Secrets to Success for Beginning Elementary School Teachers

Ellen Kottler, Nancy P. Gallavan

• Publisher: Skyhorse
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781510733022
• eBook ISBN: 9781510733084
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Classroom Management

Packed with insider tips, practical strategies, and time-tested advice, this invaluable guide is designed for new and preservice educators. Offering a wide range of perspectives, authors Ellen Kottler and Nancy P. Gallavan cover the essential topics that novice teachers encounter, including establishing routines and classroom rules, planning instruction and assessment techniques, networking with colleagues, navigating school policies and procedures, and communicating effectively with parents. Tools and resources include:

• Steps for developing meaningful curriculum
• Activities to extend learning and apply ideas in the classroom
• Preparation guidelines and checklists
• Lesson plan formats
• Strategies for including technology
• 
  Serving as a virtual "mentor, " this handbook combines the insights of experienced teachers with straightforward portrayals of what to expect during the first days, weeks, semesters, and years in the classroom. Reduce your stress, improve your skills, and assure your success with this extraordinary resource.

CHAPTER ONE

Learning Your Way Around the School

“Welcome Visitors! Please report to the Principal’s Office,” reads the sign at the entrance to the elementary school. Indeed, in many ways, you are much like a visitor during your first year of teaching. You will encounter all the accompanying levels of confusion and disorientation along with the newness and excitement that are typical for an intrepid explorer who is navigating unknown territory without a map. There is much to experience and learn ahead of you, and, like the explorer, you are eager to start your journey.

As many times as you may have previously visited a school, during university field placements or perhaps even as a parent or a relative of a student, you are always struck by how big the place feels and how busy people appear to be. They all seem to know just where they are going, always in a hurry, making contact with many different people along the way. The place appears to be a maze of offices, rooms, hallways, and labs, each connected by a layout that probably once made sense to someone in charge of designing spaces. To the newcomer, however, whether an entering student or a new teacher, the school may seem overwhelming. You can’t wait to start exploring!

ORIENT YOURSELF

Your first task is to learn your way around the school. We don’t mean just memorizing the quickest route from the entrance to your classroom. After you’ve received the official tour, found out where to park, and learned what room you are assigned, make it a priority to get “unofficial” guided tours from an experienced teacher, a secretary, a student, and a custodian (especially a custodian!). This school is the place you will be spending most of your life during the coming years, so you will want to orient yourself as quickly and comprehensively as you can.

As you walk around, note how the activities of the building are organized, and start making a mental map. For example, are grade levels grouped together with K–2 in one area and 3–5 in another? Are the cafeteria and gym close to one another? Once you are settled in your classroom, you will want to locate many other important places. These include the

• principal’s office(s),

• nurse’s and health office,

• custodians’ office,

• counselors’ office(s),

• cafeteria,

• teachers’ lounge,

• grade level office/workroom,

• library/media center,

• technology/computer lab,

• graphic arts and copy room,

• gym, and

• restrooms!

You want not only to find these locations but also to start learning how people operate on a daily or usual basis. Are you expected to stay on one side of the counter in the main office? Can you go into the copy room and use it when you want, or do you need to fill out a request form and submit it ahead of time? Do people use separate stairwells for going up to the second floor and coming down to the first floor? Is there a restroom specifically for adults? Who can use the small restroom in the nurse’s office? How can you borrow a broom to clean up from time to time? There will be many customs to learn quickly so you understand how your new school functions and how people expect you to blend in with them (Cattani, 2002).

MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE SECRETARIES AND ASSISTANTS

The school secretaries and administrative assistants will most likely be your first points of contact. They will help you get settled, provide you with keys and supplies, introduce you to people, and guide you through the appropriate paperwork. Spend some time getting to know the secretaries and administrative assistants as soon as you can. Ultimately, they can be your strongest supporters or the biggest obstacles throughout your career.

Most schools have teaching assistants assigned to various areas throughout the school. Every grade level may have a teaching assistant, or grade levels may share an assistant. Usually the primary grades, especially the kindergarten classrooms, have teaching assistants in every classroom. The library/media center and the technology lab probably have teaching assistants too. These individuals can help you obtain information or gain access to materials and supplies located in their areas. And although there may seem to be an abundance of individuals to get to know throughout the building, you will know who everyone is and what they do quite soon.

As you first tour the school, no doubt you will have many questions to discuss with your school guide. Rather than overwhelming this person with the sheer number of inquiries swirling around inside your head, select the most critical ones, and save the rest to ask other people later. Here is a sampling of the most critical questions that teachers need to have answered:

• What’s my schedule?

• Where is the restroom?

• Where are the textbooks and supplies located?

• When’s lunch?

• When do we get our class lists?

• When’s the first faculty meeting?

Although all questions are important, it is vital to consider the timing of your questions. While most people are only too happy to help, be respectful of when and how often you approach them.

LEARN THE POLICIES AND REGULATIONS

You probably will be given a map of the school and an official Teacher’s Handbook that tells you about the policies, rules, and professional responsibilities of your job. In it you will find

• the district and school mission statements;

• organizational charts;

• professional expectations for teachers;

• guidelines for teaching about controversial issues;

• selection lists of supplementary materials;

• information on the uses of technology;

• procedures for reporting child abuse;

• policies related to grading and attendance; and

• procedures regarding student discipline, safe schools, and other issues.

Read the manual carefully as soon as you get the chance, as it will include much information useful throughout the school year and your career. Here’s a basic insight: the manual will answer many of your initial questions and will prevent you from looking somewhat silly if you ask them of secretaries and colleagues. Frequently, faculty meeting discussions and decisions will reference information found in the manual that everyone else already knows. You want to be well informed in preparation for these meetings, especially at the beginning of the school year.

The handbook may contain the publicly espoused values and expectations, but it does not necessarily describe how the school operates. To find out the “actual” version of the school culture (Schein, 1985), you will need to be aware of the interactions among students, staff, and faculty over time. You will want to discover answers to the following key questions:

• Who has power and control in the school?

• Who and what influences the principal most?

• How are decisions made?

• What are the major conflicts that erupt most consistently?

• What coalitions have formed among faculty and staff, and on what basis do these groups maintain their memberships?

These are just a few questions to consider. More topics will be suggested later.

PREVIEW THE DAILY AND WEEKLY SCHEDULES

Every elementary school has developed finely tuned weekly and daily schedules to ensure that all students are in school the number of minutes required by state law and receive the required number of minutes of instruction as determined for specific subject areas. Time in school includes classroom instruction as well as time for music, art, and physical education, usually called “specials.” If the school has bells, they generally ring only at the beginning and the end of the school day. The teacher must be aware of the specials schedules along with times for recesses and lunch.

Schedules distributed by the principal at the first faculty meeting (or at a day-long retreat) will inform you of the days and times to be followed throughout the school. You will find out the times your students report to and are dismissed from school as well as the days and times for specials (music, art, physical education or PE, library, and perhaps technology), lunch, and recesses. Plus, you will discover if you need to meet your students in specific locations and if you are expected to escort them to and from their specials classes. You will also learn if you need to stay with your students when they are served lunch and if you have supervision “duty.” And, you will learn your lunch options—the school cafeteria, the teachers’ lounge, or, if there is an open campus, the places where groups go out for a quick meal.

It is helpful to know the schedules for your own students and the other classes in your grade level, as well as the schedules assigned to all other grade levels. Some schools stagger the times by grade level or even by classes within a grade level, particularly in the lunch room or on the playground (so everyone is not arriving or leaving at the same time). In addition, you (a student or a parent) may need to locate a teacher or student in another class or grade level, so we suggest that you keep one copy of the school’s daily and weekly schedules handy in a notebook and another one posted on your own bulletin board for easy reference.

MEET YOUR GRADE LEVEL COLLEAGUES

Most elementary schools are organized by grade levels. If you are the single teacher in an area such as music, you may be grouped with other disciplines or specials. Many schools have designated grade level and discipline area team leaders or chairs. While their authority varies from school to school, chairs tend to serve as liaisons between the administration and the grade level faculty and staff. In some districts, the chairs are responsible for overseeing schedules and budgets; in other districts, these tasks remain the domain of the principals. Your grade level chair most likely will provide you with teacher resource materials and curriculum guides; the chair will inform you how to obtain texts for your students, supplementary materials for your teaching, and supplies for your classroom.

In some districts, the faculty members in each grade level conduct all planning together. They write lesson plans, design integrated units of learning, develop unit assessments and testing, and plan special events as a group. They meet regularly to review objectives and to discuss student progress. Most likely, you will find much-needed support and many creative ideas readily available at these meetings if this is your situation. If not, you will need to find a mentor, preferably someone who has taught your assigned grade level before and who is willing to share his or her expertise and resources with you. If such support is not available in your school, hopefully you will be able to network at district level meetings and professional conferences. In some schools, principals assign mentors formally; in other schools, you will need to seek your own avenues of support.

From a first-year teacher …

I was just 21 and a new college graduate when I was hired to teach third grade at an elementary school with 920 children. Our third grade pod was located apart from the main section of the school. I had never been in this particular school, and I felt lost in every way. Fortunately, my classroom had a side door that opened into Sharon’s classroom. On that first day, I introduced myself, and Sharon took me under her wing. She taught me how to make the learning both fun and productive, how to collaborate with the other third grade teachers to tap each one’s expertise, and how to develop my own style. Most of all, from Sharon I learned how to pace myself so I could enjoy my work and myself to the fullest.

INSPECT YOUR CLASSROOM

Once you have been escorted to your assigned classroom and are on your own, allow yourself sufficient time to revel in the feelings that you are experiencing. This classroom is your room: the place where you will be working your magic. There are bulletin boards to decorate, furniture to rearrange, supplies to order and store. Mostly, though, you just want to get a feel for the space.

This classroom will become a home away from home not just for you but for your students as well. Soon you will be transforming it from four bare walls to a world of teaching and learning that is safe, welcoming, and exciting to everyone.

We suggest that you draw a map of your classroom. Note the locations of the doors, windows, permanent storage units, wallboards, and electrical outlets—items you cannot move. Include the dimensions on your map. Over the next few months, weeks, or days, you will begin to create a sense of place. You will want to carry your map with you as you select classroom supplies and decorations, and having the dimensions will be useful information. The next chapter will discuss in depth the organizing of your room.

INTRODUCE YOURSELF TO THE CUSTODIANS

Other important persons to get to know are the custodians. Most elementary schools have both a day custodian and a night custodian. The day custodian will play an important role in your life. There will be many times when you will want the day custodian to help you. You may need help moving furniture, boxes, or equipment. The day custodian will unlock your door (when you forget your key), repair the pencil sharpener, replace lights, and attend to toilets. More important, the day custodian will come to your rescue when a child is sick in your classroom. These unpredictable moments will occur, and you will need help … immediately. We all greatly appreciate the day custodians in every elementary school!

In the afternoon or evening, your room will be serviced by the evening custodian. While a thorough cleaning may take place once a week or less often, most likely wastebaskets will be emptied daily. Show students how to stack their chairs on their desks or tables to facilitate sweeping or vacuuming. Custodians will apprec...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• About the Authors
• 1. Learning Your Way Around the School
• 2. Organizing Your Classroom
• 3. Knowing Your Students
• 4. Beginning and Ending School on the First Day
• 5. Developing Meaningful Curriculum
• 6. Planning Instruction and Assessment
• 7. Establishing Routines and Management
• 8. Valuing Cultural Diversity
• 9. Using Instructional Technology
• 11. Connecting With Students
• 12. Communicating With Parents
• 13. Using a Substitute
• 14. Getting Involved With the School
• Reflections
• References and Readings
• Index