A well-managed classroom starts before school is in session.
The planning and preparation that you perform before the first day of school will directly affect the success of your entire year. Well-prepared teachers are the most effective teachers. Preparation allows you to focus on establishing routines and getting to know your students in the first days of school, rather than rushing to get settled. Fortunately, careful attention to details will yield positive results and ensure a good start to the school year.
Classroom Management
Lay out your classroom with optimum student-teacher contact in mind.
The classroom management plan is the most indispensable item to finish before school begins. Your formal classroom management plan may need to be given to your administration. This will include details such as your role in the classroom, expectations for students, student requirements, motivational tools and a description of the learning environment you plan to create. Other classroom management issues that you should consider are your classroom layout, routines, student jobs, assigned seating and plans for the entire first day.
Communication
Meet parents and students before the first day.
Parental involvement is arguably the most important factor in student success. While you cannot force parents to be involved in the classroom, you can make yourself and your classroom inviting before school starts. Make calls to all of your students' parents, taking care to call both parents when appropriate, introducing yourself and asking if they have any questions. You can also schedule meetings to discuss their goals for their children. If you teach young students, have one or two "open house" days when the students and their parents can come and see the classroom and meet you.
Filing
Make sure your filing system will be low maintenance.
Create a filing system that will be easy to maintain before the year starts. You will be expected to keep track of a great deal of paperwork. You will need a place to collect lesson plans and reflections, folders for student work, take-home folders, and a folder for administrative communications. You should also plan to keep a professional portfolio and make a file to collect potential portfolio-grade work.
Planning
Outline lesson plans for the first two weeks of school.
Familiarize yourself with the national- and state-level educational standards, if you have not done so already. Use these to create long-range plans that span the entire year. Create assessments, both formal and informal, for checking student understanding. You should also have lesson plans for the first two weeks outlined. Plan to review and introduce new information slowly for the first two weeks, so you can spend time front-loading classroom procedures and routines. This will make differentiation through stations and small group work much easier for the rest of the year.
Tags: classroom management, first weeks, lesson plans, your classroom, before first, before school