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1. It's that time of yearagain.The time todust off those slacksanddresses,buynew fall clothesandcollect
those supplies.Yep,it'sbackto school time.However,whatthe average persondoesnotrealize isthat
some of us educatorshave beenworkingnonstopsince lastMayor June.We have beenlookingat
previoustestscores,registeringnewstudents,andgoingtoworkshops.Mostrecently,all of us
educatorshave beenbackearlyfromsummerbreakgettingourclassroomscleanedandreadyforour
newstudentstoattend.Ihave noticedthat manynew firstyearteacherscominginare nervousabout
theirfirstday;however,mostof the teachersseemtonotjust onlybe nervousaboutthe firstday,but
alsoOpenHouse.
For those whodo notknowwhat OpenHouse is,itis the time whenparents,students,andteachers
meeteachotherfor the firsttime. Thisisthe time were everyone canhave agood rapportwitheach
otherand the parentsand studentscansee whatyou will be teaching. IthoughtthatI wouldgive some
tipsto the firstyear teacherwhomaybe readingthisforthe firsttime.
Your Room
One tipthat is helpful istocome ina few daysearliertogetyour room started.Note:youwill notget
paidextrafor this(dependingonwhenyourcontractstarts),but foryour sanityitisa goodideato geta
healthystarton yournewspace.Also,askfor helpingettingyourroomsetup. Familymembersare
great.You can do your roomalone,butit isso much easiertogetit done withmore thanone person. If
youhave olderkidslike Ido,mine are 10 and12, bringthemalongwithyou to help.Theycanthen
appreciate the value of whatteachersgothroughfrom yearto yearand they(andothers) will gaina
sense of respectforthe teachersintheirclassroom.Donot get toooverwhelmedwithit.Startwiththe
basics.At thispoint,youprobablyknowwhatyouare goingto teach fromyour principal.Make sure that
your roomhas printrich material up.Whatprint richmeansare thingssuchas vocabularyand pictures
that are relatedtothe subjectmatterthat youare teaching.Make yourmaterial brightandcolorful.
Make itinviting.Youwantto have yourstudentsandparentsengagedthe minute theycome intothe
room.A misconceptionaboutyourroomisthat you have to have 100% of the room done byOpen
House.That isnot true.Thoughyou donot wantto have a messyroom, youwantto make sure that
your roomis cleanandorganized.Make a listof thingsthat youwant to have done bythe time Open
House comes.Many teachersrightiton the board bigand boldso theycan see whattheyare doing.
Afteryouhave done that,make anotherlistof thingsthat youneedto doafter the OpenHouse isdone.
Usuallyafteropenhouse,youwill have some timetofinishyourroom.However,make sure yougetas
much done as possible because mostof yourtime afteropenhouse ispaperwork.Like mostof my
teacherfriendstell me,simplicitytoyourroomisbest.Lesscan be more.
Knowing your Students
Grab a listof your students andplace nameplatesonthe tablessotheycan see where theywillbe
sitting.Anothergoodtipforknowingyourstudentsismakingpostcardsandsendingthemouttothe
students.Ihad a friendwrite anote sayinghow excitedtheywere aboutthe new year andthe class.If
youare tech savy,youcan create a videopostcardandsendit viaemail toparents.Youcan alsowrite

2. the linkto yourvideoonthe postcard so studentscango to it.Thiscan letthe studentsknow howinto
technologyyouare.Youcan alsocreate a teacherwebsite aswell.
Room Environment, Tour, and Parents
One advice I receivedfromafriendistonot saya wordwhenOpenHouse starts.Have the parentsand
take a tourof yourroom. Have a demoof whatyou will be learninginclass.Make brochuresaboutyour
subjectandclassroomto give toparents.Have a sectionwere parentscansignin(withtheirname,
phone numberandemail addresses) andaplace where theycan place the supplies.Be prepared
because theywill bringthem. Have aprintout of the school supplylistsoparentsthathave notbought
suppliescantake themhome.Itwouldbe greatto evencircle the mainsuppliestheyneedforthe first
day or week. Youwill have parentsthatmayhave not had time orcannot affordto get all the supplies
theyneedsothiswill help.Havingasectionwhere parentscansignupand volunteerforclassroom
helpersisgreattoo. You can also have a sectioninyourroom where parentscandonate itemsthatyou
thinkyourclassroommay need.Extratissues,glue,scissors,etc.Ievenhave hadparentsdonate money
to StudiesWeeklysubscriptionsforthe class.Some have evengivenmoneyjusttobe donatedtothe
class.Rememberitdoesnothurtto ask. RememberkeepyourOpenHouse simple.Youdo nothave to
say a lotfor the firstmeetand greet.Scheduleatime where youcanmeetwithall yourparentsto
discusswhatyour classroomexpectationsare andwhatthe students(andeventhe parents) are
expectedtodo.
It isalwaysok to askfor help.Afterall,youare new andall the veteranteacherswere new atsome
point.Youare not alone inthis.Rememberthe keytoeverythingistojustplanplanplan.Goodluck and
have a great year.
BradfordHarris
Instructional TechnologySpecialist