10 Top Tips for New Teachers - A linky party!

I remember the first day I walked into my very own classroom... I was nervous, excited and overwhelmed with the possibilities of the year that lay ahead.  As our new school year approaches here in Australia, I can imagine that there are lots of new teachers feeling the same way I did! What to plan? What to buy? What to wear on the first day?  And, most importantly, how can I win over my kids? :) 

In the spirit of 'passing on wisdom' (the small amount of it I have after my 11 years of teaching!) I'm hosting a linky party for us older and more experienced teachers to share 10 Top Teacher Tips - aimed at our friends who are new teachers just in time for the new school year, but also to remind ourselves of good habits and tricks to use. :)  Our Northern Hemisphere neighbours are heading back to school after their Winter break, and I reckon that new teachers in that part of the world might be looking for some tips to get them through the rest of their year after successfully surviving the first few months!

Grab the above image (kindly made by Mel at Graphics From the Pond) and link up - doesn't matter how long you've been teaching for! - to share your top tips.  There's a list below that you can use if you'd like, but feel free to create your own!

1.  Top Tip for Classroom Organisation

2. Top Tip for Behaviour Management

3. Top Tip for Being a Team Player

4. Top Tip for Time Management

5. Top Tip for Engaging Students

6. Top Tip for Getting Along with Parents

7. Top Tip for Teacher Fashion

8. Top Tip for Bargain Hunting

9. Top Tip for Eating Well at School

10. Top Tip for Staying Sane

Don't forget to share this linky with anyone you know starting out on their teaching journey, and if you are a new teacher who stopped past to read a post or two it'd be great to hear about your plans for your new class!

Well, here goes, my 10 Top Teacher Tips!

1.  Top Tip for Classroom Organisation

The best thing I ever did in my classroom was create a labelled shelf space for each of my group rotations - I labelled mine Reading Groups, Writing Workshop, Maths Time and Brain Boosters because those are the 4 sets of rotations I do.  On Monday morning, I put all of the worksheets, games, activities, books, iPads, whatever will be needed in those shelves and they stay there all week.  The kidlets know that when they are moving off to a group that everything they need will be there, and that's where it goes back at the end of the session.  I don't have to hand anything out or put anything away - because it's in the same place every time the kidlets can do it themselves! :) You can read my post about it here.

2. Top Tip for Behaviour Management

Rather than pointing out inappropriate behaviour, I find it's much more productive to acknowledge the kidlets who are doing a great job and reward them, either just with praise or by moving their peg up the chart.  I'm always very specific with what is is they're doing that's making me happy, and that's usually enough to make my little friends who have lost the plot a bit change their behaviour so they can be praised, too.  I might say something like "Wow, I really love the way that such-and-such is showing that she is a good listener by keeping her eyes on me!"  Not sure if it's the same in older year levels, but Preppies are so eager for you to acknowledge them for doing a great job.  There will always be times when someone needs a time-out or a talking to, but by keeping your expectations clear and being generous with praise will keep these to a minimum... in most cases!

3. Top Tip for Being a Team Player

Hopefully, working in a new team of teachers will mean lots of support, new friends and the workload shared!  I think the most important thing to remember when coming into a new school is that you don't know what time and effort have gone into making resources, organising activities and planning events before you got there.  So before you pooh-pooh something - remember that it might be something that one of your teaching partners is very proud of creating, and there's no quicker way to lose a friend than by offending them early in the relationship!  If you want to change something, find out why it was implemented in the first place, and then make sure you suggest changes in a gentle way. :)

4. Top Tip for Time Management

Is there ever enough time in a school day?  I'm always running out of time to get everything I want done.  What makes it worse is that I'm the biggest time waster ever!  I'm easily distracted and love to chat... a bad combination for ticking things off the to-do list. In an attempt to use my time wisely, I make sure to write down the most important tasks for the day in the morning (usually about 3) and make sure the list is somewhere I can see it.  If I haven't got those important jobs visible, I can find all sorts of less productive activities to fill up my time! 

5. Top Tip for Engaging Students

In Prep, the number one way for keeping everyone engaged, all the time, is using hands on activities!  Cards, games, manipulatives, puppets, puzzles, sorting... anything that they can touch and move. :)

6. Top Tip for Getting Along with Parents

When communicating with parents, it's always good to keep the relationship as professional as possible.  While you want to be friendly and approachable, sharing too much about your personal life and being too chummy with parents can sometimes mean that their respect for you as a teacher is affected.  When you pass on information or concerns, you want parents to trust you as a professional and if you've shared with them all about the party you went to on the weekend, or the problems you're having with your partner they'll be less likely to do that.  

7. Top Tip for Teacher Fashion

This one is tricky for me, because at my school teachers wear a uniform! I'm therefore very limited with my fashion choices.  I probably would be anyway though, because teaching Prep I need to be able to get down on the floor with the kids, join in with their games and not be afraid to get paint/glue/shaving cream/food colouring on my clothes.  I wish when I was a new teacher that someone had told me to make sure I was always wearing decent shoes.  After years of wearing cute flats with no support and standing all day, my feet and back are shot. :( 

8. Top Tip for Bargain Hunting

I love dollar stores! I buy most of my craft supplies and math manipulatives from the local Discounts Galore.  I wish I was a good online shopper, because I know there are some good bargains to be found there, but I'm usually out buying things in the day or two before I need them.

9. Top Tip for Eating Well at School

Some days it can be really tricky to even find time to stop and eat at school!  I like to have a stash of food in the fridge/cupboard for those days that I haven't had time to make a salad or a wrap and bring it for lunch.  I keep muslei bars, single serve cans of soup, tinned fruit, rice crackers etc. so I can grab something semi-healthy if I haven't brought anything from home.  When I see things on special while I'm grocery shopping I grab them and add them to my stash at school.  There's nothing worse than starving all day and then stuffing yourself with chips and chocolate when you get home!

10. Top Tip for Staying Sane

Don't compare yourself to other teachers.  While it's great to gather ideas and inspiration from colleagues (and bloggers) you will drive yourself nuts trying to keep up with everyone. There will always be someone doing something better than you, so concentrate on your kidlets and on making sure that everything you do for them is taking them a step forward in their learning.  Realising that in recent years has saved my sanity, for sure. )

I'm looking forwards to reading the other top tips shared by my blogging buddies, there's always new tricks to be learnt!  Link up below. :)

Lauren