with five sets of students who would come to see me throughout the week for second language instruction. While several of the students knew how to "test limits" as so many do, there was one class of third graders that nearly ripped the cool and calm out from under me.

Flying paper airplanes, shouting, standing up on chairs, and forgetting every possible school supply were just a few of the antics on my long list. Walking into this same class a few months later, it is hard to believe that any of that ever really happened.

What I would like to share with my substitute, and anyone else who has ever struggled to control a group of (extremely) rowdy children, is that it can be done. Here is the gold standard treatment that worked for me.

Patience. In this day and age, it seems that everything is instant. Instant music downloads, instant picture uploads, instant soup, and of course, the instant gratification that comes along with all of that. Forget about it. This one will take time.

Faith. Believe in your students. Believe that they can and will behave; one behavior modification at a time. If they don't know how to walk into your classroom, give them the opportunity to try again. One routine at a time. Again and again.

Respect the little people. Know that one day, in ten years, you will walk down the street and meet face to face with the sweet little airplane throwing third graders and that they will remember you. When you speak to them and give them directives, speak to them as you would like to be spoken to. Never use shame to modify behavior.

Praise the positive. When you notice your students on task and doing what is expected of them, let them know. Some students appreciate being mentioned individually, and others may like to be praised in pairs or groups. Experiment with rewards, and find a system that works for your environment.

Relationships, relationships, relationships. Take every opportunity to get to know your students. Incorporate opportunities for them to share about themselves in daily assignments and discussions. Respect their willingness to share or not to share. Provide multiple avenues for students to share opinions. Rather than sending the "trouble makers" out of class, draw them closer and invite them to have lunch with you. What appears to be "bad" behavior may actually be a cry for help.

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Mindful Classroom Management & the Power of Patience | Edutopia

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This week, I called in a substitute for my third grade class. When I returned, along with a stack of spelling projects, I found a little post it note which nearly knocked me off of my feet. It read: "I'm not sure how you did it, but you have transformed this class since the beginning of the year."

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First Person

Dear New Teacher,

You will have a tremendous amount of pressure when you enter your classroom this fall. Along with the responsibilities outlined by your school's administration, there are district guidelines, mandatory training classes, required documents, and additional "voluntold" duties, on top of lesson planning, curriculum development, and a never-ending amount of "necessary" policies with which to contend. But don't let all these responsibilities make you nervous. Having just finished my first year in teaching, I want to offer some tips that I think may help you survive your days as a freshman educator.

Don't take it personally. As I was setting up before my first day with my students last year, I had it fixed in my mind how much I wanted them to "like" being in my class. In the same way, I entered my first year of teaching ambitious to have all my students "like" me as a teacher. I understood that I was not there to be anyone's BFF, and I established appropriate personal and professional boundaries, but I still wanted to connect with my students in a positive way.

After a few days, I knew this was not going to happen with all of them. No matter what I did to reach out, I had students who would fall asleep or disengage, students who would occupy themselves with work from another class, and still others who would do nothing at all. I realized that I had to reevaluate how I perceived these actions, as well as comments and criticism from my students (and from some faculty members) about my style of teaching.

Despite having previous careers in the military and law enforcement, fields in which it is vital to develop a thick skin, I realized that I was taking things too personally. I had to acknowledge that there are some things I can't control, and by conceding control, I allowed myself the freedom to politely ignore or respond constructively to unexpected situations or negative criticisms as they came up. This was my key to staying emotionally in check.

Have an outlet. At the same time, you should have a way to process those events that are too personal or painful to ignore or respond to directly. Find a colleague, preferably a veteran or mentor teacher, to whom you can express your frustrations and concerns. Every teacher has been a first-year teacher. Every teacher has gone through some of the same struggles you are going through. As you go through the year, you will find that validation for your feelings and support from another teacher can be invaluable. And remember, it is one thing to compartmentalize your emotions and wait for an appropriate outlet. But simply ignoring your honest feelings may result in problems down the line.

You may also find it helpful to reflect on your experiences in writing or journaling. This can be done in a variety of ways, but a key is to reflect on the totality of the experience (as opposed to just complaining about the issue in question). What about the event concerned you? What worked well in your attempt to resolve? And most important, how can you make it better? A journal is not just an outlet, but a reflection and reference for your teaching. A model that I've often turned to is veteran English teacher Jim Burke's englishcompanion.com, which offers a range of explorations and tips about life in the classroom.

Organize. Take an inventory of your organizational personality. Are you the type to make lists, neatly stack papers, label folders, and methodically date and time-stamp your correspondence? Or are you the type who prefers organized chaos-you know where everything is and you have a method to your madness? We all have our different systems, but it helps to know know what yours will be for everything from taking attendance to collecting and receiving student assignments; from restroom procedures to accepting late work; from making announcements to documenting conferences. There is no end to the number of areas for which an organizational process may be beneficial, so don't overburden yourself on controlling everything. Instead, start planning with the first week of school in mind in order to lessen the possibility of forgetting something important during those critical first days.

You can build on the foundation you create at the start of the school year and modify your organizational processes as you learn new methods or find that certain methods aren't working. For example, effective classroom management is critical to promote a successful learning environment, so make sure to develop your expectations, policies, and procedures and communicate with your students about them. Visibly post your expectations as a daily reminder for your students, revisit them as often as necessary, and be consistent in your enforcement. In helping to identify key issues for organizing my classroom, I found The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong to be extremely helpful.

Simplify. You have probably recognized that the amount of resources available to teachers seems to grow each year at an exponential rate. You attend a training, read an article, watch a show on television or online, or receive a recommendation from another educator and the next thing you know you have shelves of books and videos that are "perfect" for a lesson or activity. Beware: The cliché "too much of a good thing" applies here. You have a limited amount of time to work through your curriculum, so be very careful not to spend valuable time on something that may look promising on the surface but will yield little in the classroom. In my classroom, I had four shelves of "professional texts" that held the potential to supplement my regular resources. In the end, I used only five books ... all of them were literary reference books. The scenario is akin to setting a toddler loose in a toy store and saying, "Pick out what looks good." The cart will come back full, but only one toy will be the favorite. So research, study, watch the videos and shows, ask for advice-but be selective when it comes to the resources that you actively use for any given unit of study. You can always discuss changes during your professional-learning community meetings if something better comes along.

Trust yourself. Don't discount what you bring to the classroom. You have studied long hours in both your degree and teaching-certification programs, trained diligently through field work and student teaching, and independently labored to satisfy your need for personal and professional development. You are ready to take this on. Trust that you will be successful. Be confident in your abilities. Don't let the fact that you are new teacher be a barrier to achievement. Look at every small accomplishment (no matter how small it may seem) and remind yourself that you are doing great things. And when you finish your first year, and that one hard-working but struggling student stops and says, "Thank you," you will know that you have done your job.

I hope you are excited to start your career as a teacher and that these small bits of advice will help you find success during your first year.

Sincerely,

Robert Kolar

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Open Letter to a First-Year Teacher (From a Second-Year Teacher)

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First Person Dear New Teacher, You will have a tremendous amount of pressure when you enter your classroom this fall. Along with the responsibilities outlined by your school's administration, there are district guidelines, mandatory training classes, required documents, and additional "voluntold" duties, on top of lesson planning, curriculum development, and a never-ending amount of "necessary" policies with which to contend.

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Congratulations! You've made it through the grueling interview process, the stars aligned perfectly for your model lesson, and you survived the administration's acronym hot seat, from UBD to RTI. You've landed your first teaching job and the future looks great. All of your classwork and internships have led up to this very moment.

The only thing left to do before you hit the whiteboard in September is to spend the rest of the summer stressing about lesson plans and anxiously mumbling, "what did I get myself into" as you pace across your apartment, ruminating over the "what ifs". Breathe. You are likely both excited and terrified. But you are by no means alone. Each new school year presents a new set of challenges and opportunities for even the seasoned teaching veteran, and if you're being completely honest with yourself, that variety is a part of why you got into teaching in the first place. You'll likely get a lot of advice from colleagues and old pros over the course of your career, but we at Education World wanted to set you off right with some tips and tricks to get you through your first years as a teacher.

1. Get to know and appreciate your support staff.

(Image courtesy of DC Comics)

Librarians, custodians, cafeteria workers, technology support, bus drivers, secretaries. You've probably already heard this one. And it might seem pretty easy to manage. However, there's a trick to it: See, when things get heated up in the building and the school year really gets into its flow, it is all too easy for the overwhelmed and overstressed educator to forget to appreciate all of the whole-hearted efforts that make a school run. Every person in the building adds directly to the success your students will have in the classroom. The bus driver might set the tone for a student's mood in the morning - their first point of contact. The kitchen carefully monitors and supplies the energy kids need to stay focused on the task at hand. Without your school's tech support, you'd better know how to solve the eight distinctly different network issues going on in your class while you're trying to perfectly execute that "interactive" opener that was only supposed to take five minutes. These people are your lifeline. And, like guardians of the academic galaxy, they will swoop down time and time again to save the day.

2. Find your kindred spirit.

(Image courtesy of Sony Pictures Television)

As an initial educator, you will certainly be provided with a mentor. This mentor will review your lesson plans, help you with classroom management, and push you to your full potential. A good mentor is an invaluable resource for the first-year teacher. However, be sure to also find your "kindred spirit" within the building. This might end up being your school-provided mentor as well, but if not, it is equally important to have someone in the building you feel like you can be a little bit more "yourself" around. Yes, you are in a professional environment that should always be respected and embraced as such, but education can also feel quite (unnecessarily) competitive. Find someone to whom you feel comfortable sharing the gritty details of a lesson that completely bombed. Someone who will let you lean on their shoulder for a little while. Someone who gets your sense of humor and can be a resource for breaking up an intense or particularly frustrating day. Someone who shares your love and concern for the students, but also shares your need for human moments in a sometimes chaotic world. Not only will this kindred spirit be a welcome relief in times of great need, but will likely be a constant reminder that we're all here just trying to do our best.

3. Talk to your Special Education Department.

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Your Special Education department is likely an endless bounty of incredible differentiation strategies and support ideas. However, with increasing demand, you might not always be on their radar. Don't be afraid to schedule multiple meetings with your department, as this classroom need can often feel exceedingly daunting to the naturally empathetic educator. Taking the step and filtering through the many pages of student IEPs and 504 plans can panic even the most capable classroom teacher. Your Special Education department has the ability to water down those complicated documents, fill your inbox with straightforward strategies you can put to practice immediately, and possibly even observe your classroom to see first-hand where the struggle might be and how to best address it. Keep this conversation going throughout the year, and don't be afraid to admit you "don't know". That's what they're there for.

4. Schedule "you" time weekly.

(Image courtesy of NBC Universal Television)

We know. Easier said than done. And especially in your first few years. But teacher burnout is a real thing. For an educator to sustain their practice through a career, they must take care of themselves, as well as they would take care of their students. For some, this might mean that a 30-minute run at the gym directly after work. For others, it might be a dance class you're able to fit in every Thursday night. A popular routine for teachers with families is to stay at the school until all of your work for the night is done (it might feel like a longer work day, but at the end of it, you should have some uninterrupted time for friends and family). It doesn't matter what this looks like or what form it takes, but if you're planning on being in education for the long haul, it will be more than necessary. A good way to guarantee this time is to schedule it into your planner. The benefit of a gym membership or other type of paid program is that you are held financially responsible to attend. It's easy to let teaching consume your entire being. Don't forget that you are a well-rounded person who also happens to have a passion for his/her work. Those little breaks will allow you to enter back into the classroom refreshed each week.

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Just do a little better each time. If you are looking to be the "perfect teacher", you might be in the wrong profession. The game changes constantly. And society expects the best of the best. Although many of us love the challenge, we're all vulnerable to that "never good enough" feeling. Some of us like to use that feeling as motivation to do better. However, this is a difficult balance to strike. The truth is, yes: you can always spend more time working on perfecting lessons, strategies, and organizing your time. No one will tell you to clock out, so you have to do it yourself. And if you don't, you'll simply exhaust yourself - it's unsustainable. Instead, keep reminding yourself that you are doing your very best, holistically. You can't spend your career second-guessing each and every decision, minilesson, and interaction. Reflection is certainly one of a teacher's greatest tools, but there's a line between that and obsessive self-flagellation. Learn your lessons, and do it even better next time. Remember the cartoon character Wile E. Coyote? Wile E. Coyote would always chase the Roadrunner until he ended up running himself right off a cliff. The thing is, you'll notice that Wile E. didn't actually fall into the canyon until he looked down and started over-evaluating the situation. Keeping cartoon physics in mind, had he continued moving forward, he would have safely reached the other side of the canyon. But his over-evaluation stopped him from progressing. If you keep your head up and keep moving - making small improvements along the way, always looking for things that make you better (not tear you down) - you'll be a healthily self-reflective and progressive educator in no time.

6. You won't be happy teaching to the test.

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In the world of education, we have a complicated issue around accountability. Parents, districts, and educators themselves want to know that the strategies being put in place are actually helping students to learn and keep up with the global market. However, the only viable way we've found to really gather this sort of information is through the dreaded standardized test. Now, wherever you stand on the state of testing in education, the reality of your classroom at present is that this data is being collected and it is being used to hold the schools accountable for their work. As government funding begins to follow these results, schools have found themselves periodically feeling like they have to "teach to the test" or at least "teach toward the test". This might be the reality, but the truth is, you will never be happy teaching to a test - nor will you find much success. The test will change, so will the strategies, theories, funding, and demands - so where will that leave you? Look at your content. Look at your standards. Look at your students - the actual ones in your classroom. And make the best decisions you can to help them to live happier, more fulfilling lives. Often, this route leads to teaching "past the test", as you are actively thinking about what each individual needs, as opposed to the national average ( because the "average" doesn't really exist anyway). If you're doing something wrong, someone will let you know. In the meantime, always believe they can. They'll hardly ever let you down.

7. Watch out for the teacher's lounge.

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This one might sound a bit cliché, and certainly this differs from school to school. There are absolutely schools where the staff spend much of their energy supporting and helping each other survive and grow-and hopefully you've found one. When we say this, we're trying to draw attention to how easy it can be to marinate in a culture of negativity. Your job will be difficult at times. Venting can be an important tool when used wisely and with the right audience. But it can also lead to a poor work environment. Ruminating on everything that is going wrong is not the same as a community of educators helping each other explore solutions. When negativity spreads throughout a high-stress community, it can feel comforting to know that others are going through it challenges too. At some point, though, you'll need to ask yourself, "how is this helping me?" If it gives you the feeling of community and gets you back on your feet and working toward a solution, then great! If it does nothing more than make you feel underappreciated, underpaid, and overworked, it might be best to politely remove yourself from such conversations altogether.

(Image courtesy of Fox Broadcasting Company)

No, really. Okay, so it might not be a happy hour. It might be the Christmas party, barbecue, or a summer gathering - but go. It's important to see your colleagues as human beings from time to time. It'll help you navigate through that inevitable morning when Bob jams the copier moments before your class starts. Or when Charlene reserves the last set of laptops. Or when Ray comes in with a chip on his shoulder and you'd usually think it was something you said or did. You don't have to be best friends, but just a little bit of humanity goes a long way in establishing trust between co-workers.

9. Everyone struggles with classroom management.

(Image courtesy of Fox Broadcasting Company)

It's different every year. Student behavior is generational, environmental, and at times chaotic. And there's no "quick fix" answer to it (despite what any educational theory book might claim). The unpredictable and sometimes seemingly irrational behavior exhibited by young students is simply a product of their biology - the frontal cortex, the area of the brain that controls reasoning and helps us think before we act, develops much later in our development. What does this mean for educators? Well, it means that it is always going to be complicated. Some days, you just won't be able to predict what you're going to walk into, stepping into the classroom - and that's okay. The good news is: you will get better. As you develop your "classroom personality" and feel out the temperature of each class, you'll figure out what works for you and what does not. Observe your peers, notice what works, be reflective, try new things, be sympathetic to your students' needs, and do your very best. That's all any student, administrator, or parent could ask for.

10. Celebrate successes.
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If you're going to be realistic about sustainable growth in your students, you need to celebrate the small successes along with the bigger ones. Data team scores are up? Phenomenal! Go team! Billy kept his head up? Well, it's the first time all year, and he's been going through a lot this semester! Sandra handed in her first homework assignment? That's great! Dave showed up for after school office hours? What a huge leap in self-advocacy! A single look of recognition or the tiniest "aha" moment means that you've made a difference. Do not underestimate the power of a moment. Celebrate them. Celebrate for yourself. Celebrate with the kids. Celebrate with the parents. Recording the tiny slivers of success in your mind will remind you why you're in the field during the tougher times, and will remind you that Rome was not built in a day. Similarly, you will never truly know the impact those little moments will have on the life of another person. Celebrate what we do, because although the world can feel like a tough place ... you're helping.
Good luck this year. It's going to be phenomenal. And thank you for all you do. Written by Keith Lambert, Education World Contributor Lambert is a certified English Language Arts teacher and teacher trainer in Connecticut.

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Congratulations! You've made it through the grueling interview process, the stars aligned perfectly for your model lesson, and you survived the administration's acronym hot seat, from UBD to RTI. You've landed your first teaching job and the future looks great. All of your classwork and internships have led up to this very moment.

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twenty20.com/@inspirationfeed

The start of the school year is an anxious time for new teachers. And in these first few weeks of classes, those of you new to teaching probably have plenty of questions. Luckily there's a wealth of information online that will help these first few weeks run as smoothly as possible.

Where to start? The first and third Wednesday of each month at 5 p.m. PST, Edutopia contributor and community facilitator Lisa Dabbs and a team of co-moderators host New Teacher Chat on Twitter -- hashtag #ntchat. The twice-monthly chats offer new teachers the chance to connect with experienced and other new-to-the-profession educators around the country, pose questions, and ask for advice.

New (Middle School) Teacher 911 From MiddleWeb: If you're a new teacher in a middle school classroom, this is a great primer. MiddleWeb, a website for middle school educators, has collected a host of great resources for new teachers, from advice to classroom-management tips. Also, check out 21 of MiddleWeb's Best New Teacher Resources, which highlights more great MiddleWeb content for new teachers.

National Education Association's New Teacher Resources: This rich collection from the NEA offers articles and tips on a range of subjects -- from avoidable mistakes to salary schedules. These resources will answer many common questions of new teachers.

Scholastic's New Teacher Survival Guides: With a different survival guide for every month of your first year, this Scholastic roundup is a valuable resource for first-year teachers, providing tips, ideas, and resources for every step in the journey. Also be sure to check out Scholastic's New Teachers resource page, as well as The New Teacher's Guide to Creating Lesson Plans.

Teaching Channel's New Teacher Survival Guide: This is Teaching Channel's hub for all things -- blog posts, videos, and discussion groups -- related to first-year teaching. Topics covered include classroom management, planning, classroom culture, and first-year teaching advice. Be sure to check out 8 Essential Skills for New Teachers, a video playlist providing useful first-year tips and ideas.

New Teacher Resources From TeacherVision: This roundup from TeacherVision covers all the bases -- there's an answer here for just about every new teacher question.

The Best Advice for New Teachers From Larry Ferlazzo: On his personal site, author Ferlazzo has a fabulous roundup of links to great teacher advice from around the web. Some pieces are thought-provoking, some lighthearted; in all, it's a great list of experienced educators sharing their thoughts with teachers who are new to the profession.

Edutopia's resource toolkit for rookie teachers features a ton of insightful blogs on subjects like classroom management, lesson planning, and building relationships with parents, mentors, and administrators. Edutopia's New Teachers topic page is another great source. To help you on your way, here are a few other useful sources from around the web.

A Few Quick Reads: Advice for New Teachers

5 Beginning Teachers, 10 Great Tips, Association for Middle Level Education

How to Prepare for the First Day of School, TeacherPop

7 Things All New Teachers Need to Know, USC Rossier School of Education

101 Things You Can Do in the First Three Weeks of Class, University of Nebraska, Lincoln

It's Actually OK to Smile Before Christmas, and Other Tips for New Teachers, Education Week

Advice for First-Year Teachers, Teaching Tolerance

First-Year Teacher Tips, Falling Into First

My View: Advice to a New Teacher, CNN Schools of Thought

Experienced Teachers Reflect on Their First Year, Edutopia

If you're looking for quick tips, easy-to-implement ideas, and practical advice, here are articles for new teachers covering a range of topics. Not only are these articles useful, but new teachers would benefit from bookmarking them to revisit later.

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Best Resources for New Teachers | Edutopia

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twenty20.com/@inspirationfeed The start of the school year is an anxious time for new teachers. And in these first few weeks of classes, those of you new to teaching probably have plenty of questions. Luckily there's a wealth of information online that will help these first few weeks run as smoothly as possible.

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by Larry Ferlazzo

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Lots of teachers will be staring their first year in the classroom soon.

If you are one of them, or if you know someone in that situation, The Best Advice For New Teachers might be useful...

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Lots of teachers will be staring their first year in the classroom soon. If you are one of them, or if you know someone in that situation, The Best Advice For New Teachers might be useful...

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from NEA

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In her book How to Survive and Thrive in the First Three Weeks of School, Elaine K. Mc Ewan elaborates on a teaching formula known as 3 + 3 = 33-something I wish I had learned about before I passed the 22-year mark as a teacher.

This simple equation is used by standout teachers to maximize time management and learning at any grade level. Simply put: Three weeks of teaching the three R's (routines, rubrics, and rules) leads to 33 weeks of higher student achievement.

The start of the year provides an opportunity for students to participate in "on- the-job" training. We should not assume students come to our classrooms knowing what they need to know to succeed. Instead, like new employees, students must be made aware of essential survival skills that will ensure they can climb our classes' ladder of academic achievement.
New teachers can avoid stress, self-doubt, and confusion simply by implementing a few essentials right from the start.

Assign Seats Before School Starts

This is a strategy I learned the hard way. Back when I was a new teacher, thinking I was being progressive I invited students to "sit wherever you want" on the rst day of school. To my horror, more than one student found themselves in the embarrassing situation of getting shunned or shooed away from a seat supposedly saved for a friend. My carelessness had resulted in some students feeling like unwelcome outsiders. At any grade level, it's easy to assign seats before the year starts. Just number the seats. On the first day, hand each student a number as he or she enters the room. You now have a seating chart. If you quickly realize that Tanner and Isabella should not be seated near each other, you can make adjustments.

Show them Where (and How) to Turn in Work

The very first time we ask kids to write something down, we should also teach them the procedure for turning in work. The turn-in area should be clearly marked, with class periods and/or subjects labeled, and it should remain in the same location for the entire school year.

Make sure students know that an assignment submitted anywhere other than the turn-in area will likely go unseen. Give them a chance to practice turning things in during the first few days of school. Keep at it until there is no confusion.

Manage Student Behavior

When it comes to the most challenging aspect of teaching-classroom management-having a plan is what matters most. Ask your principal if your school has a set policy for all students. If so, use it. If not, do a little research and nd a plan you can support. And don't be afraid to consult a book for help. The First Days of School: How to be an Effective Teacher by Harry and Rosemary Wong is one of the best when it comes to providing excellent classroom management ideas. Plans vary, of course, but the one you choose needs to uphold student dignity. Good plans do not punish. They manage. In the Wongs' book, you will discover that most behavior problems in class- rooms are the result of poor management, not poorly behaved students.

Benjamin Franklin is often credited with the maxim, "If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail." Nowhere is this truer than in the teaching field. As a new teacher, I used to think raising my voice was the best way to get the class' attention. If students were working noisily together on an assignment, why not just shout over them when I need their attention? This wasn't an angry shout-just a loud command that went something like, "Okay folks, quiet down please!" In using this approach, I was inadvertently training my students to wait for the shouting before giving me their attention. The louder they were, the louder the shout had to be. Today I use a bell or a simple raised hand to quiet the class. There is no place for shouting in good teaching. A consistent signal is best. When adults raise their voices, kids often feel anxiety.

Implementing these important ideas early in my teaching career would have prevented many headaches, not only for me, but for my students, too.
Chad Donohue is a middle school teacher, adjunct professor, and blogger living in Snohomish, Wash.

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First Few Weeks as a New Teacher: Things I Wish I Had Known

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In her book How to Survive and Thrive in the First Three Weeks of School, Elaine K. Mc Ewan elaborates on a teaching formula known as 3 + 3 = 33-something I wish I had learned about before I passed the 22-year mark as a teacher.