The First Days of School

Which one of these sayings do you want to be remember as?  Explain.

• Hallmark: “When you can enough to send the very best”
• Lexus: “The passionalte pursuit of perfection”
• Villeroy & Boch: “Nothing is so good you can’t improve it”
• Verizon: “Make progress every day”
• Timex: “It takes a licking and keeps on ticking”

If you have a good reputation, the students will enter your classroom with high expectation, and this will be to your benefit, or if you have a bad reputation, the students will enter with low expectations, and this will be to your deteriment. 

Powerful, but true words.  Have you had any feedback from students about your reputation?  Share with us.

The Characteristics of a well managed classroom:

• Students are deeply involved with their work, especially with academic, teacher-led instruction.
• Students know what is expected of them and are generally successful
• There is relatively little wasted time, confusion, or disruption.
• The climate of the classroom is work-oriented but relaxed and pleasant.

Does this describe your classroom?  Why or why not? 

New teachers, read page 87 to see if you are guilty of any of these.  More experienced teachers, did you ever have any of these problems?  I know I did!  #4 was my issue during my first year.  I did alot of yelling and not enough directing!

Go to the following site:  www.teachers.net/gazette/FEB02/wong.html and read “A Stree Free Teacher”. 

Let me know what you think!

***THe amount of work you will accomplish will be determined before you even leave for work.

***Half of what you will accomplish in a day will be determined before you even leave for home.

***Three-quarters of what you will accomplish in a day will determined before you enter the school door.

You need to prepare yourself, both academically and attitudinally, before you leave home and as you travel to school.  You increase the chance of student success and decrease the chance of student disruptions if the materials, classroom climate, and teacher are ready before the students arrive. 

I found this on page 91 in “The First Days of School” and thought that it was quite enlightening.  I always wondered why I felt that I had to be at school by 7:00 am.  This was my time to “get ready”.  We all need time to contemplate what we are going to do for the day, how will the lesson go, have I thought of all problems that could occur?  Have you found your niche for reflection?  Let me hear from you.

Teachers who are ready maximize student learning and minimize student behavior.  Think about the last really “bad” day you had.  Why was it bad?  Was it you, a change in schedule?  Usually, a bad day happens when we, as teacher, are not prepared to the fullest.  Please share with us!!

• The work is ready
• The room is ready
• The teacher is ready

These three points hit a home run!  What does it mean to have each of these “ready”? 

How many of you found this not be the case?  There are so many other things that go on in a classroom besides teaching.  You must be a master of multi-tasking!  Have you found that teaching isn’t as “easy” as you thought it was going to be?  Let me hear from you.

This a very ticky subject!  People don’t like to get their toes stepped on when it comes to managing their classroom, but sometimes it has to be done! 

What has been your biggest problem with classroom management, so far?  Let’s see if we can come up with some solutions for those problems.

Hey Guys!

Go ahead and begin to read Unit C-Classroom Management.  It begins on page 82

If you have the book, read the comment on page 59 in the gray box.  How does the way you dress effect student response to you? 

During my first three years teaching, I noticed that if I didn’t wear a dress or suit (yes, a suit) then my students didn’t behave as well.  I continued this practice (of dressing up) until there was enough age difference between me and the juniors that I taught.  Funny how wearing jeans on Friday’s made me have a bad day.  It took me two years to figure that one out!

What do you think is appropriate or not appropriate for teachers to wear to school?  Remember, we must practice what we preach!