This document provides guidance for new teachers on their first year of teaching. It discusses common concerns for new teachers such as classroom discipline, planning curriculum, setting up the classroom environment, and communicating with parents. The document emphasizes the importance of establishing routines and procedures to create an orderly classroom. It also provides tips for preventing misbehavior through clear expectations, meeting student needs, and offering meaningful activities. Overall, the document aims to help new teachers effectively manage their first year in the classroom.

1. Your First Year of
Teaching and Beyond.
By: Ellen L. Kronowitz
Presented by:
Alexa Wittstruck and Sarah Echternacht

2. About the Book
• Notes from teachers
• Worksheets
• Reflection Boxes

3. Teaching Statistics
• Estimated that 2.2 million K-12
teachers will need to be hired
because of increased student
population and accelerating
retirements.
• 20% of new teachers will leave within
the first 3 years of teaching.

4. Identified Concerns:
• Discipline
• Dealing with individual problems
• Motivating students
• Relations with parents
• Organization of class work
• Assessment
• Insufficient materials and supplies
• Heavy teaching loads
• Insufficient prep time
• Relationships with colleagues
• Planning and preparing for the day
• Awareness of school policies and rules
• Unclear expectations
• Role conflict

5. Curriculum Planning
• Many parts go into planning first
day/weeks. You don’t realize in student
teaching because it’s done for you.
• Mental planning while relaxing.
• Have an inverse relationship between
experience in the classroom and time
spent preplanning curriculum.
• Importance of planning:
– Internal reasons
– External reasons

6. Standards
Based/Instructional
Curriculum
• Benchmark: indicator that student has
reached particular level of achievement
according to the standard.
• It’s impossible to teach all standards in
each grade level in one unless for ten or
more hours.
• Teach the standard as a whole rather
than subgroups because they will still
achieved.
• Planning by month rather than by day
might relieve stress.

7. Planning
• Midrange Planning:
– Teaching Unit
– Resource Unit
• Weekly Planning
• Planning for Diversity
• Daily Plans and Lesson Plans

8. Materials
• Tips for Materials/Supplies:
– Use everyday materials to teach.
– Survey what is available at the school and know where
they are located.
– Determine if you district has a media center, resource
center, or curriculum library.
– Check to make sure your materials aren’t bias in any way.
– Check public and university libraries and local museums.
– Ask co-workers
– Ask for help from parents as long as you don’t ask for
items that cost money.
– Find out how much money you will have for supplies.
– The computer can be you best friend, take advantage of
it.
– Look for freebies.

9. Questions to ask
yourself
• When ordering supplies:
– Do they help meet individual needs?
– Are they nonconsumable?
– Are they sturdy, long-lasting, and
adaptable?
• When choosing software:
– Are they student friendly?
– Are they supporting and expanding the
educational goals?
– Are there several levels of difficulty?
– Can they be used again and again?

10. Room Environment
• Arranging the furniture
– Your seating arrangement should be
determined by how you want to conduct
business in your classroom
• Bulletin Boards
– Stimulate senses/motivate students
– Nonverbal message
– Common Ideas:
• Calendar, weather chart, rules, helpers
chart, Pledge of Allegiance/flag, word
wall, handwriting chart, motivational
posters

11. Routines and
Procedures
• Saves time, creates order, provides
safety and security
• Entering room: meet students at door
and greet positively at beginning of day,
establish same routine for entering
room at any given time of day
• Exiting room: line up in small groups,
keep structure to avoid chaos
• Try to keep daily routines as much as
possible, post where students can check

12. Discipline
Reasons for needing it:
– Safety – Self-esteem
– Limits – Responsibility
– Acceptance – Democratic training
Your philosophy:
– Mix and match – Self-esteem
strategies – Time-efficient and
– Be consistent with easy to administer
school plan
– Age appropriate
and flexible

13. How to Prevent Discipline Problems:
• Minimize distractions norms
• Try to meet individual • Use classroom meetings
needs • Keep parents informed
• Offer choices • Just take time to spend
• Provide worthwhile and with students
meaningful activities • Give positive
• Give clear directions consequences
• Keep them on their toes • Encourage rather than
• Constantly monitor praise
students • Offer logical
• Have enough supplies consequences
for everyone • Don’t make mountains
• Have set procedures of of molehills
• Be fair, reasonable, and • Low-key interventions
respectful of cultural

14. Responding to Misbehaviors
• Keep records of student
dangerous/disruptiv • Don’t punish the
e behaviors. whole class
• Allow cool off time • Don’t assign extra
for both parties work
involved • Don’t make threat
• Don’t take it you can’t/won’t
personally carry out
• Try to deal with it • DON’T PLAY IT SAFE!
yourself
• Don’t humiliate the

15. Diversity and Authentic
Assessment
• Standards
• Content standards
• Performance standards
• Authentic assessment and portfolios
• Authentic diagnosis: interests and attitudes
• Interview and inventories
• Authentic diagnosis: instruction
• Teacher-made assessment/diagnostic tests
• Conferences with other teachers/parents
• Cumulative record
• Profiles or proficiency records
• Reading level, math diagnosis, English language
proficiency, written language skills

16. Diversity and Authentic
Assessment
• Students with special needs
• Low achiever
• High achiever
• Second language learners

17. Communication with Parents
You Can Use:
– Letters – Conferences
– Notes – Emails
– Phone calls
– Handbooks
Open House:
– Have refreshments parent questions
– Display student work – Have students be the tour
– Set schedule guides
– Supply name tags
– Supply index cards for
Parent Roles:
 Class Parents: Serve as liaisons between the teacher and other parents
 Parent Volunteers: Help in the classroom
 Teachers at Home: Make sure homework gets done
 Make homework previously learned material
 Relate the homework to home activities
 Make it short

18. Working with School
Personnel
• Your school
• Know key locations
• Know key people
• Working with Principal
• Professionalism
• Communication
• Overdoing it
• Preparing for Substitutes
• Make a folder containing: class list, seating
chart, school map, class schedule-
comings/goings, summary of
duties, discipline/organization, bus
information, helpers, notes about students with
special needs

19. The FIRST Day
• Dress Comfortable
• What to say first: WISHES
– Welcome
– Introduction
– Share
– Hopes
– Establish
– Standards
• Share things about yourself; it makes you more
personable and approachable.
• 3 Ways to assign seats:
– Random selection
– Students choice
– Pre-arranged

20. The FIRST Day
• 5 ways to help you learn names:
– Study last school year’s pictures before class
– Take pictures the first day
– Name tags/plates
– Study the seating chart
– Simple interactions and games
• 10 Guiding Principles:
– Be prepared
– Motivate kids
– Establish routines/schedules
– Orient children to classroom
– Preview the curriculum
– Establish rules
– Let children decide and choose
– Include a literacy experience
– Acknowledge every child
– Review and assign easy work

21. A Balanced Professional
Life
• Reflective practice
• Open-
mindedness, responsibility, wholeheartedness
• Paperwork
• Grade book, attendance
book, planbook/lesson plans, parent
conference
records, proficiency/standards
checklists, student paperwork
• Professional development
• Continuing education, teaching
portfolio, professional organizations and
journal

22. A Balanced Professional
Life
• Time management
• Save time at school
• Save time at home
• Stress and Rejuvenation
• Relieving societal stress
• Relieving school stress
• Relieving personal stress