TeacherVision offers ten quick guidelines for teachers for the beginning of a new school year, as well as the important messages they convey to new students:
1. Be prepared. This conveys that you are in control, and that you know what you are doing.
2. Motivate kids. School is exciting!
3. Establish routines and schedules. School is safe and predictable.
4. Establish classroom rules. I will learn self control.
5. Orient students to school/room. I am comfortable and belong here.
6. Preview the curriculum. I will learn new things.
7. Let students decide and choose. We are all in this together.
8. Include a literacy experience. Reading is wonderful!
9. Acknowledge every student. I am special!
10. Review and assign easy work. I can succeed!
The school year has started and you already find that your locker is a mess. You can continue to ignore it and keep stuffing everything into the back, or you can get organized. Getting yourself
organized actually doesn’t take as much time or energy as you might think. Here are some easy ways to get on track and to keep your locker organized.
First, take everything out of your locker and take a look at what you have in there. Throw away papers that you don’t need, junk that has collected and other items. You might want to drag a few classroom
chairs over to your locker so that you can stack up items you want on one chair, trash on another chair and more. Get a sponge or some wet paper towels and actually clean out the bottom or your locker so that you’re starting from a fresh start.
Now, it’s time to put everything back in. Once you’ve throw away things you don’t want, start by organizing your books on the bottom of the locker. Order the books by size, by your schedule or by some other system. If you have room to put in a top shelf, use this space for plastic folders, loose sheets of paper, a purse or gym bag, etc. Get a container or two either from your house or from a store to hold pens, pencils, tape, scissors, a stapler and other loose items.
Finally, if you have magnetic walls, buy a magnetic white board so that you can write messages and reminders to yourself. And buy a magnetic organizer to throw loose change, pencils, paper clips and other items into. And Voila! You’re done. Next you can help a friend clean up her locker, clean up the cafeteria tables and more.
