Back to School: Getting ready for a new school year

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Back to School

It cannot be denied, the end of summer is rapidly approaching, and the start of a new school year is just around the corner. Getting ready for the upcoming school year requires a great deal of planning. Here is a dandy checklist of tasks you may need to do to prepare. Some are more suitable for elementary teachers, others are better for secondary teachers, and some are useful for both levels. Adapted from ThoughtCo. Enjoy!

  • Write and mail or email a welcome letter to parents and students
  • Create name tags for students and their desks
  • Read through student files to help determine placement in groups and activities
  • Determine desk arrangement and create seating charts
  • Decorate and put up bulletin boards
  • Decorate the front door
  • Determine the rules and consequences or how you will have the class decide upon the rules
  • Organize first-day ice-breakers
  • Collect activities and design lessons for the first week of school
  • Become familiar with the class computer and other technology needed for the classroom
  • Decide how to welcome students and introduce them to the rules and procedures
  • Develope a substitute folder
  • Create a list of classroom jobs
  • Introduce yourself to fellow teachers and staff members
  • Set up your classroom calendar
  • Organize the classroom library, if you have one
  • Make copies of forms and worksheets you want to send home the first week
  • Have all systems in order (homework basket, paperwork basket, etc.)
  • Create or purchase a lesson plan organizer and calendar
  • Gather teacher materials and supplies
  • Set up a class web page to communicate with students and parents
  • Purchase or acquire any classroom supplies that are needed
  • Obtain a copy of the district curriculum standards for your courses
  • Prepare a folder for faculty meetings and information
  • Make copies of materials for the first couple of weeks
  • Post emergency evacuation map and procedures
  • Acquire or stock a first aid kit
  • Decide how to manage homework
  • Decide how to manage using the restroom (bathroom passes, etc.)
Source: ThoughtCo

Back to School: Tip #3 Make connections with others

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Back to School

We can’t deny it, summer is rapidly coming to an end, and the start of a new school year is just around the corner. This realization typically stimulates reflection about how you can ensure this school year will be the best ever. Here is the third post in a series that offers some tips on how to make this happen. Please feel free to post additional tips and hints in the comments section!

Today’s tip is about making connections with others. Studies have shown that the two most important aspects to success in teaching is pedagogy and relationships. For this reason, making connections with others, particularly students, should be one of your top priorities this year.

Studies show that when we do a better job of forming connections with our students and their families, we are more effective at meeting their needs. And when we do a better job of forming connections with our colleagues, we can collaborate with them more effectively, and teachers can also gain personal and professional support for themselves. So, when you get back to school, take a look around. Who would you like to get to know better? Reach out to the shy, quiet child who might otherwise fall between the cracks. Literally walk to the back of the classroom where the kids that like to hide are hanging out, and engage them in conversation. In the teachers’ lounge, plop yourself next to the new hire. Find a way to spend some time with each new person you have decided to approach. Ask questions that encourage conversation. This will help you to learn about who they are, what their interests and passions and commitments are, and what you may have in common. And then just sit back and listen.

We all know that teaching is a profession that depends on interpersonal interaction. You’ll have a better year if you spend as much time making connections with others as you do on lesson planning.

So enjoy making connections, and have a great year!

Back to School: Tip #2 Keep your expectations realistic

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Back to School

Yesterday’s post was a reminder that summer is rapidly coming to an end, and the start of a new school year is just around the corner. This realization typically stimulates reflection about how you can ensure this school year will be the best ever. Here is a second post that offers some tips on how to make this happen. Please feel free to post additional tips and hints in the comments section!

To have a really great year, it’s important to keep expectations realistic. Every teacher knows what it feels like to knock yourself out to do a great job on a particular lesson, only to have this overwhelming feeling that it isn’t working. It’s hard not to get discouraged when you feel like you’re floundering.

Don’t expect each lesson to be perfect the first time you execute it. Doing anything new requires practice in order to reach mastery. Making mistakes is part of the learning process. The important thing is to spend time reflecting on what aspects of the lesson you would like to be better, and then come up with a plan to make that happen. In fact, teaching should be a continuous cycle of planning, executing, reflecting, revising, and repeating. Just try to do a little better each time you do the lesson. Remember that you are a learner, too. You and your students are a learning community, and you are all working together to increase your understanding and improve your skills. Achieving success is a process, and a group process at that!

Think about this, too. The longer you’ve been teaching, the easier it will be to diagnose and prescribe solutions for improvement. In some cases, though, it might be better to stop the lesson and move on to something else for awhile. Later, when you’ve got the time and space for productive reflection, you can do a better job of analyzing.

Remember to take time to remind yourself that you are doing your very best. When a lesson does go the way you want it to, be sure to give yourself a well-earned pat on the back.

Back to School: Tip #1 Appreciating the Support Staff

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Back to School

Well, teachers, it’s time to admit that summer is rapidly coming to a close, and the start of a new school year is just around the corner. This realization typically stimulates reflection about how you can ensure this year will be the best ever. For the next few days I’ll offer some suggestions. Please feel free to post additional tips and hints in the comments section!

First, let’s discuss a really simple strategy for ensuring success: Recognizing the significant roles played by the school’s support staff. It’s really important to get to know the school’s support staff, and to appreciate them whole-heartedly. School librarians, secretaries, textbook clerks, custodians, security guards, cafeteria workers, groundskeepers, technology support personnel, and bus drivers all make important contributions to the success you and your students will experience in the classroom this year. It might seem like a lot of extra work to cultivate these relationships, and sometimes it’s hard to remember to be appreciative when you’re feeling short on time, overworked, or stressed out, but every day in a hundred little ways that you may never even know about, these folks will be doing their utmost to support your professional efforts. Time and again you’ll be depending on them to make your job a little easier. Be sure to take the time to recognize their areas of expertise and to acknowledge their contributions!

Here are some easy things you can do. When you pass by a support staff member in the hallway, greet them with a smile and a cheerful hello. Leave a little note of appreciation on your whiteboard for the custodian to find when he or she comes to clean your room. A thank you note is always welcome if someone has done something above and beyond, and letting the principal know about those good deeds is always a good idea. When making out your holiday cards, include a few members of the support staff that have been particularly helpful to you. Above all, be sure to model your appreciation and respect for support staff for your students. Remember that a little bit of effort goes a long way to establishing and nurturing your relationships with support staff.

Have a great year, and tune in tomorrow for another great tip!

Cheers and a little dance for high school math teacher Bob Williams of Alaska

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Bob Williams

Cheers and a little dance for high school math teacher Bob Williams of Alaska

High school teacher Bob Williams of Alaska used cheers and little dances to generate enthusiasm for math. His strategies have garnered him an induction into the National Teachers hall of Fame.

Bob was born and raised in Palmer, Alaska. The son of a sawmill operator, Bob graduated from Palmer High School there. He earned his Bachelor’s in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, in 1982. He earned his Master’s in Mathematics Education from Columbia University in 1991. He completed the requirements for his Doctorate in Educational Leadership at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, in 2006. In addition, this talented educator achieved National Board Certification in 2011.

Bob inaugurated his teaching career in 1987 when he accepted a two-year post to Gambia, West Africa, as a Peace Corps volunteer. When he returned from Gambia, he taught high school math in New York Public Schools, where he worked from 1989 to 1991. Then he returned to Alaska, where he taught for three years at Nome Beltz Jr. and Sr. High School in Nome, Alaska, and seven years at his alma mater, Palmer High School in Palmer, Alaska. From 2004 to 2006 Bob devoted his professional talents to the K-12 Alaska Statewide Mentorship Project, and from 2006 to 20017, he returned once again to Palmer, where he taught math at Colony High School. At present he is the Director of the Division of Educator and School Excellence in the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

In the classroom, Bob is famous for his high-energy teaching style. He loves to lead his students in cheers and dances to reinforce a math concept. This energy generates enthusiasm for learning and motivates students to achieve. “I think some of the biggest and most meaningful breakthroughs I make with students is that I tell them all that I want them all to feel welcomed, valued, safe, and respected when they walk in the class, no matter who they are. And I work for that,” Bob once revealed.

For his work as a professional educator, Bob has earned many accolades. In 2009, he was named the Alaska State Teacher of the Year, and the same year he earned an NSF Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching. In 2010, Bob garnered an NEA Foundation Horace Mann Award for Excellence in Teaching, and in 2017, he was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame, the first teacher from his state to be so honored.

“Bob is inspiring to all his students, colleagues, and parents he serves,” colleague Trevor Townsend once remarked, “and he represents all educators through his passionate teaching style, love for teaching, and his high standards of respect he creates in his classroom for all students to be successful. He cares deeply for students and the education process,” Trevor concluded.

Well done, Bob. Well done.